Pope Benedict XVI greets the faithful during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 7, 2010. (Daylife)
Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio takes questions from the media at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Tuesday, April 6, 2010, in Los Angeles. Archbishop Jose Gomez was named Tuesday to succeed the archbishop of Los Angeles, the Holy See's most significant acknowledgment to date of the growing importance of Latinos in the American church. The appointment also was evidence that Pope Benedict XVI wants a strong defender of orthodoxy leading the largest diocese in the nation. Gomez, 58, is an archbishop of Opus Dei, the conservative movement favored by the Vatican. (Daylife-AP)
Santiago, April 6 - Vatican No.2 Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone on Tuesday said he was tired of hearing about an alleged cover-up by himself and Pope Benedict XVI of the case of a US priest who abused 200 deaf boys.
"Basta, basta on this subject," exclaimed Bertone, currently secretary of state, who was also No.2 to the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger during the future pope's 14-year tenure at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which deals with abuse cases.
Bertone was responding to a fresh charge from German weekly Die Welt, which echoed the New York Times in claiming the pair refused to heed appeals from Milwaukee bishops in the late 1990s about the abuse committed by Father Lawrence Murphy at a Wisconsin school for deaf children between 1950 and 1974.
"It's not true, we have produced documentary evidence of the contrary," Bertone said, reiterating that the Murphy case was only brought to his then office's attention in 1998, a few months before the priest died.
Quizzed by reporters why the pope did not take advantage of his Easter message to touch on the widening abuse and cover-up scandals, Bertone added: "Let's not talk about this subject now, otherwise we'll be here all day verifying with precision the actions of myself and His Eminence (the pope)".
Bertone, who was bringing Benedict's support to the quake-stricken people of Chile, adamantly refused to be drawn on why the pope did not speak out on widening abuse cases around Europe, and has not personally responded to a claim that he knew about a predator priest who returned to pastoral work when Benedict was Munich Archbishop in the mid-1980s. "Let's talk about Chile, let's talk about the future. The Pope is strong, and he is all the people".
Bertone stressed that Benedict had been seen to enjoy the unequivocal support of the massed faithful on Easter Sunday, "including many young people", and added: "He is a strong Pope, the Pope of the third millennium".
Two days before, at a Good Friday Mass in the Basilica, Papal Household Preacher Raniero Cantalamessa angered Jews by apparently comparing the criticism the Church has undergone with the anti-Semitism that fuelled the Holocaust.
He later apologised and the Vatican said he had not meant to draw such a comparison.
But the impression that the Vatican hierarchy is closing ranks around the pope was reinforced when Bertone's predecessor as secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, made an unprecedented encomium of the pope at Easter Mass, saying "all the Church" was behind him and would ignore the "idle chatter" of the alleged media campaign.
'CULTURE CLASH'.
On Tuesday Sodano, who is now Dean of the College of Cardinals, returned to the theme in an interview with Vatican daily l'Osservatore Romano.
"The failings and mistakes of priests are being used as weapons against the Church," Sodano said.
"It is a culture clash. The Pope embodies moral verities that are not accepted".
The cardinal compared media reporting of the abuse cases to 19th-century criticism of Pope Pius X, who refused to accept the unification of Italy, to longstanding allegations that WWII Pope Pius XII did not speak out against the Holocaust, and to criticism of 1960s Pope Paul VI for his stance against birth control.
"In the face of these unjust attacks we are told that we are adopting the wrong strategy, that we should react differently. (But) the Church has its style and does not adopt the methods that are being used against the Pope. The only strategy we have comes from the Gospel," Sodano said, echoing Benedict who in an Easter Thursday sermon said "Jesus did not respond when he was insulted".
Vatican Radio on Tuesday said "there are those who fear that the media campaign of anti-Catholic hate may degenerate," citing among "the first worrying signs" an attack by a mentally unstable man on a German bishop; anti-Catholic slogans daubed on a church near Viterbo; and attempts by "several groups and individuals" to disrupt Easter services across Europe.
The broadcaster recalled that the first Christians were accused of terrible crimes and lynched.
It praised the Wall Street Journal for being among the few media outlets who have noted that "Cardinal Ratzinger did more than anyone else" to force paedophile priests "to answer for what they had done". The Vatican has insisted that, starting with new abuse guidelines as doctrinal chief in 2001, Benedict has done all he can to rid the Church of "filth" he referred to after he became pope in 2005.
But critics say a new, strong and detailed statement of strategy is needed in the face of scandals in Ireland, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany and, most recently, Italy itself.
CASTEL GANDOLFO (AsiaNews) - All Christians have the mission to be "angels", heralds of the message of love, brought by Jesus through the sacraments of baptism and confirmation announced the Pope. This was Benedict XVI´s message this Easter Monday to two thousand people present for the Regina Caeli in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo, where the Pope arrived yesterday afternoon for a short period of rest.
"As you know - said Benedict XVI - "the Monday after Easter Sunday is traditionally called 'Angels´ Monday'. It is very interesting to deepen this reference to the Angels. Naturally, our thoughts turn immediately to the Gospel accounts of Jesus' resurrection, which refers to the figure of a messenger of the Lord ", who announced the resurrection to the women who came to the tomb".
