Every Holy Week begins with the celebration of Palm Sunday. For us in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), there is no shortage of palm leaves. In fact, here in our parish of St Perpetua, a stone’s throw from the banks of the River Congo, tall palm leaves were planted along the procession route and waved during the procession to commemorate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Our procession began from a large private compound adorned with trees and flowers (it felt like the Garden of Olives) made available by a wealthy Christian. As we went along singing, in Latin as well as the vernacular, and waving palms, I kept on thinking that the crowd in Jerusalem did not pick the palms only because they were readily available. The palm tree, one of the DRC’s precious natural resources, is very life-giving. Therefore it symbolises Jesus.