World Youth Day USA Guides Retreat Manual | Page 20

You visited the homes of tax collectors and

Jesus, your final voyage was yet another march

sinners, and you ate with them. You went

uphill, this time to Golgotha. You stumbled

home again to Nazareth, only to be rejected

under the weight of the Cross. You fell down

by the people there.

hard, and still, you got up again.

ALL: Jesus, you were once a pilgrim, too.

Along the way you encountered your Mother,
the women of Jerusalem, Mary Magdalene, and

Reader 3: You journeyed through Samaria, a

the Beloved Disciple. Simon from Cyrene, a

place where few dared to go. You stopped at

stranger, helped you to carry the cross to the

Jacob’s well and spoke with a woman there,

summit of that mountain of death.

and she proclaimed you to the people.
There, on Calvary, you were crucified in the
You returned to Bethany in Judea, at the

midday sun for hours, while the soldiers

request of Mary and Martha. Your friend

mocked you. You forgave them, just as you

Lazarus was dead, you wept, and you brought

have forgiven us. You promised heaven to the

him to life again.

criminal and you entrusted your Mother to the
Beloved Disciple.

In your final days, you entered Jerusalem, riding
atop a simple mule. You were greeted with

When it was finally over, you breathed

shouts of joy by the young people of the city

your last. It was finished.

under a canopy of palm branches.
ALL: Jesus, you were once a pilgrim, too.
You feasted one last time with your disciples.
You washed their feet and urged them to do