Most Christian Churches in Ghana celebrated Palm Sunday on April 2 in a grand style with procession of the people of God through some principal streets carrying palm fronds amidst drumming and dancing.
Some congregants were seen waving palm branches and sang ‘Hosanna’ while in procession, just as the first followers of Jesus did to celebrate the coming of the Messiah to Jerusalem.
Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday as it is referred to in some Christian churches, is the sixth Sunday of Lent and last Sunday before Easter during which worshipers commemorate Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
On this day, Christians also remember Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross, praise God for the gift of salvation, and look expectantly to the Lord’s second coming.
Many churches distribute palm branches to the congregation on Palm Sunday for the customary observances. These observances include a reading of the account of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, the carrying and waving of palm branches in procession, the blessing of palms, the singing of traditional hymns, and the making of small crosses with palm fronds.
At the Our Lady of Assumption (OLA) Catholic Church at New Achimota in Accra, palm fronds were distributed to the parishioners, including children in the parish and societal clothes, who carried them in a procession from the Mile 7 Washing Bay amidst brass band music and waving of palm fronds to the Church. Some made miniature crosses out of the palms fronds to take home with them.
Presiding over the Mass was Rev. Fr. Job Plinga, MCCJ, Assistant Priest of OLA who in a homily, urged the faithful to see the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as a testing moment of their faith.
He asked the faithful to celebrate Palm Sunday by reflecting on the significance of the day and the characters of those in the passion reading, requesting the people of God to have the courage to defend what is right for society and endeavour to stand for the defenseless and the less privileged in society.
Fr. Plinga, who is a Comboni Missionary urged the OLA parishioners to us the occasion to unite, forgive one another and continue to live as one people and work for the progress of the Church and admonished them to uphold the good values of Christianity.
He bemoaned the lackadaisical attitude of some Christians towards church, asking Christians, irrespective of their circumstances, to remember that just as Christ used a worthless donkey as an instrument to bring victory for the Jews, God was ready to intervene in their daily lives and help them survive the vicissitudes of life.
At the St. Michael Co-Cathedral at Keta in the Keta-Akatsi Diocese in Ghana’s Volta Region, the celebration began from Keta Lorry Park near the market, with the blessing of palm branches and continued with procession through the principal streets of Keta to the Church.
The Mass was presided over by the Most Rev. Gabriel Edoe Kumordji, SVD and con-celebrated by Rev. Fr. Michael Elorm Gbordzor, the St. Michael Co-Cathedral Administrator.
As part of the celebration, the youth of the Parish, amid gladness entertained the Bishop with a cultural dance after Mass.
In his short reflection before the procession, Bishop Kumordji asked Christians to see the entering of Jesus into Jerusalem as a gesture to die for them and the sake of their salvation.
He asked the faithful gathered to reflect on how Jesus knowing he was going to die, yet went ahead to Jerusalem.
He urged the faithful to see themselves entering Jerusalem to be liberated from their own sufferings, pains and troubles, which, he noted, would be accomplished through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
