Begin with a few moments of quiet.

Invite all present to sit comfortably.
When sitting comfortably, take three deep breaths, as you breathe in feel your lungs filling all the way up, when they are full slowly release your breath and feel your lungs emptying out fully. Repeat this three times.
Now return to breathing normally.

Opening ourselves to the Presence of God in our lives

Have a conversation, allowing each person present a few moments to think about and to reply to the following.
Thinking back over the week, let us share with one another
What is it that I want to say thank you for?
What is it that want to say I am sorry for?

If you like to listen to some quiet music during this, click on it below .

Introduce the Gospel

Today is the Palm (Passion) Sunday.
On Palm Sunday there is usually a blessing of the palms and a procession at the start of Mass. We invite you to use a branch of a green tree or cut out and colour the template

The Jews were waiting for a king to lead them against the Romans and make them free again. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he was welcome as this king, but he came as a king of peace not as a king of war.

We are going to read from the Gospel of Matthew today.

Read the Gospel

[As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.  If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“Say to Daughter Zion,
    ‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
    and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.  They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.  A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Have a Conversation about the Gospel

Use some of the following questions to help in having a conversation about the message in the Gospel.

What do you remember about today’s reading?
Why did Jesus choose a donkey to ride on?
He was showing the crowds that he was no soldier, but instead he came as a king of peace riding on a meek and gentle donkey.

How did the crowds show their happiness and praise for Jesus?
All of the people were so happy to see Jesus that they laid their cloaks on the floor and cut branches from palm trees to lay before him to show their respect. This is why today is called Palm Sunday.

The crowds used a special word to praise Him, can you remember the word?
Hosanna

Think about what it would be like if Jesus arrived here today. What would you do to welcome Jesus if he arrived here today?

God made all of us, no matter where in the world that we come from. Jesus is in all of us. So every time we meet someone and we welcome them, we are welcoming Jesus.

Jesus is in all people, so we should treat all people with the respect, love and kindness that we would show to Jesus. We should try to welcome all people into our lives and treat them as we would like to be treated.

End with a prayer

Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace,
We pray that your peace will spread
Throughout our world today
And touch the lives of everyone. Amen

An Activity

Here are some activities you might like to complete during the coming week as a reminder of this Gospel today.

Make your own palm

Colour Hosanna

The King is Coming Puzzles

Additional Resources

The following is a short video of the Gospel