MANILA, Philippines ? No amount of economic stimulus package from the government will be enough to help the poor at this time of crisis if individual Filipinos are not willing to do their part, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said.

In his Palm Sunday message, Rosales urged everyone to give more to charity as times become harder.

?If we feel that a simple offering for the poor is too difficult, what more the sacrifices needed to bring about change, recovery and saving one another? No amount of ?stimulus package? will begin recovery if change does not start where it should ? the heart,? said the cardinal, whose pastoral letter will be read at Mass in all churches in the Metro Manila cities of Mandaluyong, Manila, Makati, Pasay and San Juan on Sunday.

?In this time of global economic crisis and ecological concern, reviving the spirit of giving in its humblest form as making a simple offering for the second collection this Palm Sunday reflects our commitment towards transformation, towards helping,? Rosales stressed.

The Archdiocese of Manila promotes the Alay Kapwa program, which the Catholic Church established in 1975.

The project, implemented through the Church's social service arm Caritas Manila, provides scholarships for over 6,000 poor but deserving students, runs charity clinics that serve over 50,000 cases a year, provides livelihood and job placement centers and microfinance programs for the poor; and runs a restorative justice program for prisoners, among other things.

?To have the spirit of Alay Kapwa one does not have to be wealthy or powerful or influential, you need only to be good and committed to your neighbor.

In order to give to Alay Kapwa Lenten Fund Campaign you do not have to be rich, you need only to be generous, desirous like Jesus to serve,? Rosales said.

Palm Sunday ushers in the Holy Week, the holiest week in the Christian calendar as Christians commemorate the suffering, death and the resurrection of Christ.

Palm fronds can?t ward off evil

Meanwhile, a Philippine Catholic Church official said the ?palaspas? fronds that Catholics will be bringing to church this Palm Sunday?recalling Jesus Christ?s entry into Jerusalem, where He was welcomed by crowds waving palm fronds ? are not lucky charms or repellents of evil.

The fronds do not acquire special powers after they are blessed by a priest, said Monsignor Pedro Quitorio, media director of the Catholic Bishops? Conference of the Philippines.

Many Filipino Catholics bring home the blessed ?palaspas? and mount them on their altars, doors or windows in the belief that they bring good luck and drive away evil spirits.

?People should realize that even if they do so, the evil spirits can?t get out anymore because they?re inside the house in the first place,? joked Quitorio.

He said the fronds had no purpose other than to serve as liturgical symbols.

?The ?palaspas? is a sacramental symbol we use to show that we welcome Christ to enter into the will of God. We have to look at its deeper meaning in liturgy,? Quitorio said. With editing by INQUIRER.net