Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion Year A
Sermon by Emmanuel Suntheni OSB – Passion Sunday – Year A
Sermon And Christian Act In The Word
Theme: Partaking in Jesus Christ’s suffering! Carry your Cross! Endurance in Suffering!
Point of Reflection: The last Sunday of Lent, also called Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday, concludes the journey through Lent with a profound message that interprets the suffering and death of Jesus. What is the most challenging suffering which I face at the moment? How do I deal with it? When the going gets tough and trials come my way, am I able to hold on to my faith in God, or do I easily lose trust in Him? The suffering of Christ must be our model, that God will never abandon us as long as we cling to the faith in Christ.
First Reading: Isaiah 50:4–7
Psalm: Psalm 22:7–8, 16–19, 22–23
Second Reading: Philippians 2:6–11
Gospel: Matthew 27:11–54
The profound words of the Roman centurion, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” give focus to today’s readings. In Jesus, we find a perfect example of a Son who was faithful to the Father even unto death. He embarked on a mission of love, and his passion and death were consequences of this mission. The commitment of Jesus to his mission as recounted in the Gospel resonates very well with the description of the mysterious figure in the Book of Isaiah and at the same time offers us a model of discipleship, thus, partaking in the suffering of Christ. Let us not be afraid of suffering; let us endure suffering for Christ.
Sermon (Reflection): In the first reading of today, we encounter one of the “servant songs” found in Isaiah. These four poems present a mysterious figure of God’s servant who has no name, but is sent on a mission to God’s people, Israel. Today’s song in the third one in the sequence and contains the words of the servant himself. In it, this God’s servant declared his firm resolve to continue with his God-given mission despite adversity and persecution. His confidence and unwavering commitment are expressed through the triple appeal to “Lord God”, who has sent the servant on this mission and helps the servant to carry it out.
Because of his faithfulness to God, the servant experiences affliction and humiliation. Yet, he faces these courageously, “I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard, I did not hide my face from insult and spitting”. What enabled the servant to accept such humiliation and pain without running away or rebelling against God? It was the conviction that his mission is important, and confidence that God would act to save him, as he states, “the Lord God helps me; … I know that I shall not be put to shame”. Those words of Isaiah’s suffering servant found their reflection in the life of Jesus, particularly in his passion.
In the second reading, we are confronted with the Christians in the Philippian community who had problems with pride and selfishness. To address these, Paul wrote to them with instructions on humility and selflessness, insisting that the followers of Jesus must focus on others rather than themselves; they must be “other-centred.” To motivate his Christians, Paul provided them with the most convincing example of other-centeredness – Jesus Christ himself. To do so, Paul employed a beautiful Christological hymn drawn from the liturgy of the early Church. This hymn describes Jesus, who, while being in the form of God, chose to “empty himself” taking on the form of a servant. This act made Jesus one with the people, completely human (cf. Heb 2:17). The hymn then describes the crucial moment of Jesus’ mission on earth, namely, accepting death on the cross. Going to the cross was Jesus’ act of supreme obedience, obedience understood as fulfilling his part in God’s plan of salvation for the whole of humanity. Jesus put his human life entirely at God’s disposal, with the aim of bringing salvation to the people. Philippians are to follow his example and emulate their Lord by giving their lives in service to others, rather than pursuing their selfish goals and ambitions.
In the Passion Gospel of today, we hear of the extensive passion narrative, which details how Jesus’ obedience to God and focus on others led him to death on the cross. This story features a whole range of characters and shows their diverse reactions to Jesus and the events unfolding. Some of them are sympathetic to Jesus, such as Pilate’s wife pleading with her husband for Jesus’ release. Others, such as chief priests and the elders, are extremely hostile, repeatedly calling for Jesus’ death to the point of persuading the crowd to demand the release of Barabbas and the execution of Jesus. The crowd is passive and allows itself to be manipulated by the leaders. Pilate is undecided and hesitant, too weak to defend justice and too selfish to follow his conscience. The soldiers are cruel executioners taking pleasure in the humiliating torture of an innocent man. Simon of Cyrene is reluctantly helpful, while the passers-by and the crucified bandits taunt Jesus. Women disciples grieve while the apostles desert their Master and run away long before the crucifixion even began. These characters represent a full range of human responses to the death of Jesus.
Yet, the central point of the Matthean narrative is made by the Roman centurion who, upon seeing Jesus’ death and accompanying signs, declared, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” This statement, coming from a pagan soldier, shocks. He unknowingly expressed what Jesus’ death was about. As God’s faithful son, Jesus willingly chose the cross and through his blood redeemed the human race, including pagans such as the centurion. In Jesus’ nonviolent acceptance of suffering and death, the centurion recognised God at work, and was the first to imply that Jesus’ death had a profound meaning, that will only come to light in its aftermath, on the day of the resurrection.
The readings of this solemn day clearly show that Jesus’ suffering and death were not about bad luck, misfortune or a judicial error. It was not even about the hostility of the Jewish leaders. Rather, his death on the cross was the supreme demonstration of Jesus’ concern for the fallen world and his obedience to God without limit, even to accepting death.
Christian Act in Word of God “Partaking in Jesus Suffering”
Contemplating Jesus’ passion, believers are invited to pray with the words of the Psalmist who, like Jesus, after cries of desperation and pain, was still able to speak words of confidence and hope, “I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you”.
There is a distortion of Christianity known as the “Prosperity Gospel”, favoured by those Christians who seek to bypass the message of Christ’s suffering. Suffering has been made to appear incompatible with the Christian message, and a person who suffers in any way is often regarded as not having enough faith. This completely negates the meaning of the passion of Christ, because Christ’s example teaches us that suffering is not a sign of lack of faith; rather, faith makes suffering endurable.
We are called upon not to carry a wooden cross to Golgotha, but to persevere in our walk of faith with the Lord. For some, the cross can be found in a broken marriage or an experience of rejection. Others have to endure their passion in moments when an employer is unfair to them, and they are not treated well. Still others experience the cross of disease or discrimination. Every one of us has to carry a cross sometime in life. In all these experiences, however, we stand assured as believers that someone has already walked that path. Jesus Christ’s suffering was meaningful, and, because of him, we can make our cross meaningful when we unite ourselves and our pain with the one who died for us all those centuries ago.
Action: I choose to unite my present sufferings with those of Christ and to offer them as reparation and atonement for the sins of the whole world. During this holy week, I will renew my commitment to God, and I will die with Jesus on Friday and arise with Christ on the third day as a new person.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you carried the Cross and overcame evil by the power of love. Your faithfulness to the plan of the Father has brought salvation to the whole world. Help us to see in every cross we carry a blessing in disguise and the path to eternal life, sanctify us during this holy week that we rise with Christ as better people, Amen.
- Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion Year A - March 27, 2026
- God’s Call to Life: 5th Sunday of Lent - March 20, 2026
- Laetare Sunday: 4th Sunday of Lent - March 12, 2026
