EUROPE/SPAIN - Archdiocese of Madrid begins pilgrimage of WYD Cross on September 14; Archbishop tells youth: “life your Christian vocation with faith” and rejoice “in the privilege of carrying the Cross of Christ and making it visible to everyone”

Madrid (Agenzia Fides) - “Rejoice in the privilege of carrying the Cross of Christ and making it visible to everyone, without making exceptions.” This is what Cardinal Antonio M. Rouco Varela, Archbishop of Madrid, said in a Letter to the Youth written on the occasion of the beginning of the pilgrimage of the World Youth Day Cross in the Archdiocese of Madrid, scheduled to start on September 14, Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, in preparation for the celebration of World Youth Day in Madrid in 2011.
“Take advantage of this opportunity to live your Christian vocation with fidelity,” content to “belong to Christ, the Lord of Life” and “do not turn the Cross into a banal, superficial, or meaningless symbol.” Instead, the Cardinal added, “may your life follow the path of truth, humility, and obedience to God's commandments,” without falling prey to the “attractions of this passing world, such as money, fame, power, and the lie.”
“Prayer, catechesis, the Sacraments, and works of charity,” the Letter to the Youth says, make the road to World Youth Day an “event of extraordinary grace in which you will undoubtedly experience an encounter with Christ.” The beginning of the pilgrimage of the cross and the icon of Our Lady will begin on Monday, September 14, with a Prayer Vigil at the Cathedral of the Almudena. (GT) (Agenzia Fides 9/9/2009)