Benedictus...

Palm Sunday, however, tells us that the authentic great "yes" is, in fact, the cross, that the cross is the authentic tree of life. We do not attain to life by seizing it, but by giving it. Love is the giving of ourselves and, for this reason, is the way of authentic life symbolized by the cross. Today the cross is handed over, which was the center of World Youth Day in Cologne, to a delegation to begin its journey to Sydney, where in the year 2008 the youth of the world want to meet again around Jesus to build with him the kingdom of peace.

From Cologne to Sydney, a journey across continents and cultures, a journey across a world lacerated and tormented by violence! Symbolically, it is like the journey from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth. It is the journey of him who, with the sign of the cross, gives us peace and makes us bearers of his peace. I thank the youths who will take this cross, in which we can almost touch the mystery of Jesus, on the paths of the world. Let us pray that at the same time he will open our hearts so that, following the cross, we become messengers of his love and peace. Amen.