Indians celebrate Palm Sunday

It was a colorful, joyful and spectacular demonstration of their faith in Jesus Christ acknowledging him as their Saviour and the Lord and King of the universe and their lives. They were very proud to rejoice and to recall and to re-enact the Gospel event that took place at the very spot in that village called Bethpage on the Mount of Olives two thousand years ago. As Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover , he entered this village which is between Bethany and the Mount of Olives, alongside the city of Jerusalem, he sat on a donkey and the people of the village ran out to spread their cloaks and olive branches on the road shouting "Hosanna to the son of David", "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" etc.(Mark11:1-10). As they were celebrating this important historical event at the beginning of the Holy Week, the Indian Community experienced themselves as a new people of God who came to thank God for Jesus of Nazareth and to celebrate his kingship all over the universe.

The palms and olive branches were blessed by Franciscan Custos Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa. After Reading the Gospel, he preached a brief homely, showing his appreciation for the Indian community in the Holy Land. The procession of nearly a thousand Indians, men, women, children and even little infants with their young mothers, went through the streets of the Mount of Olives to Gethsemane, along the traditional route of the Palm Sunday procession, singing hymns in Konkani, Kanada, Malayalam and English and crying out "Hosanna". When they reached the Basilica of Agony (also known as the Basilica of All Nations) at Gethsemane, they stood on the steps of Basilica, facing the Golden Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, through which the Messiah entered, and they sang hymns of praise and thanks. They entered the Basilica to celebrate the Holy Eucharist of Passion Sunday. The Holy Mass was presided over by Father Praveen H. D'souza OFM, assistant pastor of the Indian Chaplaincy and a Student at the Franciscan Biblical Institute in Jerusalem.

The Indian Chaplaincy which cares for the Pastoral needs of the Indian Community in the Holy Land organized this procession on Saturday as the vast majority of its members are migrant-workers in Israel and get their week off only on Sabbath.

Photos by Jossy and Jessy Pinto