Wow 800,000 Join Pope Francis at the Way of the Cross during World Youth Day "...Jesus walks with the Cross, he dies on the Cross, so that our soul can smile." FULL TEXT + Video
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APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS FRANCIS TO PORTUGAL
ON THE OCCASION OF XXXVII WORLD YOUTH DAY
VIA CRUCIS WITH YOUNG PEOPLE
FULL TEXT SPEECH OF THE HOLY FATHER
“Parque Eduardo VII” (Lisbon, Portugal)
Friday, August 4, 2023
_______________________________________
Dear brothers and sisters, good evening!
Today you will walk with Jesus. Jesus is the Way and we will walk with Him, because He walks. When he was among us, Jesus walked, he walked healing the sick, assisting the poor, doing justice... he walked preaching, teaching us. Jesus walks, but the path that is most engraved in our heart is the path of Calvary, the way of the Cross. And today you, we, I too, will renew the way of the Cross with prayer. And we will look at Jesus as he passes by and we will walk with him. The path of Jesus is God who goes out of himself, out of himself to walk among us. What we hear so many times in the Mass: "And the Word became flesh and walked among us". Do you remember?
And the Word became man and walked among us. And this is done for love. He does it for love. And the Cross that accompanies every World Youth Day is the icon, the figure of this journey. The Cross is the greatest meaning of the greatest love, the love with which Jesus wants to embrace our life. Our? Yes, yours, yours, yours, that of each of us. Jesus walks for me. We all have to say it. Jesus undertakes this journey for me, to give his life for me.
And no one has more love than he who lays down his life for his friends, than he who lays down his life for others. Do not forget this: no one has more love than he who gives his life, and Jesus taught this. For this reason, when we look at the Crucifix, which is so painful, such a hard thing, we see the beauty of the love that gives his life for each of us.
He said a very believer person a phrase that struck me a lot. He said this: "Lord, through your ineffable agony I can believe in love". Lord, for your ineffable agony I can believe in love. And Jesus walks, but he is waiting for something, he is waiting for our company, he is waiting for us to look... I don't know, he is waiting to open the windows of my soul, of your soul, of the soul of each of us. How ugly are closed souls, who sow inside and smile inside! It does not make sense. Jesus walks and waits with his love for him, waits with his tenderness, to give us consolation, to dry our tears.
Now I ask you a question, but don't answer aloud: each one should answer within himself. Do I cry sometimes? Are there things in life that make me cry? We have all cried in life, and we still cry. And there is Jesus with us, he weeps with us, because he accompanies us in the darkness that leads us to tears.
Let us be silent for a bit, and each one tell Jesus what he weeps for in life; let each of us say it to ourselves, now, in silence.
[moment of silence]
Jesus, with his tenderness, wipes away our hidden tears. Jesus wants to fill our solitude with his closeness. How sad moments of solitude are! And He is there, He wants to fill this loneliness. Jesus wants to fill our fear, your fear, my fear, those dark fears he wants to fill them with his consolation; and he waits to push us to embrace the risk of loving. Because, you know it, you know it better than me: loving is risky. We must take the risk of loving. It's a risk, but it's worth taking, and He accompanies you in this. He always accompanies us, always walks, always, during life, he is close to us.
I don't want to say too many things. Today we will walk with him, the path of his suffering, the path of our anxieties, the path of our solitudes.
Now let's have a second of silence and each of us think about our own suffering, think about our own anxiety, think about our own miseries. Don't be afraid, think about it, and also think about the desire for the soul to smile again.
[moment of silence]
And Jesus walks with the Cross, he dies on the Cross, so that our soul can smile. Amen.
ON THE OCCASION OF XXXVII WORLD YOUTH DAY
VIA CRUCIS WITH YOUNG PEOPLE
FULL TEXT SPEECH OF THE HOLY FATHER
“Parque Eduardo VII” (Lisbon, Portugal)
Friday, August 4, 2023
_______________________________________
Dear brothers and sisters, good evening!
Today you will walk with Jesus. Jesus is the Way and we will walk with Him, because He walks. When he was among us, Jesus walked, he walked healing the sick, assisting the poor, doing justice... he walked preaching, teaching us. Jesus walks, but the path that is most engraved in our heart is the path of Calvary, the way of the Cross. And today you, we, I too, will renew the way of the Cross with prayer. And we will look at Jesus as he passes by and we will walk with him. The path of Jesus is God who goes out of himself, out of himself to walk among us. What we hear so many times in the Mass: "And the Word became flesh and walked among us". Do you remember?
And the Word became man and walked among us. And this is done for love. He does it for love. And the Cross that accompanies every World Youth Day is the icon, the figure of this journey. The Cross is the greatest meaning of the greatest love, the love with which Jesus wants to embrace our life. Our? Yes, yours, yours, yours, that of each of us. Jesus walks for me. We all have to say it. Jesus undertakes this journey for me, to give his life for me.
And no one has more love than he who lays down his life for his friends, than he who lays down his life for others. Do not forget this: no one has more love than he who gives his life, and Jesus taught this. For this reason, when we look at the Crucifix, which is so painful, such a hard thing, we see the beauty of the love that gives his life for each of us.
He said a very believer person a phrase that struck me a lot. He said this: "Lord, through your ineffable agony I can believe in love". Lord, for your ineffable agony I can believe in love. And Jesus walks, but he is waiting for something, he is waiting for our company, he is waiting for us to look... I don't know, he is waiting to open the windows of my soul, of your soul, of the soul of each of us. How ugly are closed souls, who sow inside and smile inside! It does not make sense. Jesus walks and waits with his love for him, waits with his tenderness, to give us consolation, to dry our tears.
Now I ask you a question, but don't answer aloud: each one should answer within himself. Do I cry sometimes? Are there things in life that make me cry? We have all cried in life, and we still cry. And there is Jesus with us, he weeps with us, because he accompanies us in the darkness that leads us to tears.
Let us be silent for a bit, and each one tell Jesus what he weeps for in life; let each of us say it to ourselves, now, in silence.
[moment of silence]
Jesus, with his tenderness, wipes away our hidden tears. Jesus wants to fill our solitude with his closeness. How sad moments of solitude are! And He is there, He wants to fill this loneliness. Jesus wants to fill our fear, your fear, my fear, those dark fears he wants to fill them with his consolation; and he waits to push us to embrace the risk of loving. Because, you know it, you know it better than me: loving is risky. We must take the risk of loving. It's a risk, but it's worth taking, and He accompanies you in this. He always accompanies us, always walks, always, during life, he is close to us.
I don't want to say too many things. Today we will walk with him, the path of his suffering, the path of our anxieties, the path of our solitudes.
Now let's have a second of silence and each of us think about our own suffering, think about our own anxiety, think about our own miseries. Don't be afraid, think about it, and also think about the desire for the soul to smile again.
[moment of silence]
And Jesus walks with the Cross, he dies on the Cross, so that our soul can smile. Amen.
Source: Vatican.va - Stats reported by local Port. media and Fr. P.Hartman
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