Accept humiliation and be holy - Francis

At the heart of this celebration, which seems so festive, are the words we heard in the hymn of the Letter to the Philippians: “He humbled himself” (2:8). Jesus’ humiliation.
These words show us God’s way and the way of Christians: it is humility. A way which constantly amazes and disturbs us: we will never get used to a humble God!

Humility is above all God’s way: God humbles himself to walk with his people, to put up with their infidelity. This is clear when we read the Book of Exodus. How humiliating for the Lord to hear all that grumbling, all those complaints against Moses, but ultimately against him, their Father, who brought them out of slavery and was leading them on the journey through the desert to the land of freedom.
This week, Holy Week, which 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!

We will feel the contempt of the leaders of his people and their attempts to trip him up. We will be there at the betrayal of Judas, one of the Twelve, who will sell him for thirty pieces of silver. We will see the Lord arrested and carried off like a criminal; abandoned by his disciples, dragged before the Sanhedrin, condemned to death, beaten and insulted.

We will hear Peter, the “rock” among the disciples, deny him three times. We will hear the shouts of the crowd, egged on by their leaders, who demand that Barabas be freed and Jesus crucified. We will see him mocked by the soldiers, robed in purple and crowned with thorns.

And then, as he makes his sorrowful way beneath the cross, we will hear the jeering of the people and their leaders, who scoff at his being King and Son of God.

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.

Following this path to the full, the Son of God took on the “form of a slave” (cf. Phil 2:7). In the end, humility means service. It means making room for God by stripping oneself, “emptying oneself”, as Scripture says (v. 7). This is the greatest humiliation of all.

There is another way, however, opposed to the way of Christ. It is worldliness, the way of the world. The world proposes the way of vanity, pride, success… the other way. The Evil One proposed this way to Jesus too, during his forty days in the desert. But Jesus immediately rejected it. With him, we too can overcome this temptation, not only at significant moments, but in daily life as well.

In this, we are helped and comforted by the example of so many men and women who, in silence and hiddenness, sacrifice themselves daily to serve others: a sick relative, an elderly person living alone, a disabled person…

We think too of the humiliation endured by all those who, for their lives of fidelity to the Gospel, encounter discrimination and pay a personal price. We think too of our brothers and sisters who are persecuted because they are Christians, the martyrs of our own time. They refuse to deny Jesus and they endure insult and injury with dignity. They follow him on his way. We can speak of a “cloud of witnesses” (cf. Heb 12:1).

Let us set about with determination along this same path, with immense love for him, our Lord and Saviour. Love will guide us and give us strength. For where he is, we too shall be (cf. Jn 12:26). Amen.
Pope Francis

The celebrations
The Pope Francis led the world’s Roman Catholics in Palm Sunday celebrations by paying tribute to those killed for their faith, a reference to the victims of Islamic State militants.

Francis, who earlier this month began the third year of his papacy, presided at a colorful procession in St. Peter’s Square commemorating the day the Bible says people of Jerusalem welcomed Jesus days before he was crucified.

Thousands of people carried palm fronds and branches in St. Peter’s Square on the day that marks the start of Holy Week, which ends on Easter Sunday.

In his homily during the Mass that followed, Francis, who last month denounced the killing of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by Islamic State militants in Libya, paid tribute to those he said were being killed for their faith today.
Francis has at times expressed alarm over the rise of Islamic State militants and the plight of Christians in the Middle East.

The coming week is one of the busiest in the liturgical calendar for the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.

Archbishop to deliver holy week lecture

Archbishop Justin Welby will spend the week leading up to Easter Sunday at Canterbury Cathedral and visiting local churches and communities.

Archbishop Welby will deliver a series of three public lectures at Canterbury Cathedral, and wash feet and celebrate the Eucharist on Thursday evening.

The lectures, today, Tuesday and Wednesday evening, will mirror Archbishop Justin three priorities for his ministry.

The first lecture, ‘The Risk of Prayer’, will focus on the renewal of prayer and the Religious (monastic) life, which the Archbishop has described as having always been a vital precondition for the Church’s renewal throughout history.

In the second, ‘The Cost of Reconciliation’, he will explore the Gospel call for all Christians to be peacemakers, and consider the profound sacrifices involved in loving others despite deeply-held differences.

In the final lecture, ‘The Celebration of Witness’, the Archbishop will offer his vision for every Christian to be inspired and enabled to share their faith in Jesus through words and actions.