Cardinal Blase Cupich celebrated Palm Sunday—which marks the beginning of Holy Week and is the final Sunday before Easter—in Chicago by calling on parishioners to praise God this week.

"The holiest week of the year starts today, with #PalmSunday," the Archdiocese of Chicago posted on Twitter Sunday. "Let us praise God with joy as we hold our palm branches, symbol of peace: Hosanna! Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest."

Parishioners who attend Palm Sunday Masses typically receive palm leaves, which many parishioners keep all year, until they are burned to make the ashes for Ash Wednesday the next year, a report on Britannica.com said.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops selected a passage from Luke 22 for the Palm Sunday Gospel reading this year. 

The passage opens with the Last Supper, where Jesus broke bread with his disciples. Jesus also instituted the Eucharist, telling his disciples that the bread was his body and the wine was his blood, which would be shed for them. He then revealed that he knew one of his disciples would betray him. 

The passage went on to describe Judas' betrayal, Jesus' arrest and trial before Pilate, and the crucifixion. 

Pope Francis celebrated Palm Sunday Mass in Rome with a complementary message. 

In his homily, the pope noted that the people surrounding Jesus leading up to his crucifixion kept urging him to "save himself," a release on Vatican.va said. 

"Against this self-centered mindset is God's way of thinking," Francis said. "The mantra 'save yourself' collides with the words of the Savior, who offers his self." 

The pope went on to emphasize the fact that as he was being crucified, Jesus asked God to forgive those who persecuted him, the release said. He connected that forgiveness to the way God is willing to forgive us for our sins.