Bishop Rhoades celebrated Palm Sunday Mass at St. Matthew Cathedral in South Bend this year. The procession was held before the 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday, April 13, and it began in the Bowman Cemetery across the street before moving to the cathedral. Bishop Rhoades’ homily was structured around the t hree “words” Jesus spoke from the cross in Luke’s account of the Passion. The first word Bishop Rhoades asked the congregation to reflect on was Jesus’ prayer for His persecutors after being nailed to the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” “We know from ancient Roman writers that it was common for those who were being crucified to utter curses at their executioners,” Bishop Rhoades said. “How shocked the soldiers must have been when Jesus asks the Father to forgive them.” Photos by Kasia BalsbaughDeacon Andrew Barnes reads the Gospel before the procession for Palm Sunday at St. Matthew Cathedral in South Bend. Bishop Rhoades added that Jesus here is following His own instruction from the Sermon on the Mount, where He enjoins His followers to love their enemies and pray for their persecutors. “Jesus sees [the soldiers’] ignorance as a door that can open them to conversion. And isn’t that what happened with the Roman centurion?” Bishop Rhoades pointed out. The bishop also said Jesus’ prayer was a prayer for all Christians. Families hold palms before the Palm Sunday procession at St. Matthew Cathedral on Sunday, April 13, in South Bend. “When Jesus asked the Father’s forgiveness for those who crucified Him, He was also asking forgiveness for us since, as the Church teaches, all sinners were the authors of Christ’s passion,” Bishop Rhoades said. “This is consoling for us to know that Jesus intercedes for us, asking the Father for His mercy upon us.” The second word from the cross is Jesus’ assurance to the “good thief” crucified next to Him – “Amen, today you will be with me in paradise.” Bishop Rhoades walked through the good thief’s experience of conversion, saying that he began with fear of the Lord, rebuking the other thief’s revilement of Christ. He then moved to recognition of his own crime and repentance of it. Then, he professed faith in Jesus while turning to Him personally. “With God’s grace working in his heart, he makes one of the humblest appeals for love and mercy in all of Scripture,” Bishop Rhoades said of the good thief. Bishop Rhoades added: “The good thief gives all of us hope that God’s grace can also touch us, even at the very last moment of life. How good it is for us to pray with faith and hope the words of the good thief: ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’” Jesus’ last sentence – “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” – is recorded in Luke’s Gospel as being cried in a loud voice. “How unusual it is for someone who is dying to speak loudly and clearly,” Bishop Rhoades pointed out. “But Jesus did, like a victorious warrior when he conquers his foes.” As with the other two words, Bishop Rhoades put Jesus’ dying prayer in the context of the whole Church. “By entrusting His spirit to the Father, [Jesus] also entrusts all souls who will follow Him, including you and me, into the Father’s loving hands,” Bishop Rhoades said. The post Jesus’ Last Words: Palm Sunday at St. Matthew Cathedral appeared first on Today's Catholic. ...read more read less