Allocution, April 10, Palm Sunday
Today, April 10, Palm Sunday, Holy Week begins. We hear the word of God in the Gospel according to Saint Luke, chapter 19 verses 28 to 40. This text is what gives rise to today’s celebration.
(GOSPEL)
Just as the enthusiastic disciples of Christ praised Jesus for all the love and hope they had seen in his works and words, and they cut branches from trees according to the Gospels of Matthew and Mark and shouted: “Blessed is he who comes as a king, peace in heaven and glory above”, today in all the Catholic churches of the world we do the same and commemorate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. We beat the palm leaves that we called blessed guano in honor of the Master who came riding on a donkey. We take this blessed guano that they give us in the churches to our homes and place it in a visible place, and when we see it every day we feel the invitation to continue praising Christ; and this invitation from Jesus himself is, above all, to live the works of mercy. So we praise our Lord every time we visit and care for our sick.
(SINGING)
We feed those who ask us and those in need
R/ Glory to you Lord, our King and Savior.
We give drink to those who ask us for water
R/ Glory to you Lord, our King and Savior.
We welcome whoever knocks at our door
R/ Glory to you Lord, our King and Savior.
We share our clothes with those who need them
R/ Glory to you Lord, our King and Savior.
We accompany prisoners and their families
R/ Glory to you Lord, our King and Savior.
We are next to those who mourn the death of their deceased
R/ Glory to you Lord, our King and Savior.
We teach those who do not know
R/ Glory to you Lord, our King and Savior.
We advise those who need it
R/ Glory to you Lord, our King and Savior.
We lovingly call attention to those who make mistakes
R/ Glory to you Lord, our King and Savior.
We forgive those who offend us
R/ Glory to you Lord, our King and Savior.
We comfort the sad
R/ Glory to you Lord, our King and Savior.
We patiently endure the defects of those who live with us
R/ Glory to you Lord, our King and Savior.
We pray for the living and the deceased
R/ Glory to you Lord, our King and Savior.
All these praises to God and all this mercy to our neighbors is living what the Lord has asked of us on Holy Thursday.
(GOSPEL)
(SINGING)
In today’s celebration there is a second part. It reads the story of the sufferings of Christ on the way to the cross, which is found in the Gospel according to Saint Luke, chapter 22, verses 44, to chapter 23, verse 56. It is easy for us to read it if we have the Gospel 2022. The exercise of the via crucis or way of the cross is like a synthesis of this Gospel. Lord, may this brief meditation on your passion encourage us and help us to take up the cross of our life and follow you. Amen.
First station: Jesus is condemned to death. Because of the envy of the Pharisees and the weakness of Pilate, Jesus was unjustly judged and sentenced to death. Because I have also judged and condemned you in my brothers or I have allowed others to do so with my silence…
R/ Forgive your people, Lord. Forgive your people, forgive them, Lord…
Second station: Jesus carries the cross. They just threw it at him without any consideration and he didn’t reject it. For the times that I have let the cross of my daily obligations fall and I have renounced the cross of my sorrows and illnesses…
R/ Forgive your people, Lord. Forgive your people, forgive them, Lord…
Third station: Jesus falls for the first time. It is not easy to carry the cross. Many times one falls defeated under its weight. For the times when it has taken me so long to get up and for all my brothers who have not gotten up…
R/ Forgive your people, Lord. Forgive your people, forgive them, Lord…
Fourth station: Jesus meets his mother. There are many times when the only thing you can do for another is accompany them on their way of the cross. For the times I have left so many sick and elderly people alone on that painful path…
R/ Forgive your people, Lord. Forgive your people, forgive them, Lord…
Fifth station: The Cyrenean helps Jesus. I didn’t want to, of course not. Like many of us who don’t want to help. For having left so many brothers alone with their crosses of loneliness, incomprehension, and abandonment when I could have helped them carry it…
R/ Forgive your people, Lord. Forgive your people, forgive them, Lord…
Sixth station: Veronica cleanses Jesus’ face. That woman knew how to discover the face of Christ. Under that layer of sweat, dust and saliva. For not having discovered you in so many sweaty faces of workers and peasants, and for not having dried so many tears…
R/ Forgive your people, Lord. Forgive your people, forgive them, Lord…
Seventh station: Jesus falls for the second time. It was a trip over a rock or a push, we don’t know. For the times that with our example we have caused others to stumble and for the times, perhaps, that we have deliberately pushed them…
R/ Forgive your people, Lord. Forgive your people, forgive them, Lord…
Eighth station: Jesus talks to the women. In the midst of his own pain, Christ does not stop worrying about the plight of those women. For the times that my problems have made me forget about the sufferings of those around me…
R/ Forgive your people, Lord. Forgive your people, forgive them, Lord…
