Kohima, April 9 (MExN): Catholic faithful in Nagaland joined the rest of the world in celebrating the Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday on April 9. With the celebration of the Palm Sunday, the faithful enters into the Holy Week.
At the Kohima Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians, Most Rev. Dr. James Thoppil, Bishop of Kohima, was the main celebrant. Fr. Carolus, Vicar General and Parish Priest of Mary Help of Christians Cathedral, Frs. Richard, John PM, George Punnolil, Jacob Charalel, Thomas, Sunny Joseph and priests from National Vocation Service Centre (NVSC), Pune, concelebrated with the Bishop.
Over 3000 Catholic faithful participated in the celebration, informed a press release from Fr. Thomas Toretkiu, Bishop’s Secretary, Kohima. The liturgy had two parts. For the first part, the parishioners gathered at the junction of Police Headquarters, Kohima where the Bishop prayed and blessed the palm leaves, after which the community proceeded to the Cathedral singing hymns, with palm leaves in their hands, observing the triumphant entry of Jesus to Jerusalem. The second part of the liturgy was held at the Cathedral Church where Passion narrative from the gospel of Mathew was read and Eucharist celebrated.
The Bishop, while introducing the Palm Sunday, said the two names for the day - Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday remind of two aspects of the celebration, namely the joyful part of proclaiming Christ as the King singing Hosanna and sad part of the passion and death of Christ. Bishop referred to the executive order of emperor Constantius- I, the father of Constantine the great, the first Christian Roman emperor, who demanded the Christians in his kingdom either to give up their faith or give up the job they possessed. “To the utter surprise of the emperor most Christians preferred to give up their job than to deny Christ. The king was happy with the fidelity of Christians and gave them back their job saying that if one is not faithful to one’s God, one will not be faithful to the king,” he added. The day’s liturgy, the bishop said, is an invitation to be faithful to God.
During the homily in the church, Bishop said that the triumphant entry of Jesus to Jerusalem and the agonizing passion of Jesus, both of which were read from the gospel of Mathew, are two sides of the same coin or two aspects of human life. “We have our moments of joy, triumph and victory,” he stated. “Then there is the other side of the coin – our moments of sorrows and agonizing passion. There are times when we go through what Jesus went through in Jerusalem: betrayal, denial, indifference, mockery, loneliness, rejection, false accusation, unjust treatment, insults, humiliation, mental and physical agony, torture and shameful death.”
“What a consolation and encouragement to know that Jesus bore all the suffering and evil which we human beings undergo and to believe that he is with us whenever these things happen to us,” he added. The Bishop further urged that the celebration be a pledge to live a worthy life as Jesus’ true disciples.
Meanwhile, Rev. Fr. Carolus Neisalhou, Parish Priest of the Cathedral, announced about the Chrism Mass to be celebrated on April 11 at 3:00 pm in Cathedral Church during which the Bishop along with all the priests working in the diocese will celebrate the Priesthood Day, thus showing the unity in priesthood and bless the sacred oils – oil of Chrism, oil of the catechumens and oil of the sick. All the faithful have been invited to take part in it.
