Write Comment     |     E-Mail To a Friend     |     Facebook     |     Twitter     |     Print

Udupi : Palm Sunday to commemorate Christ’s entry into Jerusalem for the completion of Paschal Mystery observed at Milagres Cathedral of Udupi diocese near here on Sunday, March 24, 2024 with utmost devotion and solemnity.

Prior to the beginning of the Palm Sunday service, volunteers led parish pastoral council members distributed palm leaves to the parishioners. At around 7.45am, all parishioners gathered in front of Milagres Tri-Centenary Hall where the ritual of blessing of the palms was conducted by Rector Very Rev Fr. Valerian Mendonca along with Rev Fr. Joy Andrade, Asst parish priest, Very Rev Fr. Nithesh D’Souza, Vocational Director of Pilar Fathers, Kallianpur.

Following a short prayer service and reading of the passage from the Gospel narrating the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, Fr. Valerian Mendonca blessed the palms. Thereafter, the entry congregation went towards the Cathedral along with alter boys and priests.

The procession signifies the Jew’s welcoming of Jesus into Jerusalem. Following their example, we proclaim Jesus as Victor, “Hosanna to the Son of David, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

The Palm Sunday High Solemn Eucharistic Mass was con-celebrated by Very Rev Fr. Valerian Mendonca, Rev Fr. Joy Andrade and Rev Fr. Nithesh D’Souza.

The long Passion Gospel was ready by Fr. Joy Andrade , Fr. Valerian Mendonca and Fr. Nithesh D’Souza. Fr. Joy Andrade read the narration; Fr. Valerian Mendonca read the passages uttered by Jesus and Fr Nithesh D’Souza uttered by other characters in the Holy Gospel. All huge devotees listened tirelessly by standing all the way, enabling devotees as it were to be eyewitnesses of Christ’s passion and Death, reveling his Love “Unto Death”.

In his beautiful homily by Rev Fr. Nithesh D’Souza dominated the meaning of Jesus passion, passage of love and passage of sacrifice and Jesus’s passage is the way for hope. The Passion of Christ, meaning an account of the final events of Jesus’s life. Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Jesus not only came to bring hope. He is our hope. We have hope because Jesus forgives us and transforms us into likeness.

Jesus came to rescue and restore. He came to call, draw and love those who without His grace would continue to live for themselves. Jesus came, and because He did, there is hope that sinners can be redeemed and the world can be renewed. It really is true: hope is a person, and his name is Jesus.

God sent Jesus to be a perfect sacrifice for our sins, but Jesus offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then Jesus sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Jesus’s crucifixion is the perfect sacrifice. He spilled His blood on the cross for the sins of the world. Jesus chose to give His life as an atoning sacrifice for sinners, bridging the separation between a God and sinful humanity.

At the end of the mass, Fr. Valerian Mendonca placed the announcements of the week and announced the schedule of the service during the Holy Week which has been led by Bishop Gerald Isaac Lobo of Udupi diocese. The Maundy Thursday services starts from 6.30pm, Good Friday services will starts from 4pm. Moreover, from 9am in the morning, way of the Cross will be conducted. The Easter Vigil Service will begin at 7pm on Saturday followed by Festal mass. Easter Mass will be held at 8am mass.

Christians all over the world mark the start of the Holy Week on Palm Sunday and conclude it on Easter Sunday which celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his death on the cross. Palm Sunday showcases the Kingship of Jesus Christ and commemorates his triumphant riding into Jerusalem while seated on a donkey. The Biblical narrative of this even is brief.