Christians gear up for Palm Sunday celebrations
Mar 23, 2024
By celebrating Palm Sunday, Christians mark the beginning of Holy Week also the final week of the Lent period. Lent is a period of fasting in the atonement of one’s sins.
Palm leaves to be used to in celebrating Palm Sunday displayed at Namirembe road in Kampala 23 March 2024. (Photos by Wilfred Sanya)
Prossy Nandudu
Journalist @New Vision
______________________ Jimmy Ssekasi operating along Burton street in Kampala displaying palm leaves to be used to in celebrating Palm Sunday 23 March 2024 A man seated waiting for Christians to purchase palm leaves to be used to in celebrating Palm Sunday 23 March 2024
As Christians get closer to the end of the Lenten period, both Christians and non-Christians on Saturday in urban centres took to the streets and prayer centers to market palm leaves ahead of the Palm Sunday celebrations set for tomorrow, the 24th of March.
Palm Sunday is when Christians celebrate the entrance of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, where palm branches were placed on his path before he was arrested on Holy Thursday and was later crucified on Friday, commonly known as Good Friday.
By celebrating Palm Sunday, Christians mark the beginning of Holy Week also the final week of the Lent period. Lent is a period of fasting in the atonement of one’s sins.
The period is observed for 40 days starting from Ash Wednesday to Easter. Father Nsubuga said that many Christians observe the rule of not eating meat on Ash Wednesday.
To Christians, Lent is a commemoration of Jesus' 40-day fast in the desert.
Lent's three pillars are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The majority of Christians abstain from a particular food or activity.
They are also reminded to support and provide for those in need, pray for the dead, and stay away from situations that lead them to sin. A lady vending Palm leaves in the City of Kampala to be used to in celebrating Palm Sunday 23 March 2024 Women waiting for customers to buy their Palm leaves to be used to in celebrating Palm Sunday 23 March 2024.
In his message for Lent this year, Pope Francis invites the faithful to “pause” for prayer and to assist brothers and sisters in need, to change their lives and those of the communities they live in.
At the same time, Pope Francis reminded Christians that it is God who takes the initiative.
“Too often, there remains within us “an inexplicable longing for slavery,” a desire to cling to idols that paralyze us, as Israel was paralyzed in the desert. Lent, however, is a “season of grace, a time of conversion,” where the desert can become “a place where our freedom can mature in a personal decision not to fall back into slavery,” he added.
Ahead of tomorrow’s celebrations, Wilfred Sanya visited some worship and non-worship centers in Kampala to check if the Palms are already on the market.
No Comment