More young people should take part in the traditions of the Christian faith. That’s the message from June Gardner, president of the Nativity Conference in Diego Martin, who spoke to the Guardian as the Society of St Vincent de Paul hosted its annual Palm Sunday walk yesterday. The Society of St Vincent de Paul is made up of homes for the aged, hostels, night shelters, nurseries and halfway houses.
Gardner was one of dozens of Christians who marched from Nazareth House, Duncan Street to Independence Square, Port-of-Spain yesterday morning, the march culminating at Our Lady of the Holy Family RC Church where the blessing of the palms took place during holy mass.
Speaking before the walk started, Gardner said it “signifies Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, where he came in riding on a donkey. That’s the significance of today’s walk. We tried to target the youth from this year. We have quite a few young people. We are trying to get more youths to come out because we’ve been doing this for quite a few years. We need the young people to keep it going.”
Palm Sunday is one of the most important days in the Christian calendar and marks the beginning of Holy Week, a traditional commemoration of the events leading up to Jesus' death and resurrection. As a symbol of their faith and devotion, many Christians keep the palm crosses which are distributed during Palm Sunday service and hang them in their houses through the year.