Young Family
PRAYER FOR PLACING PALM BRANCHES IN THE PRAYER SPACE
The branches we receive on Palm Sunday remind us of the willingness with which Jesus went to Jerusalem, even though it meant death for him. We join those who followed him into Jerusalem with joy, not knowing what being his disciple would cost.
Pray the following prayer when you bring the palms home and place them in your prayer space.
LEADER Let us begin our prayer, In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
ALL Hosanna in the highest!
LEADER We have come to the last days of Lent. The story of Christ’s suffering will be in our thoughts as we move toward Holy Thursday and the Three Days, when we celebrate the passing of Jesus through suffering and death to life at God’s right hand.
READER Listen to the words of the first letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (4:13-14)
We speak because we know that God raised the Lord Jesus to life. And just as God raised Jesus, he will also raise us to life. Then he will bring us into his presence.
The word of the Lord,
ALL Thanks be to God.
Leader Let us bow our heads and pray,
Lord our God,
Let these branches remind us of Christ’s triumph.
May they teach us to rejoice in his cross
and praise you in his resurrection.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
ALL Amen. Blessing and Prayers through the Year, LTP
PASSION (PALM) SUNDAY
“On the next day, when the great crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
they took palm branches and went out to meet him, and cried out:
‘Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,
the King of Israel’”
John 12:12-13
So begins Holy Week, the most important celebrations of the church year. We begin with the Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem and hear the passion reading.
On Holy Thursday we recall how Jesus gave himself to us in the Eucharist. We are reminded we are to serve, not be served, with the washing of the feet.
On Good Friday we remember how Jesus suffered and died, and at the vigil Mass on Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday we celebrate his resurrection.
Holy Week is a time to remember the last words of Jesus and ask ourselves, “What do these words mean to me?”
“Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:3
“Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)
Be sure to read the Easter Story to your children, either through a story book or a children’s Bible. Ask your child/children what it would be like to be in the crowd. What do they see? hear? and feel?
PALM CROSSES
We receive palms on Passion/Palm Sunday which have been blessed. What to do with them when we go home? Since they have been blessed, we don’t want to just through them in a corner. Try making the palms into crosses. This youtube video will tell you how:
