Palm Sunday, March 29, 2026

When I was in high school, my older brother started going to daily Mass with my grandfather. At the time, it confused me, because I didn’t know why anybody would want to go to Mass every day. Mass already seemed pretty boring, so why would someone want to be more bored?


As I grew older and realized how much I needed my faith and a relationship with Jesus, I ended up having several spiritual awakenings that made me realize how powerful Mass is.


For example, I myself started going to daily Mass when I was desperate for God’s guidance, and, at one Mass, when I was standing during the intercessions, I felt as if God said to me, “If you become a priest, I will take care of you forever.” It felt like the most loving Father had offered me the most comforting words; words that gave me such a deep sense of security. And it all happened while I was standing there during Mass.


Mass is a prayer, right? But where does it come from? Why are we doing this? Well, it’s because of Jesus. The Mass literally comes from Him. At the Last Supper, Jesus took bread and said, “This is my body, which will be given up for you.” He took a cup of wine and said, “This is my blood, which will be shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Then he said, “Do this in memory of me.” That was a command given to the Apostles that has been obeyed by the Church ever since.


Listening to the gospel story once again about how Jesus gave up his body and shed his blood out of love for us, there should be no doubt in your minds that God loves you. I mean, I was sitting in the dentist chair last week, going through the little agonies of the poking and scraping at my gums, and I thought to myself, “If I were ever tortured for my faith, I don’t know if I could do it.” But Jesus did do it at a horrific level so that we would have no doubt of his love for us.


Palm Sunday is the day when more people come to Mass, and I am grateful you are here. Truly. It is a sacrifice to be here. And please know that God blesses you for every sacrifice you make to grow closer to Him.


And the most powerful way to grow closer to God the Father is to listen to Jesus, who at the Last Supper gave us his body and blood under the appearance of bread and wine so that we would have an experience his presence, his help, and his guidance every day of our life.

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