Palm Sunday at Westminster Cathedral began with the reading of the Gospel narrative of the Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem and Cardinal Vincent blessing the palms in Cathedral Hall followed by a procession along Ambrosden Avenue and into the Cathedral. Cardinal Vincent welcomed people from across the diocese to the celebration which marks the beginning of Holy Week.
In his homily the Cardinal began by looking to Holy Week ‘Now we have truly entered Holy Week, looking ahead to the events of Thursday, Friday and Saturday in which the true identity of Jesus will be made clear. We have moved, rather rapidly, from the joyful shouts of Palm Sunday to the reality of the Passion of Our Lord’
He went on to discuss the second reading, from St Paul ‘He tells us the true story of Jesus: his state was divine; he assumed the condition of a slave; even to accepting death’ and how ‘for once, there is an action of a human person, which is also, fully, and unequivocally, the action of God.
‘This means that his victory over death, accomplished only by the power of God, is ours too; his victory over the corrosion of sin, accomplished by the power of God's love, is also ours. This victory comes to us through him because he has fully embraced our humanity and taken it into this struggle and, in his victory, he has brought back to us our humanity, healed and entire.’
Toward the end of his homily he told the gathered worshippers that ‘throughout this Holy Week, we shall ponder the marvellous ways in which the human and the divine come together, uniquely, in Jesus. This is like two elements when combined creating great energy.’ And asked them to ‘follow him, wholeheartedly this week, taking each step in union with him, giving him our hearts’.
The homily can be read in full here
Pictures from the Mass can be found here
