Sunday 29 March 2026
Passion (Palm) Sunday
Isaiah 50:4-7. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? – Ps 21(22):8-9, 17-20, 23-24. Philippians 2:6-11. Matthew 26:14 – 27:66.
Jesus meets us in our suffering
Today’s Gospel reading is a long one. The story of Christ’s passion is given a lot of importance in Matthew’s Gospel, with roughly a third dedicated to the Passion narratives. The Gospels show us God revealed in the person of Jesus, God meeting us in our humanity. I sometimes think that we are at our most human when we are suffering. And this is the place where God chooses to meet us. When I read the story of Christ’s Passion, I am reminded that there is no suffering that Jesus does not share with me. When I am friendless, betrayed, disabled, anxious, condemned and suffering physical pain, Jesus is with me in solidarity. Some Christians find it strange that Catholics look to the crucifix, an image of Jesus suffering, as a central image of our faith. We know that Christ meets us in our suffering and transforms it into holiness.
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