Journey to Easter: Palm Sunday celebrated across Archdiocese of Newark
Across the Archdiocese of Newark, worshippers held green palms high, reenacting the drama of Jesus’ jubilant entry into Jerusalem almost 2,000 years ago. Within the week, however, the man hailed as the Messiah would be tortured and hung on a cross. The day thus marks the beginning of Holy Week, the most solemn period on the Church calendar, during which we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist and remember the Passion of Jesus Christ, culminating in Easter.
At the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, presided over the noon Mass. As is traditional, the Gospel was proclaimed during the opening procession of palms, recounting Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.
Later, the passion narrative was proclaimed with three readers, with Cardinal Tobin reading the words of Jesus. Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion is the only day of the year when the Gospel is proclaimed twice during Mass.
The same traditions were observed across the Archdiocese and, indeed, throughout the world. Palms were blessed and distributed, and smiling children carried them much as children in Jerusalem might have in the time of Jesus. As a sign of the sorrows to come, statues and other sacred images were veiled in many parishes and will remain so until the celebration of the Easter Vigil.
A week to “behold the merciful face of God”
In his homily during the Cathedral Mass, Cardinal Tobin focused on Jesus’ cry for mercy from the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
“These words should stun us,” Cardinal Tobin said. “Luke gives them to us in the middle of the most gruesome part of Jesus’ passion. When he is nailed to the cross and raised up naked in shameful suffering and deep disgrace. In some ways, Jesus’ words are so powerful and shattering that we barely believe them or act upon them.”
Cardinal Tobin said that Jesus’ word and “his shameful death” reveal “what God is truly like—larger than our violence, more powerful than what we call justice, able to bring us beyond our ugliest thoughts.”
Despite the brutality humans display to each other, “the cry of Jesus continues throughout history, a cry even stronger than our human cries of vengeance,” Cardinal Tobin said.
He concluded:
“Brothers and sisters, dare we hear Jesus’ words anew? Dare we give up the pointless anger that continues to destroy human life and obscure the face of God? This Holy Week provides another opportunity to do just that; to lay aside our rage and behold the merciful face of God.”
You can find more images of the Palm Sunday Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart here. Images of celebrations across the Archdiocese can be viewed here. And you can watch video highlights of the Cathedral’s celebration below.
Featured image: Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R. presides at the Palm Sunday noon Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, NJ, on April 13, 2025. (Photo by Archdiocese of Newark/Julio Eduardo Herrera)
