Thousands gathered at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Palm Sunday to mark the beginning of Holy Week, the most sacred time of the Church’s liturgical year. The Mass commemorates Christ’s triumphant arrival in Jerusalem for Passover. He was greeted by a crowd waving palm branches and laying cloaks on the ground to honor him. This was the beginning of His Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan presided over the liturgy, blessing palm branches and processing into the cathedral with a palm uniquely woven for him. In his homily, the Cardinal posed a powerful question: ‘There are dramatically two different groups. Those who welcomed Jesus with palms… and those who cried out, ‘Crucify him’…which group do we belong to?”

The cathedral was filled with pilgrims and local faithful alike. Norma Armstrong, visiting from Tarboro, North Carolina, said, “I always wanted to come to Saint Patrick’s for a service… I love Palm Sunday—the blessing of the palms and the scripture reading.”

Marlene Cochetto traveled from Erie, Pennsylvania, with her granddaughter Sophia to experience Holy Week in New York. We asked her how she’s living Holy Week to the fullest.

 “I’m trying to draw family in. We are hosting back in Erie, where we’re from, family, but also friends and others in our community, at our home. And then coming to New York City here for Sophia to see the cathedral…absorbing Holy Week from this perspective,” she said.

Sophia added, “It was beautiful. I’ve been outside before when I visited, previously this year but going actually inside and listening to the choir…oh, my gosh, it was gorgeous.”

From Jerusalem to New York and all around the world, the Church has entered into the Paschal Mystery as we follow Jesus from suffering to glory, from the Cross to the empty tomb.

Check back for more coverage of Holy Week and Easter on The Good Newsroom.

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