Madrid, Spain, Aug 19, 2011 / 16:49 pm
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.