"But the Angel of the Resurrection" - Pope Benedict XVI continued - "has another meaning. It must be borne in mind that the term 'angel' in addition to defining the Angels, spiritual beings endowed with intelligence and will, servants and messengers of God, is also one of the oldest titles attributed to Jesus himself.
"We read, for example, in Tertullian: 'He – that is Christ - was also called "angel of good council" that is the herald, which is a term denoting an office, not nature. In fact, he had to announce to the world the Father's great plan for the restoration of man '(De carne Christi, 14). Thus says the ancient Christian writer. "
"Jesus Christ, the Son of God, therefore, is also called the Angel of God the Father: He is the messenger par excellence of his love. Dear friends - said the Pope – we now think of what the Risen Jesus told the Apostles: 'As the Father has sent me, so I send you' (Jn 20:21) and he communicated to them his Holy Spirit. This means that, as Jesus was the herald of the love of God the Father, we too must be the love of Christ.
"We are messengers of his resurrection and victory over evil and death, the bearers of his divine love. Of course, we are by nature men and women, but we receive the mission of the 'angels', messengers of Christ. It is given to all in Baptism and Confirmation. Especially through the Sacrament of Holy Orders it is received by priests, ministers of Christ, I like to emphasize this in this Year for Priests."
VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - APRIL 04: Pope Benedict XVI delivers his Easter 'Urbi et Orbi' blessing from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica on April 04, 2010 in Vatican City, Vatican. The Urbi et Orbi is a blessing and message delivered twice-yearly to the City and the World in 63 languages. (Daylife-Getty Images)
Lord, source of eternal life and truth, give to your shepherd, Benedict, a spirit of courage and right judgment, a spirit of knowledge and love. By governing with fidelity those entrusted to his care, may he, as successor to the Apostle Peter and Vicar of Christ, build your Church into a sacrament of unity, love and peace for all the world. Amen.
V/ Let us pray for Benedict, the pope. R/ May the Lord preserve him, give him a long life, make him blessed upon the earth, and not hand him over to the power of his enemies.
V/ May your hand be upon your holy servant. R/ And upon your son, whom you have anointed.
"In those days: Peter standing up in the midst of the people, said: You know the word that hath been published through all Judea: for it began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached, Jesus of Nazareth: how God anointed Him with the Holy Ghost, and with power, who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
And we are witnesses of all things that He did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed hanging Him upon a tree. Him God raised up the third day, and gave Him to be made manifest, not to all the people, but to witnesses preordained by God, even to us, who did eat and drink with Him after He rose again from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was appointed by God to be judge of the living and of the dead.
To Him all the prophets give testimony, that through His name all receive remission of sins who believe in Him." — Acts 10
St. Peter spoke these words to Cornelius, the centurion, and to the household and friends of this gentile, who had called them together to receive the Apostle whom God had sent to him. He had come to prepare them for Baptism, and thus make them the first-fruits of the gentile world, for up to this time the Gospel had been preached only to the Jews.
Let us take notice how it is St. Peter, and not any other of the Apostles, who throws open to us gentiles the door of the Church, which Christ has built upon him as upon the impregnable rock.
This passage from the Acts of the Apostles is an appropriate Lesson for this day, whose Station is in the basilica of St Peter: it is read near the confession of the great Apostle. Let us observe, too, the method used by the Apostle in the conversion of Cornelius and the other gentiles.
He begins by speaking to them concerning Jesus. He tells them of the miracles He wrought; then, having related how He died the ignominious death of the Cross, He insists on the fact of the Resurrection as the sure guarantee of His being truly God. He then instructs them on the mission of the Apostles, whose testimony must be received—a testimony which carries persuasion with it, seeing it was most disinterested, and availed them nothing save persecution.
He, therefore, that believes in the Son of God made Flesh, who went about doing good, working all kinds of miracles; who died upon the Cross, rose again from the dead, and entrusted to certain men, chosen by Himself, the mission of continuing on earth the ministry he had begun—he that confesses all this, is worthy to receive, by holy Baptism, the remission of his sins. Such is the happy lot of Cornelius and his companions.
Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch.
“Let us sing to the Lord, glorious his triumph!” (Liturgy of the Hours, Easter, Office of Readings, Antiphon 1).
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I bring you the Easter proclamation in these words of the Liturgy, which echo the ancient hymn of praise sung by the Israelites after crossing the Red Sea. It is recounted in the Book of Exodus (cf 15:19-21) that when they had crossed the sea on dry land, and saw the Egyptians submerged by the waters, Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, and the other women sang and danced to this song of joy: “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed wonderfully: horse and rider he has thrown into the sea!”
Christians throughout the world repeat this canticle at the Easter Vigil, and a special prayer explains its meaning; a prayer that now, in the full light of the resurrection, we joyfully make our own: “Father, even today we see the wonders of the miracles you worked long ago. You once saved a single nation from slavery, and now you offer that salvation to all through baptism. May the peoples of the world become true sons of Abraham and prove worthy of the heritage of Israel.”
