Palm Sunday: Use Holy Week to pray for Nigeria, Cleric urges Christians

A Catholic Priest, Rev. (Fr) Lawrence Ogundipe, has urged Christians to use this Holy Week of Jesus Christ’s crucification and resurrection to pray for the end of novel Coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria.

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Ogundipe of St. Leo Catholic Church, Otun Abeokuta Diocese,  gave the advised in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) on Sunday in Abeokuta, saying that the country needed God’s intervention to end the virus ravaging the world.

The priest said that Palm Sunday ushers in the beginning of the Holy Week, which was the last week of Lent in the Orthodox Christians’ calendar.

He said that the Holy Week was a time for prayer, reflection and spiritual works.

”At this critical time of the Coronavirus pandemic, Christians should take advantage of the Holy Week and cry to God for his mercies, intervention and solution to end the disease,” Ogundipe said.

He also advised Christians to obey those directives given by the Federal and State Governments, especially the stay-at-home rules to curb the spread of Coronavirus.

“The lockdown is not a new thing; we saw it already happened in the Book of Genesis Chapter Six, when God told Noah to build an ark and he shut down the whole world for 40 days and 40 nights.

“Within that period, there was rain that flooded and cleansed every where, and it was only those that obeyed the commandment of stay indoor that were saved.

“So, at this period, the government is asking us to stay indoor, also the Church is appealing to members to stay indoor, so that the face of the earth can be cured of this pandemic again,” he said.

The cleric urged Christians to stay in their various homes to pray and observe the Holy Week.

According to him, Jesus said where two or more people gather in His Name, He is there in their midst.

Ogundipe said there were many more years to celebrate Palm Sunday and Easter, noting that it was better to be alive first before we could think of coming out to celebrate.

He, however, said that priests were playing their roles in raising their hands together to pray for the country, the scientists, doctors and for every thing to be normal.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Palm Sunday is celebrated on Sunday preceeding Easter in remembrance of Jesus Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem.