Joyful proclamation, persecution, and the cross go together, Pope preaches at Holy Thursday Chrism Mass (Vatican Press Office)

At the Chrism Mass of Holy Thursday morning (video), Pope Francis reflected on the Lord’s rejection by the people of Nazareth at the beginning of His public ministry (Lk. 4:22ff.). “The mystery of the cross is present ‘from the beginning,’” the Pope preached. “To embrace it [the cross] with Jesus and, as he did before us, to go out and preach it, will allow us to discern and reject the venom of scandal, with which the devil wants to poison us whenever a cross unexpectedly appears in our lives.”