Daily Thought For April 14, 2019

Following in Our Master's Footsteps

In the footsteps of Mary, countless holy men and women have followed Jesus on the path of humility and obedience.  Today, World Youth Day, I would like to mention all those young saints, especially the saints “next door” to us, known only to God; sometimes he likes to surprise us with them.  Dear young people, do not be ashamed to show your enthusiasm for Jesus, to shout out that he is alive and that he is your life.  Yet at the same time, do not be afraid to follow him on the way of the cross.  When you hear that he is asking you to renounce yourselves, to let yourselves be stripped of every security, and to entrust yourselves completely to our Father in heaven, then rejoice and exult!  You are on the path of the kingdom of God.

Festive acclamations and brutal torture; the silence of Jesus throughout his Passion is profoundly impressive.  He also overcomes the temptation to answer back, to act like a “superstar”.  In moments of darkness and great tribulation, we need to keep silent, to find the courage not to speak, as long as our silence is meek and not full of anger.  The meekness of silence will make us appear even weaker, more humble.  Then the devil will take courage and come out into the open.  We need to resist him in silence, “holding our position”, but with the same attitude as Jesus.  He knows that the battle is between God and the prince of this world, and that what is important is not putting our hand to the sword but remaining firm in faith.  It is God’s hour.  At the hour that God comes forth to fight, we have to let him take over.  Our place of safety will be beneath the mantle of the holy Mother of God.  As we wait for the Lord to come and calm the storm (cf. Mt 4:37-41), by our silent witness in prayer we give ourselves and others “an accounting for the hope that is within [us]” (1 Pet 3:15).  This will help us to live in the sacred tension between the memory of the promises made, the suffering present in the cross, and the hope of the resurrection.

Pope Francis — excerpt Homily for Palm Sunday, April 14, 2019