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Illustration: Simon of Cyrene depicted in a stained glass window at St. Peter’s Church in Limours, France
Pope Francis’ Homily for Celebration of Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord
St Peter’s Square – Sunday, 13 April 2025
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord” (Lk 19:38).
This is how the crowd greeted Jesus as he entered Jerusalem.
The Messiah entered through the gate of the holy city, thrown open to welcome the One who, a few days later, would leave through the same gate, this time cursed and condemned, carrying the Cross.
Today we too have followed Jesus, first in a solemn procession and then along a path of pain and sorrow, as we begin this Holy Week of preparation for the commemoration of the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection.
As we look at the faces of the soldiers and the tears of the women in the crowd, our attention is drawn to an unknown person whose name suddenly appears in the Gospel: Simon of Cyrene.
He was the man who was seized by the soldiers who then “placed the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus” (Lk 23:26). At that moment, he was coming in from the country.
He happened to be passing by when he unexpectedly found himself caught up in a drama that overwhelmed him, like the heavy wood that was placed on his shoulders.
As we make our own way towards Calvary, let us reflect for a moment on Simon’s actions.
Let us try to look into his heart, and follow in his footsteps at the side of Jesus.
First of all, Simon’s actions were undecisive.
On the one hand, he was forced to carry the cross.
He did not help Jesus out of conviction, but out of coercion.
On the other hand, he became personally involved in the passion of the Lord.
The cross of Jesus became the cross of Simon.
He was not the Simon, called Peter, who had promised to follow the Master at all times.
That Simon disappeared on the night of the betrayal, even after he had exclaimed:
“Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and even to death” (Lk 22:33).
The one who now follows Jesus is not that disciple, but this man from Cyrene.
But the Master had clearly taught: “If anyone wants to become my follower, let him deny themselves and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk 9:23).
Simon of Galilee talked but did not act.
Simon of Cyrene acted but did not speak.
Between him and Jesus, there is no dialogue; not a single word is spoken.
Between him and Jesus, there is only the wood of the cross.
If we want to know whether Simon of Cyrene helped or hated Jesus, in whose suffering he now had to share, whether he “took up” the cross of the Lord or simply carried it, we would need to look into his heart.
While God’s heart is always open, pierced by a pain that reveals his mercy, the human heart remains closed. We do not know what went on in Simon’s heart.
Let us put ourselves in Simon’s place: would we feel anger or pity, compassion or anger?
When we think of what Simon did for Jesus, we should also think of what Jesus did for Simon — what he did for me, for you, for each one of us: he redeemed the world.
The wooden cross that Simon of Cyrene carried is the cross of Christ, who bore the sins of all mankind.
He bore them out of love of us, in obedience to the Father (Luke 22:42 – “Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; not my will, but thine, be done.”); he suffered with us and for us.
In this unexpected and amazing way, Simon of Cyrene became part of the history of salvation, in which no one is a stranger, no one is a foreigner.
Let us follow in Simon’s footsteps, for he teaches us that Jesus comes to meet everyone, in every situation.
When we see the great crowds of men and women forced by hatred and violence to walk the road to Calvary, let us remember that God has made this road a place of redemption, because he walked it and gave his life for us.
How many Simons of Cyrene are there in our own day, bearing the Cross of Christ on their shoulders!
Can we recognize them?
Can we see the Lord in their faces, marred by the burdens of war and deprivation?
In the face of the terrible injustice of evil, we never carry the cross of Christ in vain.
On the contrary, it is the most tangible way for us to share in his redemptive love.
Jesus’ passion becomes compassion when we reach out to those who feel they cannot go on,
when we lift up those who have fallen, and when we embrace those who are discouraged.
Brothers and sisters, in order to experience this great miracle of mercy, let us decide how we are meant to carry our own cross during this Holy Week: if not on our shoulders, in our hearts.
And not only our cross, but also the crosses of those who suffer all around us;
perhaps even the cross of an unknown person whom chance — but is it really chance? — has placed on our path.
Let us prepare ourselves for the Paschal Mystery of the Lord by becoming for one another, a Simon of Cyrene.
