Palm Sunday at the Cathedral of the Madeleine

Intermountain Catholic

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Bishop Oscar A. Solis blesses the palms with holy water during the Palm Sunday celebration at the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

“Palm Sunday is a beautiful celebration of our faith and salvation,” Bishop Oscar A. Solis said during his homily at the 11 a.m. Mass on Palm Sunday at the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem, which is commemorated during Palm Sunday, was joyous, but those acclamations didn’t last long; only a few days later the crowd that welcomed him as a messiah reversed their cries from “Hail to the son of David” to “Crucify him!” the bishop pointed out.

Therefore, Palm Sunday is also called Passion Sunday, because of the infidelity of the people, the denial and abandonment of Jesus' apostles and close friends, Bishop Solis said. “It was one of the saddest moments in the life of Christ, giving himself with all his love to people, only to be denied, to be rejected and to be crucified.”

The Pascal mystery is the heart of the Catholic faith, the bishop said. “As we enter into Holy Week we are invited to reflect on this great mystery of our salvation, but not only to reflect but to unite our own hearts and our lives in the suffering and death and rising of our Lord. It may be a sad and scandalous event, full of contradictions on how people treated Jesus, but yet there is a great message – there is a message of hope, of love, a message of forgiveness and a message of salvation and redemption for all of us.”

He invited those present at the Mass to return to the cathedral on Holy Thursday for the commemoration of the Last Supper, on Good Friday for the Passion of the Lord, for the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday and for Mass on Easter Sunday.

“The message of hope, the message of forgiveness, the message of love is loud and clear during this Holy Week,” Bishop Solis said.