Palm Sunday with Pope Francis

March 25, 2013: Pope Francis celebrated Palm Sunday on March 24, with an estimated 250,000 pilgrims in St. Peter’s square in the Vatican. It was truly a spring Sunday in Rome and St Peter’s Square in the Vatican was full to capacity with people who had gathered for the celebration which marked the beginning of the Holy Week. People from around the world, young and old alike waved palms and olive branches, which came as donation from the Puglia region of Italy and the Italian province of Savona.
As the choir sang the “Hosanna” a solemn procession saw Cardinals, priests, men, and women making their way around the Square in unison. Pope Francis moved in an open topped Pope mobile to the Obelisk in the middle of the Square where he blessed palms and olives branches before walking in a procession to the specially constructed alter in front of St Peter’s Basilica.
The liturgy during the celebration recalled Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on a donkey and 3 deacons read the Gospel which recounted Christ’s Passion. This was Pope Francis’ first Palm Sunday celebration as Pontiff and during his homily the Holy Father focused on three key words; Joy, the Cross and Youth.
Pope Francis reflected on ‘Joy’, saying “Jesus enters Jerusalem and the crowd of disciples accompanied him in festive mood, their garments stretched out before him. They praised him: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 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’ explained the Pontiff.
“Ours is not a joy that comes from having many possessions, but from having encountered a Person: Jesus, 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! 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.

Having reflected on the key word ‘Joy’ in his homily Pope Francis went on to reflect on his second key word ‘the cross’. The Pope asked: Why does Jesus enter Jerusalem? Or better: how does Jesus enter Jerusalem? The crowds acclaimed him as King. But what kind of a King is Jesus? 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. 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. 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. Jesus entered 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! Jesus takes upon himself the evil, the filth, the sin of the world, including our own sin, and he cleanses it, he cleanses it with his blood, with the mercy and the love of God.
Reflecting on the human situation today the Pontiff asked: how many wounds are inflicted upon humanity by evil! Wars, violence, economic conflicts that hit the weakest, greed for money, power, corruption, divisions, crimes against human life and against creation! And 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. Christ’s Cross embraced with love does not lead to sadness, but to joy!

Palm Sunday was also diocesan World Youth Day which saw thousands of youth from the diocese of Rome and around the world taking parts in Sunday’s celebrations. Focusing his attention on the word youth, Pope Francis spoke in a raised voice to the delight of the young present, telling them, With Christ, the heart never grows old! He said:
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 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, always, even at the age of seventy or eighty. 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 that we have true joy and that God has conquered evil through love.

The Pope exhorted the youth to 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”, 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, in the footsteps of Blessed John Paul II and Benedict XVI. We are already close to the next stage of this great pilgrimage of Christ’s Cross. I look forward joyfully to next July in Rio de Janeiro! I will see you in that great city in Brazil! Prepare well – prepare spiritually above all – in your communities, so that our gathering in Rio may be a sign of faith for the whole world.

We can all conquer the evil that is in us and in the world: with Christ, said the Pope, adding “We must never grow accustomed to evil. With Christ we can transform ourselves and the world.” At the end of the mass, Pope Francis imparted his apostolic blessings.