The Gospel has revealed to us the fulfilment of the ancient figures: in his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ has freed us from the radical slavery of sin and opened for us the way towards the promised land, the Kingdom of God, the universal Kingdom of justice, love and peace. This “exodus” takes place first of all within man himself, and it consists in a new birth in the Holy Spirit, the effect of the baptism that Christ has given us in his Paschal Mystery.
The old man yields his place to the new man; the old life is left behind, and a new life can begin (cf. Rom 6:4). But this spiritual “exodus” is the beginning of an integral liberation, capable of renewing us in every dimension – human, personal and social.
Yes, my brothers and sisters, Easter is the true salvation of humanity! If Christ – the Lamb of God – had not poured out his blood for us, we would be without hope, our destiny and the destiny of the whole world would inevitably be death. But Easter has reversed that trend: Christ’s resurrection is a new creation, like a graft that can regenerate the whole plant.
It is an event that has profoundly changed the course of history, tipping the scales once and for all on the side of good, of life, of pardon. We are free, we are saved! Hence from deep within our hearts we cry out: “Let us sing to the Lord: glorious his triumph!”
The Christian people, having emerged from the waters of baptism, is sent out to the whole world to bear witness to this salvation, to bring to all people the fruit of Easter, which consists in a new life, freed from sin and restored to its original beauty, to its goodness and truth. Continually, in the course of two thousand years, Christians – especially saints – have made history fruitful with their lived experience of Easter.
The Church is the people of the Exodus, because she constantly lives the Paschal Mystery and disseminates its renewing power in every time and place. In our days too, humanity needs an “exodus”, not just superficial adjustment, but a spiritual and moral conversion. It needs the salvation of the Gospel, so as to emerge from a profound crisis, one which requires deep change, beginning with consciences.
I pray to the Lord Jesus that in the Middle East, and especially in the land sanctified by his death and resurrection, the peoples will accomplish a true and definitive “exodus” from war and violence to peace and concord.
To the Christian communities who are experiencing trials and sufferings, especially in Iraq, the Risen Lord repeats those consoling and encouraging words that he addressed to the Apostles in the Upper Room: “Peace be with you!” (Jn 20:21).
For the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that are seeing a dangerous resurgence of crimes linked to drug trafficking, let Easter signal the victory of peaceful coexistence and respect for the common good.
May the beloved people of Haiti, devastated by the appalling tragedy of the earthquake, accomplish their own “exodus” from mourning and from despair to a new hope, supported by international solidarity.
May the beloved citizens of Chile, who have had to endure another grave catastrophe, set about the task of reconstruction with tenacity, supported by their faith.
In the strength of the risen Jesus, may the conflicts in Africa come to an end, conflicts which continue to cause destruction and suffering, and may peace and reconciliation be attained, as guarantees of development. In particular I entrust to the Lord the future of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea and Nigeria.
May the Risen Lord sustain the Christians who suffer persecution and even death for their faith, as for example in Pakistan. To the countries afflicted by terrorism and by social and religious discrimination, may He grant the strength to undertake the work of building dialogue and serene coexistence.
To the leaders of nations, may Easter bring light and strength, so that economic and financial activity may finally be driven by the criteria of truth, justice and fraternal aid. May the saving power of Christ’s resurrection fill all of humanity, so that it may overcome the multiple tragic expressions of a “culture of death” which are becoming increasingly widespread, so as to build a future of love and truth in which every human life is respected and welcomed.
Dear brothers and sisters, Easter does not work magic. Just as the Israelites found the desert awaiting them on the far side of the Red Sea, so the Church, after the resurrection, always finds history filled with joy and hope, grief and anguish.
And yet, this history is changed, it is marked by a new and eternal covenant, it is truly open to the future. For this reason, saved by hope, let us continue our pilgrimage, bearing in our hearts the song that is ancient and yet ever new: “Let us sing to the Lord: glorious his triumph!”
“May the grace and joy of the Risen Christ be with you all.”
An ancient Jewish legend from the apocryphal book “The life of Adam and Eve” recounts that, in his final illness, Adam sent his son Seth together with Eve into the region of Paradise to fetch the oil of mercy, so that he could be anointed with it and healed.
The two of them went in search of the tree of life, and after much praying and weeping on their part, the Archangel Michael appeared to them, and told them they would not obtain the oil of the tree of mercy and that Adam would have to die.
Subsequently, Christian readers added a word of consolation to the Archangel’s message, to the effect that after 5,500 years the loving King, Christ, would come, the Son of God who would anoint all those who believe in him with the oil of his mercy.
“The oil of mercy from eternity to eternity will be given to those who are reborn of water and the Holy Spirit. Then the Son of God, Christ, abounding in love, will descend into the depths of the earth and will lead your father into Paradise, to the tree of mercy.”
This legend lays bare the whole of humanity’s anguish at the destiny of illness, pain and death that has been imposed upon us. Man’s resistance to death becomes evident: somewhere – people have constantly thought – there must be some cure for death. Sooner or later it should be possible to find the remedy not only for this or that illness, but for our ultimate destiny – for death itself. Surely the medicine of immortality must exist.
