Life Is Meaningless Without the Cross
H.H. John Paul II
Angelus Message
March 14, 1999
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
1. Our Lenten journey to Easter continues, a
journey of conversion guided by the Word of
God, which illumines our steps in life. The
joy of Christ's Resurrection is anticipated
in a way in today's liturgy, which begins
with the invitation to rejoice: "Rejoice and
be glad, you who mourned; you will find
contentment at her consoling breasts"
(Entrance Antiphon).
It is the Resurrection that reveals the true
value of the Cross, to which we are heading
in this Lenten season. It is not a sign of
death, but of life; not of frustration, but
of hope; not of defeat, but of victory.
Indeed - as an ancient liturgical hymn says
- the Cross of Christ is our "only hope",
for any other promise of salvation is
deceptive, since it does not resolve the
fundamental human problem: the problem of
evil and death.
2. This is why Christians venerate the Cross
and recognize it as the sign par excellence
of love and hope. Young people too, oriented
by nature to life, embrace the Cross of
Jesus - like Francis of Assisi and all the
saints - because they understand that the
mystery of life would be a meaningless
riddle without it.
In these months, the World Youth Day Cross
is on pilgrimage in the Dioceses of Italy.
Today it has arrived in Turin, where the
young people of Piedmont and Val d'Aosta
have gathered to welcome it in Piazza San
Carlo. To them - who have joined us by
television - I offer a special greeting and
say: do not be afraid to welcome the Cross
of Christ into your life! It gives full
value and meaning to life's joys and
sorrows, helping every person to make his
own life a gift of love for God and
neighbour.
The Cross teaches us to love everyone, even
our enemies, to cooperate in Christ's
redemptive work and in the fulfilment of
God's kingdom.
3. At the foot of the Cross the Mother of
Jesus stands silently in prayer. If we
follow Christ in his Passion, Mary will
always be at our side. Today I would like to
entrust the Lenten journey of the whole
Church to the Blessed Virgin. I would
particularly like to entrust the efforts of
young people to her, so that they will
always be ready to welcome the Cross of
Christ. The sign of our salvation and the
banner of final victory, the Cross is the
witness, dear young people, which you must
receive from the generations that have gone
before you, so that you can carry it into
the third millennium as true apostles of the
Gospel.
© L'Osservatore Romano
