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Pastor’s Letter: March 29, 2026 – Palm Sunday

Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,

Blessed and grace-filled Holy Week to you all! May these special days help draw all our hearts closer to the Savior! To help us enter into this Week of Salvation, I thought we would review some highlights/spiritual notes:

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, also called Passion Sunday

• Celebrates the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and recognition as Messiah
• Carrying palm branches invites us to participate in a unique way, adding our voices to the reading of the Passion (the Gospel of Jesus’ suffering and death)

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday help us prepare for the rest of Holy Week

• Mass readings focus on the suffering servant passages from the Book of Isaiah
• Gospels focus on the time before and the first part of the Last Supper
• In our Diocese, we celebrate the Chrism Mass on Tuesday of Holy Week
  • Holy Oils used for the sacraments are blessed by the Bishop
  • All the priests renew the promises made at ordination

Beginning on Holy Thursday, we celebrate what is called the Triduum

• A Latin word that means “three days” (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday)
  • These three days are three parts of one extended liturgy that help us journey with Jesus through his suffering, death, and resurrection

Holy Thursday, we celebrate the Liturgy of the Lord’s Supper

• We celebrate the institution of the Priesthood and the Holy Eucharist—Mass
  • Also the mandate to serve one another—this day is sometimes called Maundy Thursday from Jesus’ mandate to serve one another
• After the homily, the priest will wash the feet of those representing the apostles
• There is a procession of the Holy Eucharist around the Church, ending at what we call the Altar of Repose
  • Prayer with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament continues into the night as we keep vigil with Him
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