Today too, the search for a source of healing continues. Modern medical science strives, if not exactly to exclude death, at least to eliminate as many as possible of its causes, to postpone it further and further, to prolong life more and more.
But let us reflect for a moment: what would it really be like if we were to succeed, perhaps not in excluding death totally, but in postponing it indefinitely, in reaching an age of several hundred years? Would that be a good thing? Humanity would become extraordinarily old, there would be no more room for youth. Capacity for innovation would die, and endless life would be no paradise, if anything a condemnation.
The true cure for death must be different. It cannot lead simply to an indefinite prolongation of this current life. It would have to transform our lives from within. It would need to create a new life within us, truly fit for eternity: it would need to transform us in such a way as not to come to an end with death, but only then to begin in fullness.
What is new and exciting in the Christian message, in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, was and is that we are told: yes indeed, this cure for death, this true medicine of immortality, does exist. It has been found. It is within our reach.
In baptism, this medicine is given to us.
A new life begins in us, a life that matures in faith and is not extinguished by the death of the old life, but is only then fully revealed.
To this some, perhaps many, will respond: I certainly hear the message, but I lack faith. And even those who want to believe will ask: but is it really so? How are we to picture it to ourselves? How does this transformation of the old life come about, so as to give birth to the new life that knows no death?
Once again, an ancient Jewish text can help us form an idea of the mysterious process that begins in us at baptism. There it is recounted how the patriarch Enoch was taken up to the throne of God. But he was filled with fear in the presence of the glorious angelic powers, and in his human weakness he could not contemplate the face of God.
“Then God said to Michael,” to quote from the book of Enoch, “‘Take Enoch and remove his earthly clothing. Anoint him with sweet oil and vest him in the robes of glory!’ And Michael took off my garments, anointed me with sweet oil, and this oil was more than a radiant light … its splendour was like the rays of the sun. When I looked at myself, I saw that I was like one of the glorious beings” (Ph. Rech, Inbild des Kosmos, II 524).
Precisely this – being reclothed in the new garment of God – is what happens in baptism, so the Christian faith tells us. To be sure, this changing of garments is something that continues for the whole of life.
What happens in baptism is the beginning of a process that embraces the whole of our life – it makes us fit for eternity, in such a way that, robed in the garment of light of Jesus Christ, we can appear before the face of God and live with him for ever.
In the rite of baptism there are two elements in which this event is expressed and made visible in a way that demands commitment for the rest of our lives.
There is first of all the rite of renunciation and the promises. In the early Church, the one to be baptized turned towards the west, the symbol of darkness, sunset, death and hence the dominion of sin. The one to be baptized turned in that direction and pronounced a threefold “no”: to the devil, to his pomp and to sin. The strange word “pomp”, that is to say the devil’s glamour, referred to the splendour of the ancient cult of the gods and of the ancient theatre, in which it was considered entertaining to watch people being torn limb from limb by wild beasts. What was being renounced was a type of culture that ensnared man in the adoration of power, in the world of greed, in lies, in cruelty. It was an act of liberation from the imposition of a form of life that was presented as pleasure and yet hastened the destruction of all that was best in man.
This renunciation – albeit in less dramatic form – remains an essential part of baptism today. We remove the “old garments”, which we cannot wear in God’s presence. Or better put: we begin to remove them.
This renunciation is actually a promise in which we hold out our hand to Christ, so that he may guide us and reclothe us. What these “garments” are that we take off, what the promise is that we make, becomes clear when we see in the fifth chapter of the Letter to the Galatians what Paul calls “works of the flesh” – a term that refers precisely to the old garments that we remove.
Paul designates them thus: “fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing and the like” (Gal 5:19ff.). These are the garments that we remove: the garments of death.
Then, in the practice of the early Church, the one to be baptized turned towards the east – the symbol of light, the symbol of the newly rising sun of history, the symbol of Christ. The candidate for baptism determines the new direction of his life: faith in the Trinitarian God to whom he entrusts himself. Thus it is God who clothes us in the garment of light, the garment of life. Paul calls these new “garments” “fruits of the spirit”, and he describes them as follows: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22).
In the early Church, the candidate for baptism was then truly stripped of his garments. He descended into the baptismal font and was immersed three times – a symbol of death that expresses all the radicality of this removal and change of garments. His former death-bound life the candidate consigns to death with Christ, and he lets himself be drawn up by and with Christ into the new life that transforms him for eternity.
Then, emerging from the waters of baptism the neophytes were clothed in the white garment, the garment of God’s light, and they received the lighted candle as a sign of the new life in the light that God himself had lit within them. They knew that they had received the medicine of immortality, which was fully realized at the moment of receiving holy communion. In this sacrament we receive the body of the risen Lord and we ourselves are drawn into this body, firmly held by the One who has conquered death and who carries us through death.
In the course of the centuries, the symbols were simplified, but the essential content of baptism has remained the same. It is no mere cleansing, still less is it a somewhat complicated initiation into a new association. It is death and resurrection, rebirth to new life.
