By Carol Glatz
Jesus does not ask that people only contemplate his image, but that they also recognise and love him concretely in all people who suffer like he did, Pope Francis said on 9 April as he celebrated the Palm Sunday Mass of the Lord’s Passion.
“Jesus is present in our many brothers and sisters who today endure sufferings like his own – they suffer from slave labour, from family tragedies, from diseases.
“They suffer from wars and terrorism, from interests that are armed and ready to strike,” the Holy Father said.
In his noon Angelus address, the Pope also decried recent terrorist attacks in Sweden and Egypt, calling on “those who sow terror, violence and death,” including arms manufacturers and dealers to change their ways.
In his prayers for those affected by the attacks, the Pontiff also expressed his deepest condolences to “my dear brother, His Holiness Pope Tawadros, the Coptic church and the entire beloved Egyptian nation,” which the Pope was scheduled to visit on 28 and 29 April.
At least 15 people were killed and dozens more injured on 9 April in an Orthodox church north of Cairo as Coptic Christians gathered for Palm Sunday Mass; the attack in Sweden occurred two days earlier when a truck ran through a crowd outside a busy department store in central Stockholm, killing four and injuring 15 others.
The Pope also prayed for all people affected by war, which he called, a “disgrace of humanity.”
Tens of thousands of people carrying palms and olive branches joined the Pope during a solemn procession in St Peter’s Square under a bright, warm sun for the beginning of Holy Week.
The Pope, Cardinal and Bishops were dressed in red vestments, the colour of the Passion, and carried large “palmurelli,” bleached and intricately woven and braided palm branches.
Hundreds of young people led the procession into St. Peter’s Square and later, youths from Poland handed the World Youth Day cross to young representatives from Panama, where the next international gathering will be held in January in 2019.
In his homily, the Pope said that the day’s celebration was “bittersweet.”
“It is joyful and sorrowful at the same time” because the Mass celebrates the Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem as the people and disciples acclaim him as king, and yet, the Gospel gives the account of his passion and death on the cross.
Jesus accepts the hosannas coming from of the crowd, but he “knows full well that they will soon be followed by the cry, ‘Crucify him!’” the Pope said.
“Jesus does not ask us to contemplate him only in pictures and photographs or in the videos that circulate on the internet but to recognise that he is present in those who suffer today, including women and men who are cheated, violated in their dignity, discarded.
“Jesus is in them, in each of them, and with marred features and broken voice, he asks to be looked in the eye, to be acknowledged, to be loved,” the Holy Father said.
We have no other Lord but him: Jesus, the humble King of justice, mercy and peace.
Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem as the true Messiah, who is a servant of God and humanity, the Pope said. “He is not a dreamer peddling illusions, a ‘new age’ prophet or con man; he takes on the sins and sufferings of humanity with his passion.
“Jesus never promised honour and success would come to those who follow him, rather, the path to final victory requires picking up the cross and carrying it every day,” the Pope said.
“Let us ask for the grace to follow Jesus faithfully, not in words but in deeds. Let us also ask for the patience to carry our own cross, not to refuse it or set it aside, but rather, in looking to him, to take it up and to carry it daily,” Pope Francis said.