Palm Sunday in Jerusalem

Via The Huffington Post:

Jerusalem – Hundreds of Christian pilgrims marked Palm Sunday in the Holy Land on Sunday, holding masses and processions retracing Jesus’ triumphant return to Jerusalem.

Palm Sunday marks the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem, where he was greeted by cheering crowds bearing palm fronds, according to the Bible.

The day’s events began with a mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher – revered as the site where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. Several hundred worshippers and clergy lit candles and waved palm fronds in the dark, cavernous church.

“It’s the holiest place in the world for Christians and it’s important for me to come here at least once in my lifetime,” said Etienne Chevremont, 49, a visitor from Paris who attended the Jerusalem Mass.

Visitors walked down the cobblestone alleyways of the walled Old City carrying olive branches, palm fronds and crosses.

A service was also held in Bethlehem’s Nativity Church, built atop Jesus’ traditional birthplace.

Later Sunday, the faithful were expected to march from the neighboring Mount of Olives into the Old City behind a white donkey, following Jesus’ traditional route from 2,000 years ago.

The day marks the start of Holy Week, which ends next Sunday with Easter. Orthodox Christians mark Palm Sunday next week.

Israel’s Tourism Ministry said it expects 125,000 visitors during Holy Week and 300,000 throughout April, when Jews celebrate Passover – a 5 percent increase from last year.

 

Sick April Fools Joke: Pope Benedict XVI Denied a Visa to Visit South Africa

I for one don’t think this is funny at all! It’s sick. The things said are appalling and, again, not funny.

And this from a supposed reputable paper?

Timing (start of Holy Week) adds to my distaste.

Read for yourself. I’m not reposting the garbage.

 

 

More Anglicans Leave Church of England for Rome

A parish church has been torn apart by its priest’s decision to defect to the Roman Catholic Church.

The Telegraph:

On Wednesday, the 26-strong choir of St James the Great will sing for the congregation as they have always done during Holy Week.

But this week they will do so a mile down the road in St Anne’s Roman Catholic church, their new home.

Led by Fr Ian Grieves, the priest at St James in Darlington for 23 years, 58 parishioners will formally join the Ordinariate, the body set up by the Pope for disaffected Anglicans.

They are not alone: this week across England, 200 Anglican worshippers and 20 clergy will cross over to Rome.

Many are frustrated by the Church of England’s move to appoint women bishops.

The majority of Anglicans defecting are concerned they will not be “protected” from the introduction of women bishops through special measures — such as occurred during the 1990s with the introduction of “flying bishops” to provide leadership to parishes that could not accept the Church’s decision to ordain women priests.

Next month, the House of Bishops will consider whether it can add further provisions to the legislation before a final vote this summer.

But it will be too late for the parish of St James, where the split has severed many old friendships and caused anguish over the church’s future, as it has in others across England.

This week, groups in Croydon, south London; Harlow, Essex; Blackpool and Portsmouth will also join the Ordinariate.

The 55-year-old Fr Grieves said the Church failed to support the traditional practices of his Anglo-Catholic congregation, placing him in an “impossible” position.

“We were very, very concerned about our place in the Church of England in terms of the validity of orders and the various things about proceeding with women bishops, and therefore there would be no provision for people of a traditional disposition,” he said.

“We want validity and authenticity and all those things were denied [to] us for the sake of this politically correct Church and liberal agenda which grinds on and on.”

The decisions taken by parishes this year comes after 60 Anglican clergy and about 1,000 lay people joined the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham during Holy Week last year.

Read on here.

 

Hosanna!

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

¹ As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, ² saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”

⁴ They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, ⁵ some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” ⁶ They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. ⁷ When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. ⁸ Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. ⁹Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

¹⁰“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

¹¹ Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

¹⁰“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

¹¹ Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.