Some reflections on Palm Sunday

In liturgical, or Church calendar, today is Palm Sunday and it marks the beginning of Holy Week which ends with the glorious and wondrous resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.

Unlike in the past, Churches will regrettably not be filled to maximum capacity with Christians who would normally go to places of worship throughout Uganda to celebrate this special day.

The reason for failure to attend Church services today is the coronavirus pandemic, which is causing untold havoc, suffering and death in Asia, Europe, North America, Africa and elsewhere in the world. May the Lord have mercy!

According to Biblical scholars, the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem on a donkey was prophesied in the Old Testament book of Zechariah where it’s written: “Rejoice, rejoice, people of Zion! Shout for joy, you people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you! He comes triumphant and victorious, but humble and riding on a donkey – on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah 9:9 (GNB)

Like Christmas and Easter, Palm Sunday has a couple of songs which are traditionally sung as processional hymns on this important day, among which are, All glory, laud and honour by JM Neale and Ride on! ride on in majesty by HH Milman.

The lyrics of Milman’s hymn sets the stage for this momentous event. It talks about a King and a meek Saviour who rides in lowly pomp on to die.
“O Christ thy triumph now begin over captive death and conquered sin.” The fifth and final stanza concludes as follows, “Bow thy meek head to mortal pain, then take, O God, thy power and reign.”

The contrast between this meek king and contemporary African leaders could not be more explicit and stark.
The symbolism of a king riding on a donkey would not have been lost on ancient Jews and Romans because, unlike a horse which was the preferred animal of warriors, a donkey was considered to be an animal of peace.

Jesus’ triumphant entry to Jerusalem on a donkey symbolised and indeed confirmed his arrival as the Prince of Peace, not a warrior king or to borrow a Luganda word, Sabalwanyi.

The triumphant entry to Jerusalem of Jesus which Christians celebrate worldwide today, will turn into grief and sorrow on April 10, Good Friday, which is one of the holiest and solemn occasions in Church calendar.
It is the day in which believers remember the suffering and death on the cross of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.

On the significance of Palm Sunday
As we gather in small groups throughout Uganda to celebrate Palm Sunday, Christians should bear in mind what Scripture teaches, where two or three are gathered in the name of God, our Father in heaven is present with you.

God hears our prayers, petitions and cry for help, comfort and divine intervention, especially during difficult, challenging and trying times such as Ugandans are experiencing now.

The Covid-19 pandemic is a wake-up call for government of Uganda to get its priorities right. Instead of squandering scarce public resources on the military, State House and a bloated bureaucracy, government must urgently and substantially increase budgetary allocations to three key sectors which affect and touch the lives of all Ugandans, namely, health, education and agriculture.

Is it not ironical that for the 2020/2021 Financial Year the NRM regime has proposed to cut down the budgets of line ministries of Health and Education?
I urge government, once again, to implement the commitments Uganda made at past African Union summits in Abuja, Addis Ababa and Maputo to allocate annually a minimum of 15 per cent of the national Budget for health sector, 15 per cent for education sector and 10 per cent for agriculture sector.

It is the best and right thing to do for the good of our country, not to impress African Union or United Nations.

Mr Acemah is a political scientist and retired career diplomat.
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