Blessing the palms at an empty Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C., due to public Masses not being held as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus, Archbishop Wilton Gregory celebrated an April 5 Palm Sunday Mass that was viewed by more than 2,200 people from throughout the Archdiocese of Washington, from across the country and around the world as it was livestreamed on the Archdiocese of Washington's YouTube channel. 

Due to the closure of churches and the suspension of public Masses because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Archdiocese of Washington is airing Holy Week liturgies from St. Matthew's Cathedral live on its YouTube channel, and people viewing the Palm Sunday Mass were able to pray along with worship aids and guides found on the archdiocesan website. 

 Archbishop Gregory addressed the faithful watching the Mass from their homes, drawing in his homily from the first reading from the book of Isaiah, “The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue…” (Isaiah 50:4).

He said that while such a gift as a “well-trained tongue” would often be seen as valuable, especially for those who find themselves in professions relying much on “proficiency of speech,” speech during Holy Week is different.

“At the face of what Christ will endure, all speech is insufficient to be sure,” the archbishop said. “Suffering and tragedy of the type we are about to remember are often beyond what mere words can adequately express.”

In the face of the violence and heartbreak remembered from that first Holy Week, Archbishop Gregory said silence “is often the only response that the human heart is capable of offering.”

“This week we do not need eloquent words, we only need eyes and hearts that understand in ways that words can never sufficiently explain how deeply we are loved by the Lord of the universe,” he said.

Archbishop Gregory also called upon the image of Pope Francis facing an empty St. Peter’s Square and the silence at the Urbi et Orbi papal address and apostolic blessing on March 27, which was live-streamed throughout the world.

“Pope Francis’s prayer and words of blessing last week were intensified by the stark absence of God’s people in St. Peter’s square – the silence of the moment,” the archbishop said.

As Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, Archbishop Gregory emphasized the importance of the coming week – the holiest of days in the Church’s liturgical calendar.

“Palm Sunday stands at the start of the holiest and most important days in the Church year,” he said. “And the words that each of us speaks tell the whole world that we all share in the cries of the mob. We all raise our voices, calling for Christ’s crucifixion.”

He said that the words of the religious leaders in Jesus’s day to “Crucify him, crucify Him,” do not only belong to them, but to the faithful of today as well.

“The words that we just heard reflect the ways that we all have lived… and they confirm our deepest desire that He died for us,” Archbishop Gregory said. “This week involves all of us, not just the religious leadership of Christ’s own time, but every Christian throughout the ages who has ever betrayed the dignity of our calling by our sinfulness, our hatred, our pettiness, our lies and our dishonesty… None of us can claim to stand casually by as individuals without responsibility and therefore innocent of that man’s death.

“Our well-trained tongues join those of Christians throughout the ages in shouting for his (Jesus’) crucifixion, so that we might eventually be able to marvel at and enjoy the benefits of his resurrection and new life,” Archbishop Gregory said.

Due to local government restrictions limiting the number of people at a gathering, the Mass included just a few people assisting in the liturgy.

Special prayers were offered at the Mass in recognition of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact, including “That all those affected by the coronavirus, and all who work to fight against the pandemic, may be sustained by the strength of Jesus.”

Other prayers asked “that all the sick may experience the healing hand of Jesus,” and “that all the faithful departed, especially those who have lost their lives from the coronavirus, may share in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.”