The Decision: Who Is He?: Palm Sunday 2026

                                                The Decision: Who Is He?:

Palm Sunday 2026 

March 29, 2026

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Ezekiel 37:12-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45

 

Jesus intended his arrival into Jerusalem to be unusual and provocative. His ministerial work was always on the margins of Israel where he met many non-Jews and had much dialogue with the Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees. Many were convinced of his identity as One who was sent by God, but the real test was always going to be the Temple Authorities and the leaders of Jerusalem. Jesus was headed to the center of belief and he was calling the leaders to decide an important issue. What was the question: Who is Jesus?

 

Jesus preached an alternative viewpoint to those in the Temple. Whereas the High Priests and religious establishment insisted that the center of worship needed to be done in the Temple, Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of Heaven is among us. This new idea of the Kingdom occurred wherever believers gathered, it happened in the presence of Jesus’s preaching and healings, it happened wherever people sought the mercy of God. The Kingdom of Heaven was a direct threat to the Temple-centered belief, and Jesus knew that these perspectives would clash. A question that we still deal with today is: Does authority come from God or from religiously trained people who are speaking on behalf of God. Today, do we follow the Spirit or do we tightly adhere to what our Tradition has taught us?

 

Jesus set up this clash around the Passover feast where all the Jews would gather for their sacred meal. He knew that all of Israel, but just the religious leaders, but also the regular citizens, would have to choose – to believe in God as shown through Jesus or adhere the customs and practices that have served people well for centuries? This was a clash. This was Israel’s decision day. The evangelist tells us: The whole city was shaken.

 

Jesus confounds the citizens when he rides into the city riding a donkey instead of a war horse. He does mean for battle, but he presents himself as a king who is meek, not as a military leader of power. This confuses the people who expect a political liberator. We still struggle with this. We want a God who fixes problems quickly, acts decisively, speak authoritatively, and has great power. What we get is Jesus who comes in humility, vulnerability, and peace. Could the people accept this image of Jesus or do they want him to be different. The question that he raised remains? Who is Jesus? Do I accept his portrayal of God’s project in the world today? The conflict remains.

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

Monday of Holy Week: We hear from Isaiah 42 in the First Oracle of the Servant of the Lord in which God’s servant will suffer silently but will bring justice to the world. In the Gospel, Lazarus’ sister, Mary, anoints Jesus’ feet with costly oil in preparation for his funeral.

Tuesday of Holy Week: In the Second Oracle of the Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 49), he cries out that I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth. In deep hurt, distress and grief, Jesus tells his closest friends at supper that one of them will betray him and another will deny him three times before the cock crows.

(Spy) Wednesday of Holy Week: In the Third Oracle of the Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 50), the suffering servant does not turn away from the ridicule and torture of his persecutors and tormentors. The time has come. Matthew’s account shows Judas eating during the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread with Jesus and their good friends after he had already arranged to hand him over to the chief priests for thirty pieces of silver. The Son of Man will be handed over by Judas, one of the Twelve, who sets the terms of Jesus’ arrest.

Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday: Only an evening Mass can be said today and we let our bells ring freely during the Gloria that has been absent all Lent. In Exodus, we hear the laws and customs about eating the Passover meal prior to God’s deliverance of the people through Moses from the Egyptians. Paul tells us of the custom by early Christians that as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. In John’s Gospel, Jesus loves us to the end giving us a mandate to wash one another’s feet.

Good Friday: No Mass is celebrated today though there may be a service of veneration of the cross and a Stations of the Cross service. In Isaiah, we hear the Fourth Oracle of the Servant of the Lord who was wounded for our sins. In Hebrews, we are told that Jesus learned obedience through his faith and thus became the source of salvation for all. The Passion of our Lord is proclaimed from John’s Gospel.

Holy Saturday and the Easter Vigil: No Mass, baptisms, or confirmations can be celebrated before the Vigil to honor the Lord who has been buried in the tomb. The Old Testament readings point to God’s vision of the world and the deliverance of the people from sin and death. All of Scripture points to the coming of the Righteous One who will bring about salvation for all. The Old Testament is relished during the Vigil of the Word as God’s story of salvation is told to us again. The New Testament epistle from Romans tells us that Christ, who was raised from the dead, dies no more. Matthew's Gospel finds Mary Magdalene and the other Mary at dawn arriving at the tomb only to find it empty. After a great earthquake that made the guards tremble, and angel appears telling the women, "Do not be afraid." The angel instructs them to go to the Twelve to tell them, "Jesus has been raised from the dead, and is going before you to Galilee." 

 

Saints of the Week

 

No saints are remembered on the calendar during this solemn week of our Lord's Passion.

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• March 29, 1523: Ignatius' first visit to Rome on his way from Manresa to Palestine. 
• March 30, 1545: At Meliapore, Francis Xavier came on pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle. 
• March 31, 1548: Fr. Anthony Corduba, rector of the College of Salamanca, begged Ignatius to admit him into the Society so as to escape the cardinalate which Charles V intended to procure for him. 
• April 1, 1941. The death of Hippolyte Delehaye in Brussels. He was an eminent hagiographer and in charge of the Bollandists from 1912 to 1941. 
• April 2, 1767. Charles III ordered the arrest of all the Jesuits in Spain and the confiscation of all their property. 
• April 3, 1583. The death of Jeronimo Nadal, one of the original companions of Ignatius who later entrusted him with publishing and distributing the Jesuit Constitutions to the various regions of the early Society. 
• April 4, 1534. Peter Faber (Pierre Favre) ordained a deacon in Paris.