Following in the footsteps of Jesus

THE message this week is to be humble like Jesus.
This week Christians started the Holy Week celebrations with Palm Sunday.
Holy Week is the week leading up to the important Christian festival of Easter, beginning on Palm Sunday, including Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday) and ending on Holy Saturday.
The call is to be humble and the timing is right as we all journey through the week.
Some may say it is an individual choice but since we call ourselves Christians, we have to be mindful of the various celebrations this week.
Apostolic Nuncio of PNG and Solomon Islands Archbishop Mathew Vayalunkal remarks during mass at the St Joseph’s Catholic Parish in Port Moresby is timely.
Making reference to various election where candidates hire out vehicles for their supports to travel in campaigning, he challenged the parishioners to be humble.
He said at times athletes who return from international tournaments are taken on a tour of the city on their return for the public to see.
In the days of our messiah, kings and leaders rode horses, but Jesus humbled himself and rode a donkey, an animal people described as ugly.
Vayalunkal said when Jesus entered Jerusalem, unlike other kings where a red carpet was laid before them to walk on, his people laid cloth and palm leaves for him and his donkey to walk on.
As shepherd, his call for reconciliation with one another and with Jesus must be extended outside of those present at church yesterday to everyone.
This week is the final week of Lent – Holy Week.
It is a time for entering into the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, a time for new life and growth.
Palm Sunday is the first joy of the season, as Christians celebrate the Lord’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem where he was welcomed by crowds worshiping him and laying down palm leaves before him.
Fr Savio Angelo Sanchez, from Don Bosco Technical School in Port Moresby, says it is valuable time to deepen ones faith and nourish the spiritual life
This week should be a time for quiet reflection of our faith and how we live the passion of Christ in our day to day lives.
For many, it is also the time to reconnect with families in prayer through the Way of the Cross.
Easter Sunday, which immediately follows Holy Week and begins with the Easter Vigil, is the great feast day and apogee of the Christian liturgical year: on this day the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated.
The Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday is the main reason why Christians keep Sunday as the primary day of religious observance.
If we call ourselves a Christian country, then there is no reason why Papua New Guinea should not keep the Holy Week ‘Holy’. Some days of the Holy Week are already marked as public holidays and declared long weekends to allow for more prayer time and reflection.
This week should be about family, prayer and reconciliation.