Indore (Madhya Pradesh)
To commemorate the Palm Sunday, the parishioners gathered in front of the grotto of Mother Mary at St Joseph's Church in Nandanagar. The palms were blessed by Fr Thomas Rajamanikam and distributed to the people by Oliver D'lima, Johnson Bastian, Kanti Kumrawat, Mamta Paul and Regan Michael. Father Thomas sat on a colt of a donkey to symbolically express the original Palm Sunday event and the procession was held inside the Church campus.
During the procession, Sunil Raphael and the members of the choir sang hymns, recited prayers and pronounced slogans like: 'Hosanna', 'Hail King Jesus'. All the people participated in the procession with great devotion. They came inside the Church and participated in the worship i.e. the Holy Mass.
The Bible readings were read by Anjali Jose, Anjala Picardo, Johnson Bastian and Sunil Raphael. Fr Thomas Rajamanikam preached a short Homily. He mentioned that we Christians celebrate the passion of Jesus Christ in order to remember the salvation of mankind.
All the people need to be ready to carry their own little crosses and face suffering with gladness because our saviour showed us the way of the Cross. Christ emptied himself completely to save us. He saved us by offering himself as à great sacrifice on the cross. Come to Jesus and pray so that you may experience his saving help and miraculous power. Everyone prayed with a lot of faith and devotion.
Fr Rajamanikam said that around two thousand years ago Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem on the Palm Sunday, the place where he would suffer and be condemned to death. Actually, it was the practice for kings after victory to enter the city on horseback. Jesus instead entered the city of Jerusalem on a donkey in order to conquer sin and death and to free us from bondage. The crowd shouted 'Hosannas', Hail King' by placing palms and olive leaves on the way in order to welcome the divine king Jesus. In the ancient world, the donkey was a symbol of peace and the horse was a symbol of war. Jesus entered Jerusalem solemnly as a humble king of peace.
