Palm Sunday Message from Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

Image: Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa delivered the following message during the Palm Sunday Procession in Jerusalem today:

"Hosanna to the Son of David. blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. hosanna in the highest." (Mt 21:9)

Dearly beloved, May the Lord give you peace!

I greet to all of you here, faithful of our diocese, the few pilgrims present. I also send greetings to those who are not here with us physically but are united with us in prayer. Today our whole diocese, the Church of Jerusalem, is united with us and praying with us. From Gaza to Nazareth; from Bethlehem to Jenin. All of Jordan and Cyprus are praying with us and ideally have entered with us into the Holy City, Jerusalem. And I especially greet you, the Christians of Jerusalem, for this day, which is dedicated to you, which is especially yours, for you are those here in Jerusalem who keep the flame of the Christian faith alive and keep Christ's presence alive in our midst.

I don't want to repeat the same things of always. We know that we are living in difficult times. But we cannot and do not want to stop at just saying how hard these times are. Today we must remember something else, what matters most. We are here today, local Christians and pilgrims, all together, to say strongly that we are not afraid. We are the children of light and resurrection, of life. We hope and believe in the love that overcomes everything.

We are about to enter Passion Week. We will celebrate in the same Places where they happened, the moments of Jesus' passion. And as we join Him, we will also join all those who are living their passion today, here among us and in the world.

But we also know that the Passion of Jesus is not God's last word on the world. The Risen One is His last word, and we are here to say and reaffirm it again. We have encountered Him. And we are here to cry it out, strongly, confidently, and with all the love we can, which no one can ever extinguish. No one will separate us from our love for Jesus. And we want to witness it first of all with unity among ourselves, loving and supporting one another, forgiving one another.

As He passed, the crowds spread their cloaks at Jesus' feet and welcomed Him with what few olive branches and palms they could find. Let us also lay before our Messiah what little we have, our prayers, our weeping, our thirst for Him and His word of consolation. And here, today, despite everything, at the gates of His and our city, once again we declare that we truly want to welcome Him as our King and Messiah, and to follow Him on His way to His throne, the cross, which is not a symbol of death, but of love.

We should not be afraid of those who want to divide, those who want to exclude or those who want to take possession of the soul of this Holy City, because forever and ever Jerusalem will remain a house of prayer for all peoples (Is 56:7), and no one will be able to possess it. As I keep repeating, we belong to this city and no one can separate us from our love for the Holy City, just as no one can separate us from the love of Christ (Rom 8:35).

Those who belong to Jesus will always continue to be among those who build up and not tear down, who know how to respond to hatred with love and unity, and to rejection oppose acceptance.

For Jerusalem is the place of Christ's death and resurrection, the place of reconciliation, of a love that saves and overcomes the boundaries of pain and death. And this is our vocation today: to build up, to unite, to break down barriers, hoping against hope (cf. Rom. 4:18). This is and remains our strength and this will always be our witness, despite our many limitations.

Let us not be discouraged, then. Let us not lose heart. Let us not lose hope. And let us not be afraid but look up with confidence and once again renew our sincere and concrete commitment to peace and unity, with firm confidence (cf. Heb. 3:14) in the power of Christ's love!

Happy Holy Week to all!