Pope talks about three points during Palm Sunday Homily: Joy, Cross, Youth

News from RomeReports.com

Pope Francis made his way through St. Peter's Square to celebrate the first Palm Sunday Mass of his pontificate.

To mark the beginning of Holy Week, Pope Francis blessed palm and olive branches on the obelisk that stands before the square. It's a symbol that honors Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.

During his homily, Pope Francis focused on three points: Joy, the Cross and Youth. On the first point he said true joy comes from Jesus, not from possessions.

POPE FRANCIS
“Do not be men and women of sadness: a Christian can never be sad! Never give way to discouragement! Ours is not a joy that comes from having many possessions, but from having encountered a Person: Jesus! Don't let your hope to be taken from you.”

Since Holy Week honors the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, the Pope went on to explain the second point of his homily: The Cross.

POPE FRANCIS
“I think of what Benedict XVI told cardinals: You are princes, but you are princes of a crucified King. This is the gift that Jesus gives to us all, on the throne of the Cross. The Cross of Christ embraces love. It never carries sadness, but rather joy. The same joy of salvation and of doing even just a small portion of what he did the day of His Crucifixion.”

For 28 years now, Palm Sunday also marks World Youth Day in Rome. So the Pope's third point, was quite fittingly: the youth. Pope Francis officially announced that he will be traveling to Brazil in late July to lead World Youth Day in Rio.

POPE FRANCIS
“Dear friends, I will walk along with you, and follow 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.”

The Pope improvised quite a bit during his Homily and he told all the young people that their role in the Church is key. He also said that with Christ, the heart never grows old.

POPE FRANCIS
“Young people should tell the world that it is good, joyful to follow Jesus, to walk along with Him and believe in His message. It is good to go beyond one's limits and existence to teach others about Jesus. Three words: joy, cross and youth.”

Towards the end, the Pope celebrated the Angelus in Latin before roughly 250,000 people.

Wounded Cop Saw Vision of Jesus

News excerpt from UTSanDiego.com

By Dana Littlefield

EL CAJON — In the minutes after a sheriff’s detective was seriously injured in a shootout with a child molestation suspect last year, he began to accept that he might not make it out alive. And then a miracle happened — he said he saw Jesus Christ.

Detective Ali Perez had just kicked in the door of a Lakeside apartment where he and others had gone to contact the suspect, when a bullet tore through his left arm. Moments later, the detective was shot in his torso, just below his chest.

 

Lying on his back on the floor, Perez said he was out of bullets and losing blood quickly, while the suspect — Daniel Robert Witczak — was still able to move around the apartment, armed with a high-powered rifle.

 

And that’s when it happened.

 

“I saw my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” Perez testified, adding that Jesus appeared to be seated in a chair between himself and the shooter.

 

Read more: Ali Perez Saw Vision of Jesus