Palm Sunday 2026

Bishop Scott Bullock
Homily from Palm Sunday Mass
Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rapid City
March 29, 2026

In a familiar yet astonishing departure from our normal practice, we all join together in proclaiming the Gospel for this day of the Passion of the Lord, which we will do again on Good Friday. It’s worth reflecting, why does the Church ask us to do the Gospel in this manner, on this day? I think we can intuit clearly that what the Church is asking us to do is to really enter into this divine drama, this divine narrative of the Lord’s Passion, his saving Passion. Yet somehow, we’re drawn into it as we proclaim together and take a place among this divine drama. 

So, as you were reading, where did you find yourself landing in the midst of that great description of the Lord’s saving Cross? Maybe you had some affinity with St. Peter who in his weakness denied the Lord knowing that you’ve done that yourself. Maybe you were one of that crowd crying out, “Crucify him!” Maybe you were one of the women who went to the tomb searching for the Lord, trying to find him who was lost. 

So where is it that we most find ourselves fitting into that Gospel reading? Perhaps you might have noticed when we began our prayer today that the Liturgy of our Church directs us most primarily, we are to find ourselves in that Gospel. We prayed, “Almighty ever living God who as an example of humility for the human race to follow caused our savior to take flesh and submit to the Cross.” 

Jesus is therefore a model of humility for us and so perhaps above all, where we ought to find ourselves in that Gospel is in Christ following his example. Following his example of complete and perfect self-sacrificial love. Laying down our lives for others. In that way we most exemplify our Christian calling. We have been joined to Christ in baptism if we’ll take up our crosses and follow him on his way of love to the world.

Many of the images in our Church have been covered during these last days of Lent to focus our attention — like a fasting of our eyes. Yet one of course we did not cover, maybe too big to be covered, a great image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help continues to look over us. Look how she models how we are to bear our cross. She has, in her beauty there, two very prominent hands. In that image, her left-hand supporting Jesus as the Archangel Michael, the Archangel Gabriel showed Jesus the implements of his passion. She supports him, and at the same time with her right hand she receives something from the Lord. She receives grace from him. She who is full of grace. 

So, our mission, as our prayer said, is to follow the example of the humility of Christ, shown in Mary in a particular way, the perfect follower of Jesus, who supports the Lord in his passion and receives from the Lord his grace. 

Therefore, all of us as we go across the course of our lives are meant to support the Passion of Jesus and others. That means we’re supporting the ability for others to lay down their lives and love. Not to deny it. Not to push against it but support it, even to the point of suffering. Even to the point of laying down our lives for each other.

So, I invite you as we continue our prayer to watch carefully how Jesus is going to lay down his life again for us in the Eucharist. And then empowered and strengthened by that gift of his life it is our job to follow his example which we saw so vividly in the passion we just read. To go across the course of the way of our lives laying down our lives and helping others to do the same. Supporting one another and are divine vocations of love, modeled on the perfect love of Jesus poured out for our life.