This Palm Sunday is a spring board for both our Catholic Church in general and our Parish Family of Saint John the Evangelist in particular. We are about to embark on the journey through the pain and suffering that Jesus endured for all humanity, with the brightest moment of the resurrection at hand in Easter. This is a moment of reflection, but also the time to get ready for the promise of the love, and mercy of our faith, and to share that joy with the rest of the world.
Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has some choice words for the youth of our community, giving them (and all of us around them) direction on how to journey in this world and create the Culture of Encounter:
We are accompanied on this journey by Our Mother, the Virgin Mary. She encourages us with her faith, the same faith that she expressed in her song of praise. Mary said, “The Mighty One has done great things for me” (Lk 1:49). She knew how to give thanks to God who looked upon her littleness, and she recognised the great things that God was accomplishing in her life. So she set off to visit her cousin Elizabeth who was old and needed her to be close by. Mary did not stay at home because she was not a young couch potato who looks for comfort and safety where nobody can bother them. She was moved by faith because faith is at the heart of Our Mother’s entire life story.
Dear young people, God is also watching over you and calling you, and when God does so, he is looking at all the love you are able to offer. Like the young woman of Nazareth, you can improve the world and leave an imprint that makes a mark on history ‒ your history and that of many others. The Church and society need you. With your plans and with your courage, with your dreams and ideals, walls of stagnation fall and roads open up that lead us to a better, fairer, less cruel and more humane world.
As you follow this path, I encourage you to cultivate a relationship of familiarity and friendship with Our Lady. She is our Mother. Speak to her as you would to a Mother. Together with her, give thanks for the precious gift of faith that you have received from your elders, and entrust your whole life to her. She is a good Mother who listens to you and embraces you, who loves you and walks together with you. I assure you that if you do that, you will not regret it.
Pope Francis Video Message to the Young People From All Over the World – https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/pont-messages/2017/documents/papa-francesco_20170321_videomessaggio-gmg.html
You can be young or young at heart to understand this calling we have as Catholics to become involved in the world around us and change it for the better. We can make those changes in small ways, like smiling as you hold the door for someone, or by listening to their stories. Sometimes, these small ways are more impactful than grand gestures.