Indeed, the cure for death does exist. Christ is the tree of life, once more within our reach. If we remain close to him, then we have life. Hence, during this night of resurrection, with all our hearts we shall sing the alleluia, the song of joy that has no need of words. Hence, Paul can say to the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice!” (Phil 4:4).
Joy cannot be commanded. It can only be given. The risen Lord gives us joy: true life. We are already held for ever in the love of the One to whom all power in heaven and on earth has been given (cf. Mt 28:18). In this way, confident of being heard, we make our own the Church’s Prayer over the Gifts from the liturgy of this night: Accept the prayers and offerings of your people. With your help may this Easter mystery of our redemption bring to perfection the saving work you have begun in us. Amen.
Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining. (Sequence of Easter Sunday)
Reflection
On Easter Sunday, the Church is recollected in contemplation of the risen Christ. Thus she relives the primordial experience that lies at the basis of her existence. She feels imbued with the same wonder as Mary Magdalen and the other women who went to Christ's tomb on Easter morning and found it empty. That tomb became the womb of life. Whoever had condemned Jesus, deceived himself that he had buried his cause under an ice-cold tombstone. The disciples themselves gave into the feeling of irreparable failure.
We understand their surprise, then, and even their distrust in the news of the empty tomb. But the Risen One did not delay in making himself seen and they yielded to reality. They saw and believed! Two thousand years later, we still sense the unspeakable emotion that overcame them when they heard the Master's greeting: "Peace be with you.'"
Christ's Resurrection is the strength, the secret of Christianity. It is not a question of mythology or of mere symbolism, but of a concrete event. It is confirmed by sure and convincing proofs. The acceptance of this truth, although the fruit of the Holy Spirit's grace, rests at the same time on a solid historical base. On the threshold of the third millennium, the new effort of evangelization can begin only from a renewed experience of this Mystery, accepted in faith and witnessed to in life....Pope John Paul II
Fact
Mass is to be celebrated on Easter Day with great solemnity. It is appropriate that the penitential rite on this day take the form of a sprinkling with water blessed at the Vigil, during which the antiphon Vidi aquam, or some other song of baptismal character should be sung. The fonts at the entrance to the church should also be filled with the same water.
The tradition of celebrating baptismal Vespers on Easter Day with the singing of psalms during the procession to the font should be maintained where it is still in force, and appropriately, restored. The paschal candle has its proper place either by the ambo or by the altar and should be lit at least in all the more solemn liturgical celebrations of the season until Pentecost Sunday, whether at Mass, or at Morning and Evening Prayer.
After the Easter season the candle should be kept with honor in the baptistry, so that in the celebration of Baptism the candles of the baptized may be lit from them. In the celebration of funerals, the paschal candle should be place near the coffin to indicate that the death of a Christian is his own passover. The paschal candle should not otherwise be lit nor placed in the sanctuary outside the Easter season.
Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.
He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve.
The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: ‘My Lord be with you all.’ Christ answered him: ‘And with your spirit.’ He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying:
‘Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’
I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell.
Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.
For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.
See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.
I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.
Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God.
The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.
VATICAN CITY — The candlelit Way of the Cross service will be held at the Colosseum tomorrow night at 9:15 p.m. Rome-time (3:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight time). This year’s meditations were written by the former papal vicar for Rome, Italian Cardinal Camillo Ruini.
If you are following live coverage of the event either on television, radio, or the CNS Crossplayer, you may want to have your own copy of the prayers and meditations in English. Here they are:
When the Apostle Philip asked Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father,” he replied, “Have I been with you all this time, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:8-9). This evening, as we accompany Jesus in our hearts while he makes his way beneath the cross, let us not forget those words. Even as he carries the cross, even in his death on the cross, Jesus remains the Son, who is one with God the Father.
When we look upon his face disfigured by beating, weariness and inner suffering, we see the face of the Father. Indeed, it is precisely in this moment that God’s glory, his surpassing splendour, in some way becomes visible on the face of Jesus. In this poor, suffering man whom Pilate, in the hope of eliciting compassion, showed to the Jews with the words “Behold the man!” (Jn 19:5), we see revealed the true greatness of God, that mysterious grandeur beyond all our imagining.
Yet in the crucified Jesus we see revealed another kind of grandeur: our own greatness, the grandeur which belongs to every man and woman by the simple fact that we have a human face and heart. In the words of Saint Anthony of Padua, “Christ, who is your life, hangs before you, so that you can gaze upon the cross as if in a mirror… If you look upon him, you will be able to see the greatness of your dignity and worth… Nowhere else can we better recognize our own value, than by looking into the mirror of the cross” (Sermones dominicales et festivi, III, pp. 213-214). Jesus, the Son of God, died for you, for me, for each of us. In this way he gave us concrete proof of how great and precious we are in the eyes of God, the only eyes capable of seeing beyond all appearances and of peering into the depths of our being.
As we make the Way of the Cross, let us ask God to grant us this gaze of truth and love, so that, in union with him, we may become free and good.
The Holy Father: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. R. Amen.
The Holy Father: Let us pray. A moment of silence follows
Lord God, almighty Father, you know all things and you see, hidden within our hearts, our great need for you. Grant each of us the humility to acknowledge this need. Free our mind from the pretension, wrong-headed and even ridiculous, that we can master the mystery which embraces us.
