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Palm Sunday: Admiring Jesus Is Not Enough, We’ve To Follow His Footsteps – Pope Francis

  Pope Francis has called on Christians to emulate Jesus Christ, explaining in a homily to mark the 2021 Palm Sunday that it is not … Continue reading Palm Sunday: Admiring Jesus Is Not Enough, We’ve To Follow His Footsteps – Pope Francis


Pope Francis holds a palm branch as he arrives to celebrate Palm Sunday mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on March 28, 2021 in The Vatican, amid the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. Giuseppe LAMI / POOL / AFP
Pope Francis holds a palm branch as he arrives to celebrate Palm Sunday mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on March 28, 2021 in The Vatican, amid the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic.
Giuseppe LAMI / POOL / AFP

 

Pope Francis has called on Christians to emulate Jesus Christ, explaining in a homily to mark the 2021 Palm Sunday that it is not enough to admire His qualities.

While delivering the homily in St Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis recounted how those who earlier hailed Jesus later turned out to call for his crucifixion.

“What happened?  They were following an idea of the Messiah rather than the Messiah. They admired Jesus, but they did not let themselves be amazed by him.  Amazement is not the same as admiration,” Pope Francis added.

“Admiration can be worldly since it follows its own tastes and expectations.  Amazement, on the other hand, remains open to others and to the newness they bring.  Even today, there are many people who admire Jesus: he said beautiful things; he was filled with love and forgiveness; his example changed history, … and so on.

“They admire him, but their lives are not changed.  To admire Jesus is not enough.  We have to follow in his footsteps, to let ourselves be challenged by him; to pass from admiration to amazement.”

Pope Francis (L) celebrates Palm Sunday mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on March 28, 2021 in The Vatican, amid the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. Giuseppe LAMI / POOL / AFP

 

According to him, Jesus’s death was meant to draw us near and not abandon people in suffering and death.

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“To redeem us, to save us.  Jesus was lifted high on the cross in order to descend to the abyss of our suffering.  He experienced our deepest sorrows: failure, loss of everything, betrayal by a friend, even abandonment by God,” he added.

“By experiencing in the flesh our deepest struggles and conflicts, he redeemed and transformed them.  His love draws close to our frailty; it touches the very things of which we are most ashamed.

“Yet now we know that we are not alone: God is at our side in every affliction, in every fear; no evil, no sin will ever have the final word.  God triumphs, but the palm of victory passes through the wood of the cross.  For the palm and the cross are inseparable.”