Catholics Joyfully Mark Palm Sunday In Benin City

By Bernadette Idalu

Catholics today joyfully marked Palm Sunday, the beginning of "Holy week," in commemoration of Jesus Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, a place where he was greeted by cheering crowds waving palm branches which they put on the ground along his path.

Despite the joy of the occasion, the liturgy presented today, March 24, 2024, centred on hypocrisies and betrayal of Jesus by the same crowd which cheered him on. Emphasis was put on his passion, death and resurrection on the third day.

In his homily, shared online, Rev. Fr. Evaristus Abu told communicants that the week is called "Holy" because it is the reenactment of the greatest event of history which is the death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

He stated that the "Passion of Christ" is a story of betrayal hence the need for everyone to examine their conscience. He upheld that like Judas Iscariot, everyone should ask themselves the question, “Haven’t I betrayed my close friends in the past?” 

The priest in his homily noted that the excessive love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10). This was what motivated Judas to sell Jesus. He affirmed that the greatest commandment is to love God and our neighbour as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31) hence when our love for money becomes greater than our love for God and neighbour, we become worse than Judas Iscariot. 

Pointing at other sub themes, Fr. Abu maintained that the Passion of Christ is also a story of giving as exemplified by the woman who anointed Jesus with her expensive ointment. This, he said, teaches us to give God our best. In like vein, Jesus Christ gave us his body and blood in the Holy Eucharist.

Pointing to scripture he read, In today’s first reading, Isaiah depicts the selfless nature of Jesus’s generosity: Isaiah 50:5-6, “I turned not backwards. I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I hid not my face from shame and spitting.”

The Passion of Christ he pointed out questions our prayer life and  teaches us to please God rather than men. It also encourages us to avoid boasting.

The disciples, he observed, all promised to remain with Jesus. When they were eventually faced with Roman soldiers, they all took to their heels, including Peter, who boasted: “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and death!” (Luke 22:33). 

The Passion of Christ he said, teaches us to please God rather than men. Pilate knew Jesus was innocent, “For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up.” (Mark 15:10) but, Pilate behaved like Aaron who made a golden calf for the people. He was more interested in appeasing the crowds than following his conscience.

The Passion of Christ he said also teaches us Humility. Fr. Abu therefore urged Christian faithfuls to remain steadfast as, "The passion narrative teaches us a lot about ourselves. If today, I am still ruled by money, if I betray others like Judas Iscariot, if I am still stingy, if I am still proud, if I neglect my prayers, if I often act to please the crowd like Pilate, it means I haven’t grown at all during these forty days of Lent."

A respondent, Madam Onomuale Jacob gave a stark perspective of the christian observance in Benin City, based on present realities. While evaluating "Lent and Holy Week" this year, as it pertains to the forty days symbolic journey by communicants as they strove to adhere to the three pillars of faith - fasting, prayer and almsgiving, a journey that started from Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent (February 14, 2024), she testified that this year's observances were remarkable based on pressing hunger in the land.

She pointed out, "Those who used to go to church could not really do that this year due to the high cost of buying petroleum products and the spiralling high cost of transportation.

"Going to church, for me, has become a challenge because I would not have enough fuel to go to work. A hungry man is an angry man. I cannot come to church hungry and you expect me to do the will of God.

"The economic situation has dealt a toll on the people. The ones that came could not even withstand going around. Those that moved round had to buy one sachet water for as much as fifty (#50) Naira. Incidentally, the money in circulation is not much and today, the sun was scorching.

"My prayer is that God will touch the heart of government and all policy makers so that they come up with policies that affect the masses positively. Even the salary paid to workers is not enough to sustain them and their families. 

"Can one serve God like that? Who nor chop bellyful nor dey serve God o."