PALM SUNDAY – MARK 11:1-10

When they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, and said to them,

“Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat; untie it and bring it.

If any one says to you,

‘Why are you doing this?’ say,

‘The Lord has need of it and will send back here, immediately,’”

And they went away, and found a colt tied at the door out in the open street; and they untied it.

And those who stood there said to them,
“What are you doing, untying the colt?”

And they told them what Jesus had said; and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus, and threw their garments on it; and he sat upon it.

And many spread their garments on the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed cried out,

“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming!
Hosanna in the highest!’”

The Gospel of the Lord.
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

 

TODAY’S GOSPEL READING (JOHN 2:13-22)

Just before the Jewish Passover Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and in the Temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and pigeons, and the money changers sitting at their counters there. Making a whip out of some cord, he drove them all out of the Temple, cattle and sheep as well, scattered the money changers’ coins, knocked their tables over and said to the pigeon-sellers, “Take all this out of here and stop turning my Father’s house into a market.” Then his disciples remembered the words of scripture: Zeal for your house will devour me.

The Jews intervened and said, “What sign can you show us to justify what you have done?” Jesus answered, “Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this sanctuary: are you going to raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the sanctuary that was his body, and when Jesus rose from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the words he had said.

During his stay in Jerusalem for the Passover many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he gave, but Jesus knew them all and did not trust himself to them; he never needed evidence about any man; he could tell what a man had in him.

V. The Gospel of the Lord.
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

 

ST DAVID OF WALES, BISHOP

ST DAVID, BISHOP – MEMORIAL: MARCH 1

Born in Wales on a clifftop during a violent storm around A.D. 500, Saint David, who belonged to an aristocratic family, became a famous preacher and founded monasteries and churches from Wales to Brittany.
He lived an ascetical life which he shared with others. His Rule forbade the eating of meat.
It is said that he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was made a bishop by the patriarch. After his death, his shrine in West Wales became an important place of pilgrimage.

PRAYER: 

O God, who graciously bestowed on Your
Bishop Saint David of Wales
the virtue of wisdom and the gift of eloquence,
and made him an example of prayer and pastoral zeal;
grant that, through his intercession,
Your Church may ever prosper and render You
joyful praise.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You in the unity
of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.