This week’s Gospel message for Sunday, April 2 is from Matthew 21:1-11.
“We greet the Lord today with palm branches and hosannas, welcoming him to the holy city of Jerusalem. His missionary journey and our Lenten journey are nearing their completion. Today, as we shout our hosannas and wave our palm branches to welcome our Lord into Jerusalem, we look forward to the day when we will all be welcomed into the new Jerusalem.” SOURCE: Pastoral Patterns, Spring 2023
Matthew 21:1-11
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. And if anyone should say anything to you, reply, ‘The master has need of them.’ Then he will send them at once.” This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:
Say to daughter Zion,
“Behold, your king comes to you,
Meek and riding on an ass, and on a colt,
The foal of a beast of burden.”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had ordered them. They brought the ass and the colt and laid their cloaks over them, and he sat upon them. The very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and strewed them on the road. The crowds preceding him and those following kept crying out and saying:
“Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is 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.”
READINGS FOR THE WEEK
Monday
Isaiah 42:1-7; John 12:1-11
Tuesday
Isaiah 49:1-6; John 13:21-33, 36-38
Wednesday
Isaiah 50:4-9a; Matthew 26:14-25
Thursday
Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26;
John 13:1-15
Friday
Isaiah 52:13−53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9;
John 18:1−19:42
Saturday
Genesis 1:1−2:2; Genesis 22:1-18;
Exodus 14:15−15:1; Isaiah 54:5-14;
Isaiah 55:1-11; Baruch 3:9-15, 32−4:4;
Ezekiel 36:16-17a, 18-28; Romans 6:3-11;
Matthew 28:1-10