ONE week to this year’s Easter Sunday and still basking in the euphoria of the inauguration of a new Catholic Pontiff, Pope Francis, Catholics the world over and other orthodox denominations will today celebrate the Palm Sunday, the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusal-em, an event mentioned in all four canonical Gospels.
In many Christian churches, Palm Sunday is marked by the distribution of palm leaves (often tied into crosses) to the assembled worshippers.
According to a release by the Lagos Catholic Archdiocesan Director of Social Communi-cations, Very Rev. Msgr. Gabriel Osu, Palm Sunday is a procession in which the faithful carry branches of palm leaves as a re-enactment of the biblical story in which the crowd greeted Jesus by waving palm branches and covering his path with palm branches.
This triumphant entry of Jesus marked the beginning of his journey to the cross where he was eventually crucified.
Emblem of joy
“The principal ceremonies of the day are the blessing of the palms, the procession, the Mass, and during it the reading of the Passion. Palm branches have been used by all nations as an emblem of joy and victory over enemies; in Christianity as a sign of victory over the flesh and the world,” Msgr. Osu explained.
In the Archdiocese of Lagos, Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins is expected to lead the clergy and the faithful in a mass at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos, followed by a procession round major streets in Lagos Island.
Similarly, The Apostolic Faith Church is expected to flag off a week long Easter retreat that would be resident-ial in all its zonal headquarters around the country. In Lagos, the retreat will take place in Anthony Village, Ikorodu, Abesan, Oke-Aro and Igbesa.
According to a statement by the church’s head, Public Relations, the programme billed for March 28 to April 1, will feature Bible studies, sacred songs, symposium, film show, drama and prayer sessions.
On Sunday the annual Easter concert will hold at 5.00 p.m. at the Great Tabernacle in Anthony Village, Lagos.
There were indications that the surviving fashions of the Celestial Church of Christ, CCC, would join the rest of the Christian world to mark the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem with pro-cessions and general services.
While other Christians are celebrating Palm Sunday, the House of Prayer International (HPI) with headquarters in Umudim-Okporo, Orlu, Imo State, plays host to its 2013 festival of Passover and Un-leavened Bread between March 24 and 31.
According to the General Chairman, HPI, Elder Steve Kanu, the annual festival runs for eight days beginning and ending with a holy convocat-ion today and next Sunday.
He said the festival comme-morates the freedom the Israelites had from the land of Egypt, adding “we are cele-brating this feast in accord-ance with a divine command-ment in Exodus 12:17 that all mankind should celebrate it in perpetuity.”
Passover lamb
According to him, the event entails the slaughtering and eating of the Passover lamb, Holy Communion, sermon, lectures, prayers, drama, sing-ing, bible quiz, evangelism and debate amongst others.
In the accounts of the four canonical Gospels, Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jeru-salem takes place about a week before his Resurrection. The symbolism is captured in Zechariah 9:9 “The Coming of Zion’s King – See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey”.
It was perceived that Jesus was declaring he was the King of Israel to the anger of the Sanhedrin.
According to the Gospels, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem, and the celebrating people there lay down their cloaks in front of him, and also lay down small branches of trees. The people sang part of Psalms 118: 25-26 “… Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord ….”
The symbolism of the donkey may refer to the Eastern tradition that it is an animal of peace, versus the horse, which is the animal of war. A king came riding upon a horse when he was bent on war and rode upon a donkey when he wanted to point out he was coming in peace. Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem would thus sym-bolize his entry as the Prince of Peace, not as a war-waging king.
Christians celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, the week be-fore his death and resurrect-ion. For many churches, Palm Sunday, often referred to as “Passion Sunday,” marks the beginning of Holy Week, which concludes on Easter Sunday.
The biblical account of Palm Sunday can be found in Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; and John 12:12-19.
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