Free our will from the presumption, equally naïve and unfounded, that we can create our own happiness and the meaning of our lives. Enlighten and purify our inner eye, and enable us to recognize, free of all hypocrisy, the evil which lies within us. But grant us too, in the light of the cross and resurrection of your only Son, the certainty that, united to him and sustained by him, we too can overcome evil with good.
Lord Jesus, help us, in this spirit, to walk behind your cross.
R/. Amen.
FIRST STATION: Jesus is condemned to death
Picture from the Way of the Cross meditations for 2010. Photo courtesy of the Office of Papal Liturgical Celebrations.
V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R/. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
From the Gospel of John 19:6-7, 12, 16
When the chief priests and the officers saw Jesus, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no crime in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because he has made himself the Son of God”…
Upon this, Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend; every one who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar.” Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
MEDITATION:
Why was Jesus, the one who “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38), condemned to death? This question will accompany us along the Way of the Cross, even as it accompanies us throughout our lives.
In the Gospels we find a true answer: the Jewish leaders wanted his death because they understood that Jesus considered himself the Son of God. We also find an answer that the Jews used as a pretext, in order to obtain his condemnation from Pilate: Jesus pretended to be a king of this world, the king of the Jews.
But behind this answer there opens up an abyss, to which the Gospels and indeed all of Sacred Scripture direct our gaze: Jesus died for our sins. And on an even deeper level, he died for us, he died because God loves us and he loves us even to giving us his only Son, that we might have life through him (cf. Jn 3:16-17).
It is to ourselves, then, that we must look: to the evil and the sin which dwell within us and which all too often we pretend to ignore. Yet all the more should we turn our eyes to the God who is rich in mercy, and who has called us his friends (cf. Jn 15:15). Thus the Way of the Cross and the entire journey of our life becomes a way of penance, pain and conversion, but also of gratitude, faith and joy.
All:Pater noster, qui es in cælis: sanctificetur nomen tuum; adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a malo. Stabat mater dolorosa, iuxta crucem lacrimosa, dum pendebat Filius.
SECOND STATION: Jesus carries his cross
V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R/. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
From the Gospel of Matthew 27:27-31
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spat upon him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, and put his own clothes on him, and they led him away to crucify him.
From the Gospel of John 19:17
Jesus went out, bearing his own cross, to the place of the skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha.
MEDITATION
Condemnation is followed by humiliation. What the soldiers do to Jesus seems inhuman to us. Indeed, it is inhuman: these are acts of mockery and contempt which express a dark savagery, indifferent to the suffering, including physical suffering, needlessly inflicted upon someone already condemned to the ghastly torture of the cross. And yet the behaviour of the soldiers is also, sadly, all too human. A thousand pages from the books of the history of humanity and the daily news confirm that actions of this kind are not at all foreign to man. The Apostle Paul has clearly expressed this paradox: “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh: For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do” (Rom 7:18-19).
And so it is: in our conscience shines the light of goodness, a light which in many cases is bright and guides us, fortunately, in our decisions. But often the opposite occurs: this light becomes obscured by resentment, by unspeakable cravings, by the perversion of our heart. And then we become cruel, capable of the worst, even of things unbelievable.
Lord Jesus, I am one of those who reviled and struck you. It was you yourself who said, “What you have done to one of the least of my brethren, you have done to to me” (Mt 25:40). Lord Jesus, forgive me.
All:Pater noster…
THIRD STATION: Jesus falls the first time
Picture from the Way of the Cross meditations for 2010. Photo courtesy of the Office of Papal Liturgical Celebrations.
V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R/. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
From the book of the prophet Isaiah 53:4-6
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
MEDITATION
The Gospels do not record Jesus falling beneath the cross, yet this ancient tradition is very likely. We have only to remember that, before taking up his cross, Jesus had been flogged at Pilate’s command. After all that had happened after nightfall in the Garden of Olives, his strength would have been, for all intents and purposes, spent.
Before turning our attention to the most profound and interior aspects of Jesus’ passion, let us take a moment to consider the physical pain that he was forced to endure. Enormous, awful pain, even to his last breath on the cross, a pain which had to be frightful.
Physical suffering is the easiest type of pain to eliminate, or at least to ease, with our modern techniques and practices, with anaesthetics or other pain treatments. Even though, for many reasons, whether natural or due to human behaviour, a massive amount of physical suffering continues to be present in the world.
In any event, Jesus did not refuse physical suffering and thus he entered into solidarity with the whole human family, especially all the many people whose lives, even today, are filled with this kind of pain. As we watch him fall beneath his cross, let us humbly ask him for the courage to break open, in a solidarity which goes beyond mere words, the narrowness of our hearts.
All:Pater noster…
FOURTH STATION: Jesus meets his Mother
V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R/. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
From the Gospel according to John 19:25-27
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
MEDITATION
The Gospels do not directly recount a meeting between Jesus and his Mother along the way of the cross, but speak instead of the presence of Mary standing at the foot of the cross. There Jesus speaks to her and to the beloved disciple, the Evangelist John. His words have an immediate meaning: he entrusts Mary to John, so that he might take care of her. Yet his words also have a broader and more profound meaning: at the foot of the cross Mary is called to utter a second “yes”, after the “yes” which she spoke at the Annunciation, when she became the Mother of Jesus and thus opened the door to our salvation.
