Ukrainian Catholic ChurchAustralia, New Zealand and Oceania
Homily by Fr. Ihor Holovko on Palm Sunday
April 12, 2025
It is from Palm Sunday, within Holy Week, that we begin a more intense preparation for Easter and learn how to walk with Christ every day. So let us take in church these signs of the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ and carry them always — as a sign of the hope of eternal life and of our unity with the Saviour of this world.
“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” (John 12:13)
With these words, people welcomed Jesus Christ in the Gospel — and still do today, in our churches on Palm Sunday, also known as Willow Sunday in our tradition.
Let us embrace everyone today: those who have come simply to receive a palm or willow branch because it is a tradition (and many do just that); those who take the branch as a remembrance of what happened in Jerusalem when the people welcomed Christ’s entry; those who, with knowledge, add faith — believing that this small branch is a sign of victory; and those who are ready to walk with Jesus every day — in other words, to be His companion always and everywhere.
These next seven days, which we now enter, were established by the Holy Church even earlier than the forty-day Great Fast itself, which was later shaped in monasteries as a spiritual gift for the faithful.
In this Jubilee Year 2025, I wish all Pilgrims of Hope — that is, all of us — the very best: to be with Christ in joy and sorrow, in learning and celebration, in struggle, and in victory. It is from Palm Sunday, within Holy Week, that we begin a more intense preparation for Easter and learn how to walk with Christ every day.
So let us take in church these signs of the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ and carry them always — as a sign of the hope of eternal life and of our unity with the Saviour of this world.
“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
