Palm Sunday Prayer & Reflection: The Triumphal Entry


I just wanted to point you to a series my church is doing. Leaders from the church are doing videos for each day of Holy Week, going through our prayerbook liturgy for the day and offering some personal reflections. Here is the first one for Palm Sunday. You can also find the audio version on our podcast.

Confess

Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Trusting ourselves to the grace of God,
let us confess our sins before God.
— from Isaiah 55.6-7

Everlasting God,
fountain of all life and the true home of every heart:
our hearts are restless until they rest in you.
Yet we confess that our hearts have been enslaved
by selfish passion and base desire.
We have sought after many things
and have neglected the one thing needful.
We have not loved you with our whole hearts;
help us to turn to you and find forgiveness.
Lead us home, that we may again find in you
our life and joy and peace. Amen.

~ Silent Confession & Reflection ~

Read

Selection from Mark 11.1-11

When they were approaching Jerusalem, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you. You will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

Practice

As we begin Holy Week, set aside 15 minutes for uninterrupted prayer. Begin in silence, thinking of a time during this Lent that you have failed at doing something you set out to do. It may be something you intended to do for Lent itself, or something entirely unrelated to your spiritual practice. Acknowledge your failure to God (perhaps repeating the prayer of confession). Sit in silence and see if you feel a shift in you, or if you feel God move towards or speak to you. End by asking God to help you receive forgiveness (and seek reconciliation if others are involved). Try to do this for the full 15 minutes.

For Families: Pray a prayer of confession together as a family. Perhaps attempt to have a few minutes with no music or talking with your children and ask how they felt during that time.

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One thought on “Palm Sunday Prayer & Reflection: The Triumphal Entry

  1. Pingback: Palm Sunday Prayer & Reflection — the long way home | Talmidimblogging

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