Vatican
City, 24 March 2013 (VIS) – Following is the whole text of Pope Francis' homily
during the Palm Sunday Mass that begins the Holy Week celebrations. The Holy
Father commented on the World Youth Day that the entire Church celebrates
today, asking that we live the faith “with a young heart”. The pontiff urged
the youth to “tell the world that it is good to follow Christ!”
JOY
“Jesus
enters Jerusalem. The crowd of disciples accompanies him in festive mood, their
garments are stretched out before him, there is talk of the miracles he has
accomplished, and loud praises are heard: 'Blessed is the King who comes in the
name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!' (Lk 19:38).“
“Crowds,
celebrating, praise, blessing, peace: joy fills the air. Jesus has awakened
great hopes, especially in the hearts of the simple, the humble, the poor, the
forgotten, those who do not matter in the eyes of the world. He understands
human sufferings, he has shown the face of God’s mercy, he has bent down to
heal body and soul.”
“This
is Jesus. This is his heart that looks upon all of us, who sees our sicknesses,
our sins. Jesus' love is great. And so He enters into Jerusalem with this love
and looks upon all of us. It is a beautiful scene, full of light—the light of
the Jesus' love, of his heart—joy, and celebration.”
“At
the beginning of Mass, we repeated all this. We waved our palms. We also
welcomed Jesus; we too expressed our joy at accompanying him, at knowing him to
be close, present in us and among us as a friend, a brother, and also as a
King: that is, a shining beacon for our lives. Jesus is God but He lowered
himself to walk with us. He is our friend, our brother. He enlightens us along
the journey. And thus today we have welcomed him.”
“And
this is the first word that I want to tell you: 'Joy!' Do not be men and women
of sadness: a Christian can never be sad! Never give way to discouragement!
Ours is not a joy that comes from having many possessions, but it comes from
having encountered a Person, Jesus, who is among us. It comes from knowing that
with him we are never alone, even at difficult moments, even when our life’s
journey comes up against problems and obstacles that seem insurmountable, and
there are so many of them! This is the moment when the enemy comes, when the
devil, often times dressed as an angel, comes and insidiously tells us his
word. Don't listen to him! Follow Jesus! We accompany, we follow Jesus, but
above all we know that he accompanies us and carries us on his shoulders. This
is our joy, this is the hope that we must bring to this world of ours. Please
don't let him steal our hope. Don't let him steal our hope, that hope that
Jesus gives us.”
CROSS
“The
second word. Why does Jesus enter Jerusalem? Or better: how does Jesus enter
Jerusalem? The crowds acclaim him as King. And he does not deny it, he does not
tell them to be silent (cf. Lk 19:39-40). But what kind of a King is Jesus? Let
us take a look at him: He is riding on a donkey; He is not accompanied by a
court; He is not surrounded by an army as a symbol of power. He is received by
humble people, simple folk who had the sense to see something more in Jesus;
those with a sense of faith that tells them: 'This is the Saviour. Jesus does
not enter the Holy City to receive the honours reserved to earthly kings, to
the powerful, to rulers. He enters to be scourged, insulted and abused, as
Isaiah foretold in the First Reading (cf. Is 50:6). He enters to receive a
crown of thorns, a staff, a purple robe: his kingship becomes an object of
derision. He enters to climb Calvary, carrying his burden of wood.”
“And
this brings us to the second word: Cross. Jesus enters Jerusalem in order to
die on the Cross. And it is here that his kingship shines forth in godly
fashion: his royal throne is the wood of the Cross! I think of what Benedict
XVI said to the cardinals, 'You are princes, but of a crucified King.' That is
Jesus' throne. Jesus takes it upon himself... Why the Cross? Because Jesus
takes upon himself the evil, the filth, the sin of the world, including our own
sin—all of us—and he cleanses it, he cleanses it with his blood, with the mercy
and the love of God. Let us look around: how many wounds are inflicted upon
humanity by evil! Wars, violence, economic conflicts that hit the weakest,
greed for money, which none of us can take with us, it must be left behind.”
Here
the Pope added a personal note: “My grandmother used to tell us children, 'A
shroud has no pockets!'” Then he continued: “Loving money, power, corruption,
divisions, crimes against human life and against creation! And also—each of us
knows and recognizes—our personal sins: our failures in love and respect
towards God, towards our neighbour and towards the whole of creation.”
“Jesus
on the Cross feels the whole weight of the evil, and with the force of God’s
love he conquers it, he defeats it with his resurrection. This is the good that
Jesus' does for all of us upon his throne of the Cross. Christ’s Cross embraced
with love does not lead to sadness, but to joy! It leads to the joy of being
saved and of doing a little of what He did that day of his death.”
YOUTH
“Today
in this Square, there are many young people: for 28 years Palm Sunday has been
World Youth Day! This is our third word: Youth! Dear young people, I saw you in
the procession when you entered. I think of you celebrating around Jesus,
waving your olive branches. I think of you crying out his name and expressing
your joy at being with him! You have an important part in the celebration of
faith! You bring us the joy of faith and you tell us that we must live the
faith with a young heart,” and here he emphasized, “a young heart, always, even
at the age of seventy or eighty, a young heart. With Christ, the heart never grows
old!”
“Yet
all of us, all of you know very well that the King whom we follow and who
accompanies us is very special: he is a King who loves even to the Cross and
who teaches us to serve and to love. And you are not ashamed of his Cross! On
the contrary, you embrace it, because you have understood that it is in giving
ourselves, in giving ourselves and in going outside of ourselves, that we have
true joy and through God's love He has conquered evil. You carry the pilgrim
Cross through all the Continents, along the highways of the world! You carry it
in response to Jesus’ call: “Go, make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19),
which is the theme of World Youth Day this year. You carry it so as to tell
everyone that on the Cross Jesus knocked down the wall of enmity that divides
people and nations, and he brought reconciliation and peace.”
“Dear
friends, I too am setting out on a journey with you today, in the footsteps of
Blessed John Paul II and Benedict XVI. We are already close to the next stage
of this great pilgrimage of the Cross. I look forward joyfully to this coming
July in Rio de Janeiro! I will see you in that great city in Brazil! Prepare
well in your communities—prepare spiritually above all—so that our gathering in
Rio may be a sign of faith for the whole world.” Then, in an unscripted
exhortation, the Pope called out: “Young persons, you must tell the world that
it's good to follow Jesus, that it's good to go with Jesus. Jesus' message is
good. It's good to go outside ourselves to the ends of the earth and of
existence to bring Jesus! Three words: Joy, Cross, and Youth.”
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