With this second “yes”, Mary becomes the Mother of us all, the Mother of every man and woman for whom Jesus shed his blood. Here motherhood is a living sign of God’s love and mercy for us. Because of this, the bonds of affection and trust uniting the Christian people to Mary are deep and strong. As a result, we have recourse to her spontaneously, especially at the most difficult times of our lives.
Mary, however, paid a high price for this universal motherhood. Simeon had prophesied of her in the Temple of Jerusalem: “a sword will pierce through your own soul” (Lk 2:35).
Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Mother, help us to feel in our hearts, tonight and always, the love-filled suffering which joined you to the cross of your Son.
All:Pater noster…
FIFTH STATION: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry his cross
V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R/. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke 23:26
As they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.
MEDITATION
Jesus must have been completely exhausted and so the soldiers took the first unlucky person they could find and told him to carry the cross. So too, in everyday life, the cross, in many different forms – whether as sickness or a serious accident, the death of a loved one or the loss of work – falls upon us, often unexpectedly. We see in this only a stroke of bad luck, or at worst, a tragedy.
Jesus, however, said to his disciples, “if any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24). These are not easy words; in fact, as far as real life is concerned, they are the most difficult words in the entire Gospel. Our whole being, everything within us, rebels against these words.
Jesus, however, goes on to say, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt 16:25). Let us stop for a moment and reflect on the words: “for my sake”. Here we see the very essence of Jesus’ claim, his self-awareness and the demands he makes of us. Jesus is at the heart of everything, he is the Son of God who is one with God the Father (cf. Jn 10:30), he is the one Saviour (cf. Acts 4:12).
In effect, what seemed at first to be merely a stroke of bad luck or a tragedy not infrequently is shown to be a door which opens in our lives, leading to a greater good. But it is not always like this: many times, in this world, tragedies remain simply painful failures. Here again Jesus has something to tell us: after the cross, he rose from the dead, and he rose as the firstborn among many brethren (cf. Rom 8:29; 1Cor 15:20). His cross can not be separated from his resurrection. Only by believing in the resurrection can we meaningfully advance along the way of the cross.
All: Pater noster…
SIXTH STATION: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
Picture from the Way of the Cross meditations for 2010. Photo courtesy of the Office of Papal Liturgical Celebrations.
V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R/. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
From the Book of the Prophet Isaiah 53:2-3
He had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces; he was despised and we esteemed him not.
MEDITATION
When Veronica wiped the face of Jesus with a cloth, that face must certainly not have been attractive, it was a disfigured face. And yet that face could not leave one indifferent, it was disturbing. It might provoke mockery and contempt, but also compassion, and even love, a desire to offer assistance. Veronica is the symbol of these emotions.
However disfigured, the face of Jesus nonetheless remains the face of the Son of God. It is a face marred by us, by the endless accumulation of human malice. But it is also a face marred for us, a face which expresses the loving sacrifice of Jesus and mirrors the infinite mercy of God the Father.
In the suffering face of Jesus we also see another accumulation: that of human suffering. And so Veronica’s gesture of pity becomes a challenge to us, an urgent summons. It becomes a gentle but insistent demand not to turn away but to look with our own eyes at those who suffer, whether close at hand or far away. And not merely to look, but also to help. Tonight’s Way of the Cross will not be fruitless, if it leads us to practical acts of love and active solidarity.
All: Pater noster…
SEVENTH STATION: Jesus falls the second time
V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R/. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
From the Book of Psalms 41:6-10
My foes are speaking evil against me. ‘How long before he dies and his name be forgotten?’ They come to visit me and speak empty words, their hearts full of malice, they spread it abroad. My enemies whisper together against me. They all weigh up the evil which is on me; some deadly thing has fastened upon him, he will not rise again from where he lies. Thus even my friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has turned against me.
MEDITATION
Once more Jesus falls beneath the cross. He was, of course, physically exhausted and mortally wounded at heart. He felt the burden of his rejection by those who from the outset had obstinately opposed his mission. He felt the burden, in the end, of his rejection by the very people who seemed so full of admiration and even enthusiasm for him. Thus, gazing at the city which he loved so much, Jesus had cried out: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem … how often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” (Mt 23:37). He felt the awful burden of his betrayal by Judas, his abandonment by the disciples at the hour of greatest trial; and in particular he felt the burden of his triple denial by Peter.
We know too that he was burdened down by the incalculable weight of our sins, the accumulation of offenses that down the centuries has accompanied the history of humanity.
And so, let us ask God, humbly yet confidently: Father, rich in mercy, help us not to add more weight to the cross of Jesus. In the words of Pope John Paul II, who died five years ago tonight: “the limit imposed upon evil, of which man is both perpetrator and victim, is ultimately Divine Mercy” (Memory and Identity, p. 60).
