0:00:02 > 0:00:06Today is Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week,
0:00:06 > 0:00:10when we remember Jesus's last days on Earth.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13It's a dramatic story of pain, triumph and deep emotion
0:00:13 > 0:00:17on a scale that's both epic and very human.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20No wonder it's the greatest story ever told.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25I'm in a place where stories and drama
0:00:25 > 0:00:28come to life on the big screen,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31in the world's first UNESCO City of Film,
0:00:31 > 0:00:34which, believe it or not, is Bradford.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40Famous roles have been immortalised here by world-renowned actors,
0:00:40 > 0:00:44like Yorkshire's own Tom Courtenay.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48Tom is going to remind us of the passages from the Bible
0:00:48 > 0:00:51which describe Jesus's last days,
0:00:51 > 0:00:55starting with Mark's Gospel, which tells how the Son of God
0:00:55 > 0:00:59arrived in Jerusalem on a humble donkey.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04They brought the colt to Jesus
0:01:04 > 0:01:06and threw their cloaks on it,
0:01:06 > 0:01:09and he sat on it.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12Many people spread their cloaks on the road
0:01:12 > 0:01:16and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields.
0:01:16 > 0:01:21Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, "Hosanna!
0:01:21 > 0:01:26"Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord."
0:01:30 > 0:01:35Majesty and meekness, glory and suffering -
0:01:35 > 0:01:38those are the themes of our hymns today from the congregation
0:01:38 > 0:01:42here at Bradford Cathedral, where we start with a hymn
0:01:42 > 0:01:46that unites both the spectacle and the pathos of Palm Sunday.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48And so the drama begins.
0:03:48 > 0:03:54Jesus enters Jerusalem as the first act in a week that will end with his Crucifixion.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Daryll Hackett stages the events of that week
0:03:58 > 0:04:01in a unique interpretation.
0:04:01 > 0:04:07- This is a very odd way to mark Holy Week, isn't it?- Fantastic!
0:04:07 > 0:04:10THEY LAUGH
0:04:10 > 0:04:12I think what's really nice is, it draws people in.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15At the start of it, in Jerusalem,
0:04:15 > 0:04:17there's Jesus coming in on a unicycle,
0:04:17 > 0:04:21it's obviously Jesus on a donkey, and that look in people's faces,
0:04:21 > 0:04:23of that shock - "What's going on?"
0:04:23 > 0:04:25That sense of surprise, really.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Jesus goes off on the unicycle onto the tight wire
0:04:28 > 0:04:31and he's getting closer and closer to people.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35Then we go on to the Last Supper, which is signified by plate-spinning,
0:04:35 > 0:04:37and then Judas is signified by one of the plates
0:04:37 > 0:04:41taken off on a sickle and then cast aside,
0:04:41 > 0:04:44which takes us to the garden scene and the betrayal.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47The idea of the knives, really, is just to create that tension.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52Then Judas appears from the background and throws a knife,
0:04:52 > 0:04:54which symbolises a kiss.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58That takes you on to the Crucifixion on top of the platform,
0:04:58 > 0:05:01which is the most powerful part of the whole scene.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03Then to signify
0:05:03 > 0:05:05the moving of the stone, we have a big walking globe,
0:05:05 > 0:05:09so I jump on top of that, move the globe away and then come back.
0:05:09 > 0:05:10Then, for the Resurrection,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13we have the diablos flying high in the air and then coming back
0:05:13 > 0:05:15and finishing with some flag poi,
0:05:15 > 0:05:18sort of swirling around... Just a sense of joy.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22The events of Holy Week, of course, are very painful
0:05:22 > 0:05:24but also very precious to Christians.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26Do they worry that you're making fun of it?
0:05:26 > 0:05:29I've always had the opposite, to be honest.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32People come up and say how moving it's been
0:05:32 > 0:05:36and how it has made them look at it in a different light.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39The hardest part is the bit from the garden, walking round.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43I think at that point, my emotions start to wobble a little bit.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46I'm thinking, "What was Jesus thinking at this point?"
0:05:47 > 0:05:51It's really hard not to cry when you're doing that.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53The emotion just overtakes.
0:05:55 > 0:05:56It is a wonderful show to do, for me.
