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Family Home Liturgy for Palm Sunday

 

-Family gathers around the table.  If possible, place a cross or crucifix in the center of the table. 

 

-The mother (or other family member) lights the candle and prays:

MAY THE LIGHT OF CHRIST SHINE BRIGHTLY IN OUR LIVES AND DISPEL ALL DARKNESS.

 

-The leader (Ldr.) continues:

WE PRAY IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON

AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

All:     Amen!

 

 

We pause in a moment of silence

to remember all those who are in need of God’s love and mercy,

here and throughout the world (especially ________ ).   (pause)

 

Let us pray…

Hosanna and praise to the Son of David!

As we recall your Son’s entry into Jerusalem, his Passion and Death

help us, O God, that our hearts and minds may be open

to the power of the love he poured out for us. 

May his love strengthen, renew and guide us

in the way of salvation. 

We pray in his name, who is Lord for ever and ever.  Amen.

 

First reader:

A reading from the Letter to the Philippians.      (2:6-11)

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.

Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,

coming in human likeness;

and found human in appearance, he humbled himself,

becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Because of this, God greatly exalted him

and bestowed on him the name which is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,

of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

The word of the Lord.    (all: Thanks be to God)

 

(two readers, A and B, may share the reading of the Gospel)

(For complete text, use your Bible: Matthew 21:1-11, 26:14-27:54)

 

(rdr A)  A reading from the Gospel of Matthew.

 

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.

The disciples went and did as Jesus had ordered them.

They brought the ass and the colt and laid their cloaks over them,

and Jesus sat upon them.

The very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road,

while others cut branches from the trees and scattered 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.”

(B)

[After the Passover meal] Jesus came to a place called Gethsemane,

and he said to his disciples,

“Sit here while I go over there and pray.”

He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee,

and began to feel sorrow and distress.

Then he said to them,

“My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me.”

He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying,

“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me;

yet, not as I will, but as you will.”

When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep.

Jesus said to Peter,

“So you could not keep watch with me for one hour?

Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again,

“My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass

without my drinking it, your will be done!”

Then he returned once more and found them asleep,

for they could not keep their eyes open.

He left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time,

saying the same thing again.

Then he returned to his disciples and said to them,

“Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?

Behold, the hour is at hand

when the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners.

Get up, let us go.

Look, my betrayer is at hand.”

While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived,

accompanied by a large crowd, with swords and clubs,

who had come from the chief priests and the elders of the people.

His betrayer had arranged a sign with them, saying,

“The man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him.”

Immediately he went over to Jesus and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and he kissed him.

Jesus answered him, “Friend, do what you have come for.”

Then stepping forward they laid hands on Jesus and arrested him.

(A)

Jesus stood before the governor, Pontius Pilate, who questioned him,

“Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus said, “You say so.”

And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders,

he made no answer.

Then Pilate said to him,

“Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?”

But he did not answer him one word,

so that the governor was greatly amazed.

 

Now on the occasion of the feast

the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd

one prisoner whom they wished.

And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.

So when they had assembled, Pilate said to them,

“Which one do you want me to release to you,

Barabbas, or Jesus called Christ?”

For he knew that it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over.

While Pilate was still seated on the bench, his wife sent him a message,

“Have nothing to do with that righteous man.

I suffered much in a dream today because of him.”

The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds

to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus.

The governor said to them in reply,

“Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”

The crowd answered, Barabbas!”

Pilate said to them,

“Then what shall I do with Jesus called Christ?”

They all said,

“Let him be crucified!”

But he said,

“Why? What evil has he done?”

They only shouted the louder,

“Let him be crucified!”

When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all,

but that a riot was breaking out instead,

he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd,

saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. Look to it yourselves.”

Then he released Barabbas to them,

but after he had Jesus scourged,

Pilate handed him over to be crucified.

(B)

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium

and gathered the whole cohort around him.

They stripped off his clothes

and threw a scarlet military cloak about him.

Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head,

and a reed in his right hand.

And kneeling before Jesus, they mocked him, saying,

“Hail, King of the Jews!”

They spat upon him and took the reed

and kept striking him on the head.

And when they had mocked him,

they stripped him of the cloak,

dressed him in his own clothes,

and led him off to crucify him.

As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon;

this man they pressed into service

to carry his cross.

(A)

And when they came to a place called Golgotha

— which means Place of the Skull —,

they gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall.

But when he had tasted it, he refused to drink.

After they had crucified him,

they divided his garments by casting lots;

then they sat down and kept watch over him there.

And they placed over his head the written charge against him:

This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.

Two revolutionaries were crucified with him,

one on his right and the other on his left.

Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying,

“You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,

save yourself, if you are the Son of God,

and come down from the cross!”

Likewise the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked Jesus and said,

“He saved others; he cannot save himself. So he is the king of Israel!

Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.

He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he wants him.

For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

The revolutionaries who were crucified with him

also kept abusing him in the same way.

(B)

From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land

until three in the afternoon.

And about three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice,

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Some of the bystanders who heard it said,

“This one is calling for Elijah.”

Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge;

he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed,

gave it to him to drink.

But the rest said,

‘Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him.”

But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice,

and gave up his spirit.

The Gospel of the Lord.      (all: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ)

 

(reflection:            Put yourself as one of the characters in the Gospel;

    what do you feel? 

Is there someone you can relate to?

In your imagination, look into the eyes of Jesus;

    what is he saying to you?)

 

Litany  (based on a 4^th century prayer by St. Ephraem)

Prayer leader:  Our response is, “Glory to you.”

 

Jesus, friend of us all!               all: Glory…

Jesus, merciful Lord!

Jesus, longsuffering God!

Jesus, who takes away our sins!

Jesus, who came to save us!

Jesus, who became flesh in the womb of the virgin!

Jesus, bound in cords!

Jesus, whipped and scourged!

Jesus, mocked and derided!

Jesus, nailed to the Cross!

Jesus, buried and risen!

Jesus, proclaimed to all humankind who believes in you!

Jesus, ascended to heaven!

 

Jesus, your love embraces us all.  We lift up to you in prayer

our family, our friends, members of our community,

the sick and those in need as we pray together:

OUR FATHER…

 

Ldr:

Strengthen us, O God,

who have meditated on the Passion and Death of your Son

that we may grow in our love for him,

who died for us and who rose victorious from the grave.

We pray in his name who is Lord for ever and ever.  Amen. 

 

May God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit

   bless us with peace and protect us from all harm.  Amen.