By Msgr. Gabriel Osu

Today, Sunday, March 24, marks the celebration of Palm Sunday, the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. It is a day of procession in which the faithful carry branches of palm leaves as a re-enactment of the biblical story in which the crowd greeted Jesus by waving palm branches and covering his path with palm branches. This triumphant entry of Jesus soon marked the beginning of his journey to the cross where he was eventually crucified.

“So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it; as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on an ass’s colt (John 12:13-15)!”

Often referred to as Passion Sunday, today marks the beginning of Holy Week, which concludes on Easter Sunday. Traditionally, the Palm Sunday falls on the sixth and last Sunday of Lent. The principal ceremonies of the day are the benediction of the palms, the procession, the Mass, and during it the sing-ing of the Passion. Palm branches have been used by all nations as an emblem of joy and victory over enemies; in Christianity as a sign of vict-ory over the flesh and the world according to Psalm 91:-13.

On this day we proclaim Christ as a Victor who trium-phed over the devil and all his cohorts. We carry palm bran-ches as a tribute of waving joy, before Christ, victorious over death; also as a symbol of our wavering fickleness, betraying Christ unto His Death.

Great rejoicing

But this year’s Palm Sunday is with a difference. This is because right from Vatican, the Church would be led in this great celebration of faith by a new Pontiff. And as, there is great rejoicing among the Catholic faithful because God has deemed it fit to give the Church a new Pope.

Less than two weeks ago, there was palpable tension in the air as the faithful all over the world waited in palpable contemplation and prayer for a new Pontiff following the resignation of Benedict XVI. In remote and ancient settle-ments and canyons across Rome, Lourdes, Nigeria and Assisi, numerous candles lit up. From urban to austere monasteries, convents and seminaries tucked up amidst the hills and valleys of holy monuments in the various continents of the world that had withstood the test of time, millions of worshippers em-barked on novenas for God to empower the 115 Cardinals with the Holy Spirit to make the right choice.

What kind of man would he be? Would he be an Italian, American or an African? Would he be an extremist or a non-conformist? Such questions ran through the minds of many. But in all of these, God took charge.

Amidst all expectations, he gave to us a man after His own heart. He did not choose a priest with an unusual air, one we may consider as very popular or charismatic. Rather, he chose a 76-year old humble Jesuit Priest who took the bus to work as Cardinal of Buenos Aires and who loved to cook his own meal. Here is a highly placed clergy who refused to live in the church’s magnificent mansion, but rather, chose to sleep in a simple bed in a modest home heated by a tiny stove. That simple man, Cardinal Mario Jorge Bergeglio, made history as the first non-European pope of the modern era, the first from Latin America, the first Jesuit and the first to assume the name Francis.

Dose of what to expect

In his first Mass celebrated in the Sistine Chapel, Pope Francis gave us a dose of what to expect in his ponti-ficate when he called on all to join hands and build the church. “We can work as much as we want, we can build many things, but if we do not confess Jesus Christ, nothing will avail. We will become a pitiful NGO, but not the Church, the Bride of Christ. When one does not walk, one stalls. When one does not built on solid rocks, what happens? What happens is what happens to children on the beach when they make sandcastles: everything collapses, it is without con-sistency… “I would like for all of us, after these days of grace, that we find courage to walk in the presence of God …and to build the church with the blood of Christ,” the pope continued. “Only this way will the church move forward.”

The task ahead him is one-rous. There is an anticipated wind of change. He needs our collect-ive prayers and good will to succeed. He is human, like every one of us and so we should not expect perfection from him. However, as a choice of the divine at this period in time, we expect that the choices he would make in the weeks and years to come, would be in conformity with God’s divine plan for the Church, and for the salvation of the faithful.

With his historic inaugurat-ion on March 19, 2013, and as we journey into the Passion Week with renewed hope and confidence in the unwavering saving grace of God and His protection over the Church, Pope Francis, the humble friend of the poor, is set to lead the over 1.2 billion flock of God in the joyous resurrection of Christ from the dead and to a new era of consolidation in Christendom.