UNITED IN PRAYER
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Palm Sunday
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Pause
Take a moment to still yourself. Take a deep breath and ask God for a renewed sense of presence with you in this moment.
Opening Prayer
Holding the branches of greenery that you have collected high in the air you can pray:
Almighty ever-living God,
make holy these branches with your blessing,
that we who follow Christ the King with joy,
may reach the heavenly Jerusalem through him.
who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
Processional Gospel
Matthew 21:1-11
When Jesus and the disciples drew near Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them,
“Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find an ass tethered, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them here to me.
And if anyone should say anything to you, reply,
‘The master has need of them.’ Then he will send them at once.”
This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: Say to daughter Zion, “Behold, your king comes to you, meek and riding on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had ordered them. They brought the ass and the colt and laid their cloaks over them, and he sat upon them. The very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and strewed them on the road. The crowds preceding him and those following kept crying out and saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is the he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.” And when he entered Jerusalem the whole city was shaken and asked, “Who is this?” And the crowds replied, “This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Sing or listen
FIRST READING
Isaiah 50:4-7
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 21(22):8-9, 17-20, 23-24
R: My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
SECOND READING
Philippians 2:6-11
Passion Gospel
Matthew 26:14-27:66
E te Ariki, may the compassion of Jesus motivate us. May we be present to those around us who are suffering, who may be lonely, and struggling to make sense of the world around them. God of compassion hear our prayer. Āmene.
From the Caritas Aotearoa Lent Reflection 2023