CHRISTIANS the world over would surely flock to their respective churches with their palm leaves to celebrate Palm Sunday today.
Most often, palm leaves are made in different shapes and figures, the most common of which is the cross.
Since Saturday, enterprising individuals have been selling palm leaves near churches and markets in preparation for today’s Palm Sunday celebration.
But perhaps, it would be good to remember why Christians bring palm leaves and have them blessed by the priest during Palm Sunday Mass celebration.
As we all know, Palm Sunday is the sixth and last Sunday of Lent. It signals the beginning of Holy Week.
The celebration and 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.
Palm Sunday principally hopes to celebrate the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, a week before his death and resurrection.According to the Bible, when Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey, the crowd greeted him by waving palm leaves as they covered his path also with palm leaves. They welcomed Him like a King. This story can be found in Matthew chapter 21 and Mark chapter 11.
In today’s celebration, Christians usually hold a procession within the church while singing songs of praise. After which, the priest blesses the palm leaves that the churchgoers brought.
In some churches, the palms are saved and would be burned the following year as the source of ashes to be used during Ash Wednesday.
Tradition had it that the blessed palm leaves would be hung outside the door in the house to ward off evil spirits and bad luck. However, the real reason for hanging the palm leaves outside the door is to welcome Jesus Christ.
But Palm Sunday or not, as Christians, we should always welcome Jesus Christ into our lives.
