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Skriven 2006-04-16 23:26:48 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service (Press Release)
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                The following press release is Copyrighted by the
                          Vatican Information Service.
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                               VIS-Press releases

THE CROSS, A SIGN OF RECONCILIATION AND LOVE

VATICAN CITY, APR 9, 2006 (VIS) - Thousands of young people from all over the
world participated in a Eucharistic celebration presided by the Pope in St.
Peter's Square this morning, Palm Sunday and 21st World Youth Day, which has as
its theme this year "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

Before the Mass, Benedict XVI blessed palms and olive branches near the obelisk
in St. Peter's Square, before moving in procession to the altar.

At the beginning of his homily, the Holy Father recalled how for 20 years,
"thanks to John Paul II, Palm Sunday has become a special day for young people;
the day on which youth all over the world go out to meet Christ in the desire
to accompany Him into their cities and countries, that He may remain among us
and establish His peace in the world.

"If we want to go out and meet Jesus, and walk alongside Him on His journey, we
must however ask: along what path does He intend to lead us? What do we expect
from Him? What does He expect from us?"

Commenting the words of Zechariah on the king to come, who "will be a king of
the poor, a poor man among the poor and for the poor," Benedict XVI pointed out
how "one can be materially poor and yet have one's heart full of desire for
wealth and for the power that derives from wealth. ... Interior freedom is a
necessary condition for overcoming the corruption and avidity that are now
devastating the world; and this freedom can be found only if God becomes our
wealth."

The Prophet Zechariah "also shows us that this king will be a king of peace,"
the Pope went on, and this aspect "takes concrete form in the sign of the
cross. ... The new weapon that Jesus puts in our hands is the cross, a sign of
reconciliation, a sign of the love that is stronger than death. Every time we
make the sign of the cross we must remember not to meet injustice with
injustice, violence with violence; we must remember that we can conquer evil
only with good, and never by repaying evil with evil."

Zechariah's third affirmation, the Holy Father added, is "the announcement of
universality. ... Christ reigns by becoming our bread and giving Himself to us.
This is the way in which He builds His kingdom." Through the Eucharist "we
enter His kingdom of peace. In Him we welcome, in some way, all our brothers
and sisters to whom He comes, in order truly to become a kingdom of peace in
the midst of this divided world."

"These three characteristics announced by the prophet - poverty, peace and
universality - come together in the sign of the cross. It is for this reason,
and rightly so, that the cross has become the focal point of World Youth Days.
There was a time, a time that has not yet been completely left behind, in which
Christianity was rejected precisely because of the cross. The cross represents
sacrifice, it was said, the cross is a sign of the negation of life. What we
want, however, is life entire, without restrictions or renunciation."

"And Palm Sunday tells us that that the real great 'yes' is the cross, that the
cross is the real tree of life. We do not find life by seizing it but by giving
it. Love is a giving of self and for this reason it is the way of true life
symbolized by the cross."
HML/PALM SUNDAY/... VIS 060410 (610)

SUMMARY

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