0:05:56 > 0:06:01I have a month of just solely focusing in on what Holy Week means.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49Jesus entered the temple and drove out
0:08:49 > 0:08:52all who were selling and buying there.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54He overturned the tables of the moneychangers
0:08:54 > 0:08:57and the seats of those who sold doves.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59He said to them, "It is written,
0:08:59 > 0:09:03"my house shall be called a house of prayer,
0:09:03 > 0:09:06"but you are making it a den of robbers."
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Just opposite Bradford Cathedral is the headquarters building
0:09:14 > 0:09:17of the charity Christians Against Poverty.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21It was established in 1996 by John Kirkby and, among other things,
0:09:21 > 0:09:26it helps people who have fallen victim to poor lending practices.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30I often think of seeing Jesus there in the temple,
0:09:30 > 0:09:33overturning the moneylenders' tables and it just feels to me
0:09:33 > 0:09:36like that's really the kind of stuff that we are doing.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38The system that brings people into debt and ruins lives.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40It was ruining lives then.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43It's the same now. We are doing Jesus' equivalent,
0:09:43 > 0:09:44we'd like to think, in today's society.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48What sort of pitfalls do people tumble into?
0:09:48 > 0:09:51There are so many different loans out there available to people.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54You've got mortgages and all that kind of stuff.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57Then, at the more extreme end, you've got payday lenders
0:09:57 > 0:09:58and all that stuff
0:09:58 > 0:10:02of short-term lending with extortionate interest rates, etc.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04What are you able to do?
0:10:04 > 0:10:07'We sit down with people and we begin to work with them on a solution,
0:10:07 > 0:10:10'organise a budget on which they can feed their children
0:10:10 > 0:10:11'and pay their debts off slowly,
0:10:11 > 0:10:14'bringing them to a state of becoming debt free.'
0:10:16 > 0:10:19And here we are, at the start of Holy Week,
0:10:19 > 0:10:23so if Christ was here now, what would he be saying, what would his challenge be?
0:10:23 > 0:10:26I'd like to think he'd come to CAP in Bradford,
0:10:26 > 0:10:31but I do know he'd be amongst the poor, standing up for broken people,
0:10:31 > 0:10:35and I think it's that that inspires us at Christians Against Poverty.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40At the end of the day, we are servants of the living God.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44Our heart is to serve the Church, to serve the Lord and to serve the poor
0:10:44 > 0:10:47and see this nation change through a bunch of people who love God.
0:14:05 > 0:14:11One poignant and powerful example of Jesus humbling himself to serve others
0:14:11 > 0:14:14was when he washed the feet of his disciples
0:14:14 > 0:14:16as they were having their last meal together.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22During supper, Jesus poured water into a basin
0:14:22 > 0:14:26and began to wash the disciples' feet.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29After he had washed their feet, he said to them,
0:14:29 > 0:14:34"If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet,
0:14:34 > 0:14:37"you also ought to wash one another's feet,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40"for I have set you an example
0:14:40 > 0:14:45"which you also should do, as I have done to you."
0:14:48 > 0:14:53Jesus's example of serving others has been followed by saints down the ages,
0:14:53 > 0:14:58including St Francis of Assisi, whose life and teachings provide inspiration
0:14:58 > 0:15:02for the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal here in Leeds.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04SHE PRAYS
0:15:04 > 0:15:07'We've been here in England for about four years,
0:15:07 > 0:15:09'coming over from the United States.'
0:15:09 > 0:15:14Our community has been founded to do hands-on work with the poor
0:15:14 > 0:15:18and outreach to those in need and also works of evangelisation.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20'We have a mothers-and-toddlers' group
0:15:20 > 0:15:25'where, every week, we have tea, cake and a nice chat.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29'It has just been a wonderful opportunity to build friendships
0:15:29 > 0:15:31'and to have a wonderful atmosphere
0:15:31 > 0:15:34'where they can come and have a break.'
0:15:35 > 0:15:39Then we also do a variety of things with the poor.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43We help at the soup kitchen, we also have a food bank,
0:15:43 > 0:15:47so whoever is in need, they're welcome to come to our door any time.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50When you were a teenager, did you have any idea
0:15:50 > 0:15:52that you might end up as a religious sister?
0:15:52 > 0:15:56I was competing on the World Cup circuit as a speed skater
0:15:56 > 0:15:59for the US American Speedskating Team.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03I competed in the Winter Olympics in 1998,
0:16:03 > 0:16:07placing sixth and seventh in my events,
0:16:07 > 0:16:09but there was a restlessness in my heart,
0:16:09 > 0:16:13where I knew for myself that there was more to life than sports.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16So I decided to retire.
