SUMMARY:
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FRANCIS ASKS FOR A HEART THAT FOLLOWS CHRIST ENTHUSIASTICALLY
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PALM SUNDAY HOMILY: WE MUST LIVE THE FAITH WITH A YOUNG HEART
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ANGLEUS: POPE WISHES YOUTH A GOOD JOURNEY TO WYD 2013
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FRANCIS
ASKS FOR A HEART THAT FOLLOWS CHRIST ENTHUSIASTICALLY
Vatican
City, 24 March 2013 (VIS) – More than 250 thousand people gathered
this morning to attend Palm Sunday Mass, which Pope Francis
celebrated in St. Peter's Square. For the thirteenth consecutive
year, the olive trees and branches that adorned St. Peter's Square
and were distributed to the faithful present were a gift from the
Puglia region of Italy. The floral design that decorated the altar
this year reflected the geography of the five continents: 60,000
olive branches were mixed with grasses and peach leaves, thyme,
myrtle, ferns, strawberries, broom, lilies, wallflowers, and
celery-leaved buttercups. The two centuries-old olive trees that were
placed at the foot of the statues of St. Peter and St. Paul in the
square will be planted in the Vatican Gardens after the Mass.
The
celebration began at 9:15am with a procession of palm branches in
which 620 persons—cardinals, bishops, priests, deacons, children,
and lay persons—participated. Some 2,000 palm branches were brought
in from the Ligurian towns of San Remo and Bordighera in Northern
Italy, as has been the tradition now for five centuries. The Pope
entered the square while the choir and crowd sang the Hosanna. After
reaching the foot of the square's obelisk, the Pope blessed the palms
and olive branches of those in the square.
The
procession then continued to the altar on the Sagrato of the
Basilica. The Pope carried one of the three-metre long palm branches,
which had been artistically braided so as to represent the Holy
Trinity. Concelebrating with the Pope were: Cardinal Agostino
Vallini, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome; Cardinal Stanislaw
Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity; and,
Archbishop Filippo Iannone, O. Carm., vice gerent of the diocese of
Rome.
The
choir sang the Kyrie while the Pope venerated and incensed the altar.
The Liturgy of the Word included readings from Isaiah and St. Paul's
Letter to the Philippians. After the Gospel reading of the Passion,
proclaimed by three deacons, the Pope's homily focused on three
central aspects: Joy, the Cross, and Youth. His full homily can be
read below.
As
part of the closing rites of the Mass, the Pope prayed the Angelus.
Then, re-entering the Vatican walls, the Pope took a long route
through the square, greeting those gathered and being especially
attentive to the young and the sick.
PALM
SUNDAY HOMILY: WE MUST LIVE THE FAITH WITH A YOUNG HEART
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.”
“Let
us ask the intercession of the Virgin Mary. She teaches us the joy of
meeting Christ, the love with which we must look to the foot of the
Cross, the enthusiasm of the young heart with which we must follow
him during this Holy Week and throughout our lives. May it be so.”
ANGLEUS:
POPE WISHES YOUTH A GOOD JOURNEY TO WYD 2013
Vatican
City, 24 March 2013 (VIS) – At the end of this morning’s Mass for
Palm Sunday, and before praying the Angelus, the Pope called upon the
intercession of our Lady, particularly in favour of those suffering
with tuberculosis and young persons.
“Dear
Brothers and Sisters,” he began. “At the end of this celebration,
we invoke the intercession of the Virgin Mary, that she may accompany
us during Holy Week. May she, who followed her Son with faith all the
way to Calvary, help us to walk behind him, carrying his Cross with
serenity and love, so as to attain the joy of Easter. May Our Lady of
Sorrows support especially those who are experiencing difficult
situations. My thoughts turn to the people afflicted with
tuberculosis, as today is the World Day against this disease. To Mary
I entrust especially you, dear young people, and your path towards
Rio de Janeiro: This July, Rio! Prepare your hearts spiritually. May
all of you have a good journey!”
Then,
in several languages, Francis wished the youth joy on their journey.
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