What a day in the liturgy of the Church! The mind can hardly take it in. We start out with the Palm Sunday lessons telling of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. "Many people," Mark says (11:8); "a very large crowd," according to Matthew (21:8); "the whole multitude of the disciples," we hear from Luke (19:37); and from John (12:12) "the great crowd that had come to the festival" joyfully greet Jesus, shouting praises and acclamation. After all they have seen and heard about Jesus, they are full of expectation, excited to be part of whatever is to come. We join the crowd in its festive mood as we carry our palms into the church.

Then, almost in the blink of an eye it seems, we are stunned to hear the passion gospel. It starts slowly with the woman anointing Jesus with "a very costly ointment of nard," and then we hear of Judas' plan to betray Jesus. That is quickly followed by the Passover meal with his disciples that we have come to call the Last Supper where Jesus warns of what's to come. After supper, a pause in the Garden of Gethsemane for prayer before the ordeal begins, and then "the hour has come . . .the betrayer is at hand," along with "a crowd with swords and clubs" to carry Jesus to the High Priest. The crescendo builds with the trial before the San Hedrin, Peter's denial, the trial before Pilate, and there we are with the crowd again. This time shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" It is you—it is me—calling for his sacrifice, and in the background, we can't help but hear the faint strains of "Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?" By now we are wrung out. We can hardly stand for Joseph's kind burial of Jesus' body.

Where we were just an hour ago is no longer the place we are now. Somehow Palm Sunday begins the shift from Jesus' ministry to what our liturgy calls the Paschal mystery. "Were you there?" Yes, we were, but that is only the beginning. Through the celebration of Holy Week in the reenactment of the passion, crucifixion and resurrection, we will come to be more fully there at the heart of the mystery, the heart of our faith.