0:16:16 > 0:16:21After that, I had a powerful encounter with Christ,
0:16:21 > 0:16:26so I joined the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal when I was 23 years old.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31St Francis is our inspiration.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36All St Francis wanted to do was truly put the gospel into practice.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41So our ministry isn't about big institutions
0:16:41 > 0:16:43or serving hundreds of people.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47We really see it as a one-to-one way of loving our neighbour
0:16:47 > 0:16:49as Christ would love them,
0:16:49 > 0:16:53and really being the face of Jesus to those that we serve.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01# I give to you
0:17:01 > 0:17:07# A new commandment
0:17:07 > 0:17:11# A new commandment
0:17:11 > 0:17:16# I give to you
0:17:17 > 0:17:23# That you love one another
0:17:23 > 0:17:27# Love one another
0:17:28 > 0:17:32# As I have loved you
0:17:32 > 0:17:38# As I have loved you
0:17:38 > 0:17:43# I give to you
0:17:43 > 0:17:50# A new commandment
0:17:50 > 0:17:55# A new commandment
0:17:55 > 0:17:59# I give to you
0:18:00 > 0:18:06# That you love one another
0:18:06 > 0:18:11# Love one another
0:18:11 > 0:18:17# As I have loved you
0:18:17 > 0:18:25# As I have loved you... #
0:18:33 > 0:18:37It was in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of his arrest
0:18:37 > 0:18:41that the humanity of Jesus was laid bare.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44Knowing that a cruel and painful death awaited him,
0:18:44 > 0:18:46he prayed to be spared from suffering.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55They went to a place called Gethsemane
0:18:55 > 0:19:00and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03"I'm going a little further."
0:19:03 > 0:19:08He threw himself on the ground and prayed that if it were possible,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11the hour might pass from him.
0:19:12 > 0:19:19He said, "Abba, Father, for you, all things are possible.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23"Remove this cup from me.
0:19:23 > 0:19:28"Yet, not what I want, but what you want."
0:19:32 > 0:19:38Ben Mussanzi knows what it's like to pray as Jesus did in Gethsemane.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41To pray in desperate circumstances.
0:19:41 > 0:19:47One day in 1981, he was on his way to a funeral in his native Congo
0:19:47 > 0:19:50when he was attacked by a group of armed men
0:19:50 > 0:19:54who believed he belonged to a different ethnic group.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59They confused me, they mistook me for their enemy.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01I heard one of them saying,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05"Here we are not going to use our machetes.
0:20:06 > 0:20:12"He's alone, we are many. So we'll strangle him and we'll throw him
0:20:12 > 0:20:17"in the river so that they'll think that we was killed by the river."
0:20:19 > 0:20:22They removed my shirt,
0:20:22 > 0:20:28and they transformed the shirt in a cord to tie my hands behind.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33While I was trembling, I was saying, "I'm ready.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35"Can you allow me to pray before you kill me?"
0:20:37 > 0:20:41When I say that, the Holy Spirit brought them all,
0:20:41 > 0:20:43about 30 people, to surround me.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47So they were listening carefully to my prayer.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52The prayer was, "Lord, thank you for planning that
0:20:52 > 0:20:57"I will be killed today by young people from my own ethnic group.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59"But forgive them."
0:21:02 > 0:21:08And when I say that, I said, "OK, I'm ready to die. You can kill me now."
0:21:08 > 0:21:11At that point, I lost my conscious.
0:21:13 > 0:21:18When my conscious came back, I found these young people nearly fighting.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22Blaming each other.
0:21:22 > 0:21:28They moved me from the mud, and others were putting my shirt on me.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31Amazing experience.
