Pope urges 'humility' at start of Holy Week

Palm Sunday homily focuses on Jesus' path of humiliation.

Pope Francis on Palm Sunday said that imitating the humility of Jesus is what makes Holy Week “holy,” and encouraged attendees to mimic his attitude of humiliation as the week unfolds.?

Referring to the day’s second reading from St Paul’s letter to the Philippians, which recounts how Jesus “humbled himself” by taking on human form, the pope said that “these words show us God’s way and the way of Christians: it is humility.”?

Humility, he said, is “a way which constantly amazes and disturbs us: we will never get used to a humble God!”?

As the Church sets out on the path of Holy Week that leads us to Easter, “we will take this path of Jesus’ own humiliation. Only in this way will this week be holy for us too!”?

Pope Francis spoke to the thousands of pilgrims present in St Peter’s Square for his March 29 Palm Sunday Mass, which the Church celebrates in recollection of how the inhabitants of Jerusalem laid palms along the road where Jesus entered on a donkey, hailing him as king the week before he was killed.?

After processing to the altar with his own palm in hand, the pope blessed those the pilgrims were holding, and participated in the reading of Jesus’ entire Passion and death, taken from the Gospel of Mark.?

In his homily Francis focused on how Jesus’ incarnation and death serve as strong examples of God’s humility, which he shows to his people even when they disobey and complain to him.?

Despite the shame Jesus faced, “this is God’s way, the way of humility. It is the way of Jesus; there is no other. And there can be no humility without humiliation,” Francis said.

He closed his homily by recognizing the many who selflessly give themselves in hidden service to others, and by praying for those who are persecuted “because they are Christians.”?

The pope also prayed for the 150 victims of the Germanwings Airbus plane crash in the French Alps earlier this week, which included a group of German students, and entrusted them to the intercession of Mary.?

Francis’ slate of activities for Holy Week includes a Chrism Mass in St Peter's Basilica on Holy Thursday, as well as a visit to a Roman prison later that evening, where he will wash the feet of inmates and celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.?

The next day, Good Friday, the pope will keep in line with papal tradition and celebrate a service for the Passion of Our Lord in St Peter’s Basilica before heading to the Colosseum, where he will lead thousands in the traditional prayer of the Stations of the Cross.?

The Roman tradition of holding the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on Good Friday goes back to the pontificate of Benedict XIV, who died in 1758.?

On Holy Saturday Francis will preside over the Easter Vigil in St Peter’s Basilica starting at 8:30pm, during which he will administer the sacrament of baptism to certain individuals.?

Easter morning, April 5, he will celebrate the Mass of Our Lord’s Resurrection in St Peter’s Square before giving his 'Urbi et Orbi' blessing, which goes out to the city of Rome and to the world, from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica.

Source: Catholic News Agency