Celebrating Palm Sunday in lockdown was gloom-Bishop Serverus Jjumba

Masaka, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Celebrating Palm-Sunday under a lockdown was gloom to Masaka Diocesan Bishop Serverus Jjumba.

Palm Sunday is celebrated as the first day into the Holy Week which also coincides with the last week of the Lent season that is climaxed with the Easter feast.

After his consecration and inauguration in July last year, Jjumba says he was eager to celebrate his first Palm Sunday feast as a Bishop.

However, this did not happen on Sunday due to the ban on congregations following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jjumba says although the lock down is justifiable as prevention for possible spread of the coronavirus, he missed an opportunity of celebrating such a significant feast physically before the congregation whose turn up he expected to be unusually high.

The Bishop led the Palm Sunday service inside his residential chapel which was attended by only seven people and was devoid of some Christian rituals usually performed on such feasts, to avoid anybody contacts.

Jjumba challenged the Christians to turn the pain of celebrating the holy week in privacy into an opportunity to do self-reflection and reform from their ungodly ways as praying for the victims and COVID-19 response teams.

According to Jjumba, the outbreak of COVID-19 viral disease could be wake-up call God is using to remind human beings about their duty of returning to righteousness.

Using the analogy of Jesus Christ who braved crucifixion to save humankind, Jjumba also appealed to Christians not to curse the tough days under quarantine but to consider them as a vehicle to another phase of their lives.

Meanwhile, the heads of laity commissions in the various parishes collected palm leaves from the parishioners, bundled them and eventually delivered them to Bishop’s residence for blessings.

The Anglican Bishop of West Buganda Bishop Henry Katumba Tamale who also virtually performed Sunday service from his residence in Kako, Mukungwe sub-county in Masaka district asked the Christians to use the period in lock down for produce new spiritual compositions that will enhance worshiping in the church.

******

URN