Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion
29 March 2026
When we feel abandoned
Today, the Church does something very deliberate and if we’re not paying attention, we might miss just how powerful it is.
We begin outside the Church in the Family Life Center, with the blessing of palms and the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem. That reading is triumphant. Jesus is welcomed like a king. People lay down their cloaks, wave palm branches, and cry out, “Hosanna!” Waving palms and riding a donkey fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, where the king comes not as a war conqueror on a horse but as a humble, peaceful ruler. It feels like victory. It feels like everything is finally falling into place.
And then… we walk into Mass. And everything changes.
Because the Gospel proclaimed during the Mass is not about triumph—it’s the Passion. The betrayal, the suffering, the Cross.
Why does the Church do that?
Because it tells the truth about the human heart—and about discipleship. The same crowd that shouts “Hosanna!” will soon shout “Crucify him!” The same people who welcome Jesus when He fits their expectations will reject Him when He does not. And if we’re honest, that’s not just their story. That’s our story.
We can be the same way. We praise God when things are going well, when He answers our prayers the way we want. But when the Cross comes—when suffering, confusion, or silence comes—we begin to question, to doubt, even to pull away.
That’s why the Church puts both Gospels together today. To hold up a mirror. To show us how quickly the human heart can turn—and to invite us to something deeper than emotional enthusiasm: true, faithful discipleship.
And right in the middle of that Passion, we hear one of the most haunting lines in all of Scripture. From the Cross, Jesus cries out: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
At first, that can sound shocking. Almost scandalous. Is Jesus really abandoned? Is the Son separated from the Father?
But what Jesus is doing here is something very important. He is praying Psalm 22… and for a first-century Jew, quoting the first line of a psalm is a way of invoking the entire psalm.
So what does Psalm 22 say?
It begins in anguish: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” But it does not end there.
It goes on to describe suffering in vivid detail—being mocked, surrounded by enemies, hands and feet pierced, garments divided. It’s almost like a script of the Crucifixion except written centuries before Christ.
And then, something shifts. The psalm turns from despair to trust. From suffering to hope. From abandonment to victory. It ends with confidence that God has not abandoned His servant, that He has heard his cry, and that future generations will proclaim His saving power.
So when Jesus cries out those words, He is not expressing despair without hope. He is entering fully into human suffering—into that experience we all know at times, when God feels distant or silent—but He is also pointing to the deeper truth: that even there, the Father is present, and redemption is unfolding.
Jesus is not abandoned. He is fulfilling the mission.
Think about it, we all have moments—maybe many moments—when we feel like that. When prayers go unanswered. When suffering doesn’t make sense. When God feels far away.
In those moments, it’s easy to think, “God has abandoned me.”
But Psalm 22—and the Cross—tell us something different. They tell us that feeling abandoned is not the same as being abandoned. They tell us that God is often working most deeply when we can’t see it. They tell us that the Cross is not the end of the story.
Holy Week invites us to walk with Jesus through that mystery. Not just to observe it—but to enter into it.
Because Christianity is not just about celebrating Jesus on Palm Sunday. It’s about staying with Him through Good Friday. It’s about trusting Him not only in moments of Hosanna, but also in moments of why?
And here’s the question for us:
Are we fair-weather disciples? Or are we faithful ones?
Do we follow Jesus only when it’s uplifting and inspiring? Or do we follow Him when it’s difficult, when it costs us something, when we don’t understand?
Because real discipleship means walking the whole path. The palms—and the Cross.
Because if we stay with Him through the Cross, we will also share in the Resurrection.
Psalm 22 ends in victory. Holy Week ends in Easter. And so do our lives—IF we remain with Him.
So this week, don’t rush through it. Don’t skip from Palm Sunday to Easter.
Walk with Him. Stay with Him.
And when you find yourself in those moments of darkness, when you’re tempted to say, “My God, why have you abandoned me?”—remember:
He has already been there.
And He has not left you.