The following homily was given by Bishop Rhoades on Palm Sunday (March 29, 2026) at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne. Today, Palm Sunday, we enter the great door into Holy Week, the week when the Church celebrates the mysteries of salvation accomplished by Christ in the la st days of His life on earth. We celebrate today His messianic entrance into Jerusalem. But today is also called Passion Sunday. In fact, the official liturgical title for today is Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord. We heard two Gospels today – at the beginning of the liturgy, the Gospel of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and then at the normal time during the Liturgy of the Word, the Gospel of the Passion. This year, it is St. Matthew’s account of the Passion. Sometimes we speak of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. In a sense, it was triumphant. The crowds lay cloaks and palm branches before Jesus and cheered Him with shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” The word “Hosanna” means “save us.” They recognized Jesus as the Messiah and the new King they were waiting for. But they did not realize how all that they declared would be accomplished. In fact, when the events of the next days unfolded, after Jesus was arrested, found guilty of blasphemy by the Sanhedrin, and taken to Pontius Pilate to be tried for sedition, perhaps some in that crowd who had acclaimed Jesus as the Messiah and King on Palm Sunday, cried out on Good Friday, “Crucify him.” Perhaps they were angry, thinking that Jesus was an impostor and had deceived them. Joshua Schipper   I said that, in a sense, Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was triumphant, but only in a very limited sense. Jesus’ triumph really took place on Good Friday, on the cross, when His love was victorious over sin. Jesus reigns as king from the wood of the cross. Remember Jesus’ words to Nicodemus: “When I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself.” The crowd had cried out, “Hosanna, save us,” on Palm Sunday. And that’s what he did on Good Friday. And so, we sing in the Memorial Acclamation at Mass, when Christ’s sacrifice becomes present on the altar: “Save us, Savior of the world, for by your cross and resurrection, you have set us free.” Jesus triumphed over death when He rose on the third day, Easter Sunday. Because of what He accomplished in the earthly Jerusalem, Jesus now abides in the New Jerusalem. He will come again and, we pray, take us with Him to enter triumphantly in the heavenly Jerusalem. In the meantime, He comes to us in a hidden way in the Holy Eucharist, the pledge of the glory to come. Joshua Schipper During this Holy Week, let us look upon Jesus hanging on the harsh wood of the cross and ask Him to teach us the mysterious wisdom of the cross. It is not a sign of defeat and failure, but an expression of the victory of God’s love revealed in the sacrifice of His Son. It is the icon of the Father and the Son’s love for us. Filled with wonder and gratitude, we may ask: “What can we do in return for what Christ has done for us?” As His disciples, we can do what He asks to do: remain in His love, love one another as He has loved us, deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. When we do, we are participating in His redemptive mission, in His work of salvation. That’s the Christian life! Salvation is a continuing reality. It involves sharing in the sufferings of Christ, in His life-giving sacrificial love. As Jesus Himself said: “For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” I pray that you all have a blessed Holy Week, especially by participating in the Sacred Paschal Triduum that will begin with the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. May our Blessed Mother, the person associated more intimately than any other person in the mystery of Jesus’ redemptive suffering, be with us with her prayers that we will draw ever closer to His Son as we celebrate the greatest mysteries by which He accomplished the work of our salvation! Joshua Schipper   Joshua Schipper The post During Holy Week, Ask Jesus ‘to Teach Us the Mysterious Wisdom of the Cross’ appeared first on Today's Catholic. ...read more read less