Life

Pope Francis: Prepare to be amazed at Easter

The tightening of Italy's Covid-19 restrictions means that the traditional crowds of Easter pilgrims haven't been able to gather in St Peter's Square during the Vatican's Holy Week celebrations. Picture by AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia
The tightening of Italy's Covid-19 restrictions means that the traditional crowds of Easter pilgrims haven't been able to gather in St Peter's Square during the Vatican's Holy Week celebrations. Picture by AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia The tightening of Italy's Covid-19 restrictions means that the traditional crowds of Easter pilgrims haven't been able to gather in St Peter's Square during the Vatican's Holy Week celebrations. Picture by AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia

A fresh surge in Covid-19 cases in Italy means that, for the second year in a row, Easter will be celebrated in a socially-distanced manner and without the traditional crowds in St Peter's Square.

The Vatican press office said that "due to the continuation of the health emergency", Pope Francis would again celebrate Holy Week in St Peter's Basilica "with the participation of the cardinals, the superiors of the Secretariat of State and a limited number of faithful".

Speaking on Palm Sunday, Francis spoke of the "sense of interior amazement" that accompanies Holy Week as it builds towards Good Friday.

"We pass from the joy of welcoming Jesus as he enters Jerusalem to the sorrow of watching him condemned to death and then crucified," said the Pope.

"What happened to those people who in a few days' time went from shouting 'Hosanna' to crying out 'Crucify him'?

"What happened? They were following an idea of the Messiah rather than the Messiah.

"They admired Jesus, but they did not let themselves be amazed by him. Amazement is not the same as admiration...

"To admire Jesus is not enough. We have to follow in his footsteps, to let ourselves be challenged by him; to pass from admiration to amazement."

The most amazing aspect of the Easter story, said Pope Francis, was "the fact that he achieves glory through humiliation".

"He triumphs by accepting suffering and death, things that we, in our quest for admiration and success, would rather avoid," he said.

"Jesus - as Saint Paul tells us - 'emptied himself... he humbled himself' (Philippians 2:7-8).

"This is the amazing thing: to see the Almighty reduced to nothing."

Pope Francis celebrated Palm Sunday Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica. Picture by Giuseppe Lami/Pool photo via AP
Pope Francis celebrated Palm Sunday Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica. Picture by Giuseppe Lami/Pool photo via AP Pope Francis celebrated Palm Sunday Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica. Picture by Giuseppe Lami/Pool photo via AP

It was vital to "lift our eyes to the cross" during Holy Week.

"As Saint Francis of Assisi contemplated the crucified Lord, he was amazed that his friars did not weep," said the Pope.

"What about us? Can we still be moved by God's love? Have we lost the ability to be amazed by him? Why?"

Pope Francis said that "God continues to fill our minds and hearts with amazement".

"Let us be filled with that amazement as we gaze upon the crucified Lord.

"May we too say: 'You are truly the Son of God. You are my God'."