So Katie and Sandy

were disturbed tonight that the chronology seems all wrong.  Why did we read about BOTH the triumphal entry and the Passion and death of our Lord in the Palm Sunday liturgy.  First, remember that the observance of "this happening" on "the same day" is a rather late convention in the Church's liturgical life.  The foundational mystery is celebrated each and every Lord's Day:  Christ crucified is raised from the dead.  Even on Palm Sunday that remains the focus.  And come Holy Week the Church delights to hear the Passion story told from each Evangelist's perspective.  Palm Sunday belongs to Matthew; Monday we begin some of John's story (actually continued from the processional Gospel on Palm Sunday); Tuesday is Mark's and Wednesday is Luke's.  Come Thursday we go back to John and hear of some events on Maundy Thursday.  Friday is given over wholly to John's Passion.  So rather than thinking of it as a progression from this to that, in the Western liturgy we hear the whole story as it is told all four times during Holy Week, so that nothing of what Scripture gives us about our Lord's passion, death, and burial is lost.