Ninth Station: Jesus falls for the third time. And for the third time he makes a supreme effort and gets up. For those occasions when, in the face of difficulties, I have not persevered in the work undertaken on behalf of others…
R/ Forgive your people, Lord. Forgive your people, forgive them, Lord…
Tenth station: Jesus is stripped of his clothes. Before putting him on the cross, they stripped him of his clothes. For the times when I have stripped others of their fame, their property, their rights, their innocence, their illusions…
R/ Forgive your people, Lord. Forgive your people, forgive them, Lord…
Eleventh station: Jesus is nailed to the cross. And from the cross, he asked his father to forgive us. For so many pardons that I have denied, for so many reprisals and revenge that I have taken…
R/ Forgive your people, Lord. Forgive your people, forgive them, Lord…
Twelfth station: Jesus dies on the cross. There is no greater love than giving one’s life for one’s friends. Because of the ease with which I forget what you loved me and what you love me and what my sins cost you…
R/ Forgive your people, Lord. Forgive your people, forgive them, Lord…
Thirteenth station: Jesus is taken down from the Cross and his body is placed in his mother’s arms. For that child that you gave us on Christmas Eve and that on a gloomy afternoon we returned to you dead for our sins
R/ Forgive your people, Lord. Forgive your people, forgive them, Lord…
Fourteenth station: Jesus is buried. He whom the Jews hoped would be the liberator of Israel has been buried. For the times when I have forgotten, like the disciples of Emmaus, that it is necessary to go through all these sufferings to enter glory…
R/ Forgive your people, Lord. Forgive your people, forgive them, Lord…
Fifteenth station: And on the third day he rose again. For the times when I forget that if I do not die with Christ I will not be able to resurrect with him…
R/ Forgive your people, Lord. Forgive your people, forgive them, Lord…
My Lord, Jesus Christ, who with your passion and death gave life to the world, free us from all our guilt and all evil. Grant us to live attached to your commandments and your word of love, and never allow us to be separated from you. May you live and reign forever and ever…
(SINGING)
On Good Friday, the Church prays for all the people for whom Christ died. Let us pray, brothers, for the Holy Church of God, so that the Lord gives her peace, keeps her in unity, protects her throughout the Earth and grants us all a confident and serene life for the glory of God, Almighty Father.
R/Cross of Christ, victor… we adore you, save us.
Let us also pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, so that God, who called him to this universal mission, assists and protects him, for the good of the Church as guide of the Holy People of God…
R/Cross of Christ, victor… we adore you, save us.
Let us also pray for the bishops, priests and deacons, for those who carry out some service in the Church and for all the members of the Holy People of God.
R/Cross of Christ, victor… we adore you, save us.
Let us also pray for those who are going to be baptized on Holy Saturday at the Easter Vigil. So that God, Our Lord, may illuminate them internally, open the doors of the Church to them with love and thus find in baptism the forgiveness of their sins and full incorporation into Christ Our Lord…
R/Cross of Christ, victor… we adore you, save us.
Let us also pray for all those of our brothers who believe in Christ, so that God, Our Lord, assists and gathers into one Church those who live in accordance with the truth that they have known…
R/Cross of Christ, victor… we adore you, save us.
Let us also pray for the Jewish people, the first to whom God spoke from ancient times through the prophets. So that the Lord may increase in them the love of his name and fidelity to the covenant he sealed with their parents…
R/Cross of Christ, victor… we adore you, save us.
Let us pray for those who do not believe in Christ, so that, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, they too may find the path to salvation…
R/Cross of Christ, victor… we adore you, save us.
Let us pray for those who do not admit God, so that through the uprightness and sincerity of their life they may achieve the prize of reaching him…
R/Cross of Christ, victor… we adore you, save us.
Let us also pray for the rulers of all nations, so that God, Our Lord, according to his designs, guides them in their thoughts and decisions towards peace and freedom for all men…
R/Cross of Christ, victor… we adore you, save us.
Let us pray, brothers, to God the Almighty Father, for all those in the world who suffer the consequences of sin. To heal the sick, to give food to the hungry, to free the persecuted from injustice, to redeem the imprisoned, to grant emigrants and exiles to return home, to protect those who travel and to save the dying. …
R/Cross of Christ, victor… we adore you, save us.
Faithful to the recommendation of the Savior and following his divine teaching, we dare to say: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us today our bread every day, forgive us our offenses as we also forgive those who offend us, do not let us fall into temptation and deliver us from evil. Amen.
May your blessing, Lord, descend abundantly upon this people, who are celebrating Holy Week, may your forgiveness come upon them, grant them your comfort, increase their faith and guide them to eternal salvation. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
(SINGING)