Pope’s Palm Sunday and 25 years of WYD

(March 29, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday ushered in the Holy Week leading the Palm Sunday ceremony and Mass in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. Speaking during his homily he affirmed that following the way of Jesus will lead us to discover what it means to be authentically human. The Holy Week that commemorates the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus is the culmination of the 40-day Lenten period when Christians fast, pray and do penance in preparation for their most solemn feast, Easter, or Resurrection of Christ. Palm Sunday commemorates the triumphant entry of Jesus in Jerusalem, days before he was handed over to his enemies to be crucified. On Palm Sunday the Catholic Church also observes World Youth Day, which this year reached its 25^th edition, an annual tradition initiated by Pope John Paul II. Numerous young people joined the Pope for Palm Sunday, including some 300 delegates who came from various countries to participate in an International Youth Forum. The Pontiff said that in a special way he would like to repeat to all the young men and women, on the 25th World Youth Day, that “being Christian is a journey, or better: It is a pilgrimage, it is a going with Jesus Christ, a going in that direction that he has pointed out to us and is pointing out to us." This year’s World Youth Day centred on the theme: "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" The Poe affirmed that the theme of Palm Sunday is "following," walking the way of Jesus Christ "as that way that leads to the goal, to a humanity that is fully realized and authentic." Christ leads us "to love - he leads us to God," the Holy Father added.
At the conclusion of the Mass, while praying the "Angelus" with the pilgrims, Pope Benedict recalled how Pope John Paul II initiated the World Youth Day in 1985, the year that the United Nations declared the as "Year of Young People." "Some 25 years ago my beloved predecessor invited young people to profess their faith in Christ," the Pope recalled. He renewed this call to the new generation to give witness by the meek and luminous power of the truth, so that the men and women of the third millennium do not lack the most authentic model: Jesus Christ. The Holy Father also drew attention to Jerusalem where Jesus fulfilled the paschal mystery. He said he was deeply pained by the recent clashes and tension that have occurred again in the city, which he said, “is the spiritual home of Christians, Jews and Muslims, a prophecy and promise of the universal reconciliation that God desires for the entire human family.” “Peace,” he stressed “is a gift that God entrusts to human responsibility, to cultivate it through dialogue and respect for the rights of all, reconciliation and forgiveness.” The Pope urged for prayers so that those responsible for the fate of Jerusalem may engage with courage on the path of peace and follow it with perseverance.