PALMS ALL AROUND. A woman chooses among the palm branches being peddled outside the Immaculate Conception Church in Dasmariñas, Cavite in observance of Palm Sunday (March 25, 2018). (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)
GAMU, Isabela -- Carrying palm fronds, the Catholic faithful in Gamu and Alicia towns trooped to the centuries-old and miraculous Our Lady of the Visitation of Guibang and the Our Lady of Atocha Parish, respectively, on Palm Sunday, March 25, as they join their fellow devotees nationwide in marking the start of the Holy Week.
Reverend Father Gregorio Marvic Uanan, parish priest at Our Lady of Guibang Church in Gamu town, said the celebration does not only focus on Palm Sunday but the entire Holy Week celebration.
The humility of Jesus Christ for redeeming our sins must be emulated, he added in his sermon to parishioners.
Reverend Father Ramon Navarro, Alicia parish priest, said Catholic devotees usually come in droves to churches to have their palm fronds or ‘palaspas’ blessed as they commemorate Jesus’ solemn entry to Jerusalem.
The priest said that the event commemorates the mysteries of salvation – the lay motive of Holy Week. “It is the celebration of great mystery of salvation, which we profess every after mass: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again,” he said.
“It is the central feast of the Church and that it is the foundation, actually, of our faith, all other beliefs or other feasts find their meaning and efficacy in this Paschal Mystery,” he added.
The priest also reminded the faithful to remember that they have sinned and that Jesus Christ redeemed the world through his sufferings and resurrection.
Navarro also asked for intense prayer and conversion this Holy Week, noting the act of doing charities as one way of observing Lent.(PNA)