0:21:32 > 0:21:38God knew that I still have work in this world with my family,
0:21:38 > 0:21:42and so this is why I think he spared my life.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53# When the days of sorrow
0:21:54 > 0:22:00# With more than our hearts can face
0:22:00 > 0:22:06# Surrendering us into the hands
0:22:06 > 0:22:11# Of grace
0:22:13 > 0:22:19# Grief and loss entangle us
0:22:19 > 0:22:25# Forsaking the trust we've known
0:22:25 > 0:22:30# Till nothing but our love
0:22:30 > 0:22:37# Can lead us home
0:22:38 > 0:22:44# Pray without ceasing
0:22:44 > 0:22:49# Pray
0:22:50 > 0:22:58# God in heaven's hearing every word
0:23:02 > 0:23:05# We say
0:23:14 > 0:23:20# Pray without ceasing
0:23:20 > 0:23:24# Pray
0:23:26 > 0:23:34# God in heaven's hearing every cry
0:23:35 > 0:23:39# Every child
0:23:39 > 0:23:44# Every day
0:23:44 > 0:23:48# Every day
0:23:55 > 0:24:03# God is hearing every word we say
0:24:05 > 0:24:09# Pray
0:24:11 > 0:24:18# Pray... #
0:24:23 > 0:24:27Jesus's fate is sealed at his trial in front of Pilate,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30the Roman governor.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32Pilate said to them,
0:24:32 > 0:24:36"Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?"
0:24:36 > 0:24:39All of them said, "Let him be crucified."
0:24:39 > 0:24:44Then he asked, "Why? What evil has he done?"
0:24:44 > 0:24:48But they shouted all the more, "Let him be crucified."
0:24:48 > 0:24:54So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, he took some water
0:24:54 > 0:24:57and washed his hands before the crowd, saying,
0:24:57 > 0:25:01"I am innocent of this man's blood.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03"See to it yourselves."
0:25:06 > 0:25:11So, injustice led to Jesus's final suffering.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14Ben's wife, Kongosi,
0:25:14 > 0:25:18experienced injustice during the conflict in the Congo.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23Fearing for her life, she was forced to flee the country,
0:25:23 > 0:25:28but extreme poverty meant that she was unable to bring
0:25:28 > 0:25:30all her children with her.
0:25:30 > 0:25:38When we have to leave the house, Sarah was in tears, shouting,
0:25:38 > 0:25:44"Mum, you are my father, you are my mother. Where are you going?
0:25:44 > 0:25:49"Why are you leaving me behind? Who will take care of me?"
0:25:49 > 0:25:54So I closed my eyes, I was in tears.
0:25:55 > 0:26:02My hand was all the time here because I could feel the pain of separation.
0:26:05 > 0:26:10Kongosi feared for the lives of the children she left behind.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14They were cared for by other members of the family,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17and her eldest daughter has been able to visit them in Bradford.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23But Jesus's mother Mary had to watch her son die a cruel
0:26:23 > 0:26:25and painful death.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28When we see Holy Week,
0:26:28 > 0:26:34I kind of think of Mary watching
0:26:34 > 0:26:38what was going on with Jesus,
0:26:38 > 0:26:42and as a mother, you are watching this.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46I just put my hand on my breast.
0:26:46 > 0:26:51Oh, my God, that is painful experience,
0:26:51 > 0:26:56and it's like a wound no-one can heal.
0:27:02 > 0:27:08When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Jesus with the criminals,
0:27:11 > 0:27:14one on his right and one on his left,
0:27:14 > 0:27:16and Jesus said,
0:27:16 > 0:27:23"Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing."
0:27:26 > 0:27:32# When I survey the wondrous cross...
0:29:54 > 0:29:56Heavenly Father,
0:29:56 > 0:30:01as Jesus our king chose to enter Jerusalem on a donkey,
0:30:01 > 0:30:06help us to travel on our journey with humility.
0:30:07 > 0:30:13As Jesus our saviour turned the moneylenders from the temple,
0:30:13 > 0:30:16help us to strive to overcome poverty and the misuse of money.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23As Jesus our Lord prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane,
0:30:23 > 0:30:27help us to trust in you even in our darkest hour.
0:30:34 > 0:30:38Our final hymn is taken from the magnificent poem
0:30:38 > 0:30:42The Dream Of Gerontius by John Henry Newman.
0:30:42 > 0:30:46In it, he describes a chorus of angels singing in wonder and triumph
0:30:46 > 0:30:49this hymn of praise to Jesus,
0:30:49 > 0:30:53the man who suffered and the king who reigns.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28Next week, Bill enjoys a rich diversity
0:33:28 > 0:33:31of Easter Sunday celebrations.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34He visits Greek Orthodox and Polish churches,
0:33:34 > 0:33:38and learns about a Moravian custom for remembering the dead,
0:33:38 > 0:33:40all within the boundary of Yorkshire,
0:33:40 > 0:33:42with music from young singers
0:33:42 > 0:33:45including the Radio 2 Choristers of the Year.