Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the most important week of the Christian year – Holy Week.

Today’s celebration has two very distinct parts:

Part one is a commemoration of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem,
when the Palm Gospel is proclaimed, palms and blessed, and a joyous procession follows with hosannas ringing in our ears. The collect is the hinge of our worship as we move into the Liturgy of the Word and the hymn before the gospel points us towards Christ’s Passion.

Part two begins with the Bible readings, which culminate in the proclamation of the Passion Gospel. Our response to the Lord’s passion leads us to the altar where, with the bread and wine, we ‘show forth the Lord’s death till he comes
again’ (St Paul).

The two key words are ‘hosanna’, which then gives way to ‘crucify’. We leave our worship prepared to follow our Lord through the Three Great Days (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter). Yes, it’s going to be a busy week for us but surely it is but a small sign of our love for him who loved us even into death, that we follow him faithfully through these Great Days.