YOUNG PEOPLE: DO NOT BE AFRAID TO GO AGAINST THE CURRENT

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 4, 2004 (VIS) - This morning in St. Peter's Square, the Pope presided at the solemn Eucharistic celebration of Palm Sunday and the Passion of the Lord in which 30,000 people participated. Before the Mass, he blessed palm and olive branches.

  In the homily, John Paul II said that "in a climate of joy, veiled in sadness, which characterizes Palm Sunday, we celebrate the 19th World Youth Day whose theme this year is 'We want to see Jesus'."

  The Pope indicated that "Jesus dies on the cross for each one of us. The cross, therefore, is the greatest and most eloquent sign of His merciful love, the unique sign of salvation for each generation and for all of humanity."

  After recalling that twenty years ago, at the end of the Holy Year of the Redemption, he gave the cross of that Jubilee to young people, he affirmed that since then "it continues to travel to many countries in preparation for the World Youth Days. ... It has become a luminous sign of the faith that inspires the young generations of the third millenium."

  In commemorating this anniversary, he said, "let the same gift of that moment renew you: 'I entrust the Cross of Christ to you!' Carry it throughout the world as a sign of Jesus Christ's love for humanity, and announce to all that only in Christ, Who died and rose from the dead, is there salvation and redemption."

  "Certainly the message that the Cross communicates is not easy to understand in our age in which material well-being and comforts are proposed and sought after as important values. But for you, dear young people, do not be afraid to proclaim the Gospel of the Cross in every circumstance!  Do not be afraid to go against the current!"

  During the prayers of the faithful, reference was made to the conflict in the Middle East, with a prayer for peace in Jerusalem "so that it may become a place of encounter and dialogue among believers in one God". There was also a prayer in Arabic for young people who place their hope in a more just and habitable world.

  After the Mass and before praying the Angelus, the Holy Father greeted young Germans who had participated at the Brandenburg Gate in a liturgical celebration presided by Cardinal Georg Maximilian Sterzinsky, archbishop of Berlin, as they welcomed the Cross of past World Youth Days. "The Cross," said the Pope, "will travel throughout your land until it arrives in Cologne where in August, 2005 the 20th World Youth Day will be celebrated.  I encourage the entire Church in Germany to come this great gathering."
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