After a powerful portrayal of the Way of the Cross, Pope Benedict XVI
told World Youth Day pilgrims that they must imitate and share the love
that inspired Christ's sacrificial death for all mankind.
He told
the crowd who witnessed the Aug. 19 procession at Madrid's Plaza de
Cibeles that the cross “teaches us to love what God loves, and in the
way that he loves,” which can extend “even to the supreme sacrifice of
one’s life.”
“Christ’s passion urges us to take upon our own
shoulders the sufferings of the world,” he said. “What can we do for
him? What response shall we give him?”
He told his young
listeners that God “expects you to give your very best,” developing the
“capacity for love and compassion” in response to the love that God
showed by laying down his life as a man.
Those who live in misfortune, he noted, are especially in need of the compassion acquired
from Christ.
“May
Christ’s love for us increase your joy and encourage you to go in
search of those less fortunate,” Pope Benedict told the multitude of
believers in the plaza.
The Way of the Cross, patterned after
Spain's Holy Week tradition, spanned almost half a mile and featured
traditional Spanish sacred art dating back as far as the 16th century.
Youth from different countries, including Iraq, the Holy Land, Albania
and Sudan, carried the cross to the stations representing stages of
Jesus' last agony and death.
At each station, a specific group of
young people took up the cross.
They included residents of countries
where believers undergo persecution, as well as the disabled and those
who tend to AIDS sufferers.
“Two of my friends helped carry the
cross,” said Antonio, a 10-year-old Spanish boy who was drawn into the
sacred drama by his friends' participation.
Maria, 16, said she
hoped her contemporaries would leave the plaza strengthened and
encouraged.
And she noted that the young people, in turn, “had an
important role in supporting and encouraging the Pope.”