On Sunday, the 29th March at 10:00 a.m., in St. Peter's Square, the Church opened Holy Week with the Commemoration of the Lord's entry into Jerusalem. In front of the Obelisk, the Gospel of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem was proclaimed, and the blessing of the palms took place; then the procession accompanied the faithful to the altar for the celebration of the Mass.
At the centre of the liturgy, the homily of the Holy Father Leo XIV pointed to the face of Christ as "King of peace", in a time marked by violence and conflicts. The Pope invited us to look to Jesus who, while war is being prepared around him, "remains firm in meekness"; to Jesus who "offers himself as a caress for humanity", whilst others "take up swords and clubs"; to Jesus who is "the light of the world", when "darkness is about to cover the earth".
Taking up the Scriptures, the Holy Father recalled that the messianic King enters Jerusalem "on the back of a donkey, not a horse", fulfilling the prophecy that announces a peace capable of breaking "the arc of war" and reaching "the nations". And when one of the disciples draws his sword, Christ stops him with clear words: "Put your sword back in its place, for all those who take the sword will die by the sword."
The homily then contemplated the Passion as a revelation of God's meekness: Jesus, "burdened with our sufferings and pierced for our sins", "did not open his mouth" and, instead of saving Himself, "allowed Himself to be nailed to the Cross", to embrace "all the crosses planted in every time and place in the history of humanity". Hence the appeal that runs through the celebration: "Christ, King of peace, still cries out from His Cross: God is love! Have mercy! Lay down your arms, remember that you are brothers!"
In conclusion, the Pope entrusted this cry to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, recalling the words of the Servant of God Tonino Bello and the certainty that, "despite everything, death will no longer have a hold on us" and that "the tears of all the victims of violence and pain will soon be dried up".
At the end of the Mass, the Holy Father led the Angelus prayer. At the beginning of Holy Week, he expressed the Church's closeness "to the Christians of the Middle East", tried by an "atrocious conflict", and invited them to raise the supplication "to the Prince of Peace", so that he may support "the peoples wounded by war" and open "concrete paths of reconciliation and peace". He also remembered the seafarers who were victims of war and the migrants who died at sea, renewing the invocation: "Earth, sky and sea are created for life and peace!"
Read Pope Leo's homily
Read words of the Angelus
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