20260329 Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

At the Mass - Reading IIsaiah 50:4-7The Lord GOD has given me    a well-trained tongue,that I might know how to speak to the weary    a word that will rouse them.Morning after morning    he opens my ear that I may hear;and I have not rebelled,    have not turned back.I gave my back to those who beat me,    my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;my face I did not shield    from buffets and spitting.The Lord GOD is my help,    therefore I am not disgraced;I have set my face like flint,    knowing that I shall not be put to shame.Responsorial PsalmPsalm 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24R. (2a)  My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?All who see me scoff at me;    they mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads:“He relied on the LORD; let him deliver him,    let him rescue him, if he loves him.”R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?Indeed, many dogs surround me,    a pack of evildoers closes in upon me;They have pierced my hands and my feet;    I can count all my bones.R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?They divide my garments among them,    and for my vesture they cast lots.But you, O LORD, be not far from me;    O my help, hasten to aid me.R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?I will proclaim your name to my brethren;    in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:“You who fear the LORD, praise him;    all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him;    revere him, all you descendants of Israel!”R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Reading IIPhilippians 2:6-11Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,    did not regard equality with God    something to be grasped.Rather, he emptied himself,    taking the form of a slave,    coming in human likeness;    and found human in appearance,    he humbled himself,    becoming obedient to the point of death,    even death on a cross.Because of this, God greatly exalted him    and bestowed on him the name    which is above every name,    that at the name of Jesus    every knee should bend,    of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,        and every tongue confess that    Jesus Christ is Lord,    to the glory of God the Father.Verse before the GospelPhilippians 2:8-9Christ became obedient to the point of death,even death on a cross.Because of this, God greatly exalted himand bestowed on him the name which is above every name.GospelMatthew 26:14—27:66One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot,went to the chief priests and said,"What are you willing to give meif I hand him over to you?"They paid him thirty pieces of silver,and from that time on he looked for an opportunityto hand him over.On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,the disciples approached Jesus and said,"Where do you want us to preparefor you to eat the Passover?"He said,"Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,'The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near;in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples."'"The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered,and prepared the Passover.When it was evening,he reclined at table with the Twelve.And while they were eating, he said,"Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me."Deeply distressed at this,they began to say to him one after another,"Surely it is not I, Lord?"He said in reply,"He who has dipped his hand into the dish with meis the one who will b