Three churches come together to participate in Holy Week procession

Churches observe Palm Sunday today – the start of Holy Week, the final leg in the season of Lent, a time for reflection, repentance and charity. A week that recalls events leading to the trial, suffering and death of Jesus.
Palm Sunday recalls Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem city, hailed on his way by the community. And in all churches, this is observed with a procession of priests and lay people carrying palms in a procession to their churches.
Today’s Palm Sunday procession in San Thome was a bit unique.
The priests, religious like nuns and lay people of three churches in this area, Catholic and Protestant, came together in this procession before going off into their churches for the Sunday service.
The churches that got together – St. Thomas Cathedral, CSI St Thomas English Church, CSI St Thomas Tamil Church – all located on San Thome High Road, all close in location.
This is part of the ecumenical effort Churches have made in recent years, though these efforts have been sparse and not so regular.
Fr A Arulraj, parish priest at the St Thomas Cathedral said that though such joint services have been held in the past, there was a break and the three churches decided to come together for Palm Sunday.