All: Pater noster…
EIGHTH STATION: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem who weep for him
V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R/. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
From the Gospel according to Luke 23:27–29, 31
And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never gave suck!’…For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
MEDITATION:
It is Jesus who takes pity on the women of Jerusalem, and on all of us. Even as he carries the cross, Jesus remains the man who had compassion on the crowd (cf. Mk 8:2), who broke into tears before the tomb of Lazarus (cf. Jn 11:35), and who proclaimed blessed those who mourn, for they shall be comforted (cf. Mt 5:4).
In this way Jesus shows that he alone truly knows the heart of God the Father and can make it known to us: “No one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Mt 11:27).
From earliest times humanity has asked, often with anguish, how God relates to us. Is it with providential care, sovereign indifference, or even disdain and hatred? No certain answer can be given to this kind of question if we merely rely on the resources of our understanding, our experience, or even our heart.
That is why Jesus – in his life and his teaching, his cross and his resurrection – is by far the greatest event in all human history, the light that illumines our destiny.
All: Pater noster…
NINTH STATION: Jesus falls the third time
V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R/. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
From the second letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 5:19–21
In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation; … We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
MEDITATION
The real reason why Christ fell repeatedly was not simply his physical sufferings, or human betrayal, but the will of the Father. That mysterious will, humanly incomprehensible, yet infinitely good and generous, whereby Jesus became “sin for us”. All the sins of humanity were placed upon him and that mysterious exchange took place whereby we sinners became “the righteousness of God”.
In our efforts to identify ourselves completely with Jesus as he walks and falls beneath the cross, it is right for us to have feelings of repentance and sorrow. But stronger still should be the feeling of gratitude welling up in our hearts.
Yes, Lord, you have redeemed us, you have set us free; by your cross you have made us righteous before God. You have also joined us so deeply to yourself that we too have been made, in you, God’s children, members of his household and his friends. Thank you Lord; may gratitude towards you be the distinguishing mark of our lives.
All: Pater noster…
TENTH STATION: Jesus is stripped of his garments
V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R/. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
From the Gospel according to John 19: 23–24
The soldiers took the garments of Jesus and made four parts, one for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was without seam, woven from top to bottom; so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfil the scripture, “They parted my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”
MEDITATION
Jesus is stripped of his garments. We have reached the final act of the tragedy, begun with the arrest in the Garden of Olives, in which Jesus is stripped of his dignity as a human being, much less than as God’s Son.
Jesus appears naked before the eyes of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the eyes of all humanity. In a profound way it is right that this should be so. For he divested his very self in order to sacrifice himself for our sake. So the gesture of being stripped of his garments is is also the fulfilment of a prophecy of Holy Scripture.
As we look upon Jesus naked on the cross, we feel deep within us a compelling need to look upon our own nakedness, to stand spiritually naked before ourselves, but first of all before God and before our brothers and sisters in humanity. We need to be stripped of the pretence of appearing better than we are, and to seek to be sincere and transparent.
The way of acting that, perhaps more than any other, provoked Jesus’s disdain was hypocrisy. How often did he tell his disciples not to act “as the hypocrites do” (Mt 6:2, 5, 16). Or say to those who impugned his good deeds: “Woe to you, hypocrites” (Mt 23:13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29).
Lord Jesus, hanging naked on the cross, grant that I too may stand naked before you.
All: Pater noster…
ELEVENTH STATION: Jesus is nailed to the cross
V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R/. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
From the Gospel according to Mark 15:25-27
And it was the third hour, when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.
MEDITATION
Jesus is nailed to the cross. An appalling form of torture. And as he hangs on the cross, many of the passersby mock him and even try to provoke him: “He saved others; he cannot save himself! … He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him; for he said: ‘I am the Son of God!’” (Mt 27:42-43). Not only is his person mocked, but also his saving mission, the mission that Jesus was bringing to fulfilment upon the cross.
Yet deep within, Jesus knows an incomparably greater suffering, which causes him to cry out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mk 15:34). These are the opening words of a Psalm which concludes with a reaffirmation of complete trust in God. At the same time they are words to be taken completely seriously, as expressing the greatest test to which Jesus was subjected.
How many times, when we are tested, we think that we have been forgotten or abandoned by God. Or are even tempted to decide that God does not exist.
The Son of God, who drank his bitter chalice to the dregs and then rose from the dead, tells us, instead, with his whole self, by his life and by his death, that we ought to trust in God. We can believe him.
All: Pater noster…
TWELFTH STATION: Jesus dies on the cross
V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R/. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
From the Gospel according to John 19:28-30
After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfil the scripture), “I thirst.” A bowl full of vinegar stood there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished”; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
MEDITATION
Whenever death comes after a painful illness, it is customary to say with some relief, “He is no longer suffering”. In a certain sense, these words also apply to Jesus. Yet these words are all too limited and superficial in the face of any person’s death, and even more so in the face of the death of that man who is the Son of God.
When Jesus dies, the veil of the Temple of Jerusalem is torn in two and other signs occur, causing the Roman centurion to exclaim as he stands guard beneath the cross, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (cf. Mt 27:51-54).
In truth, nothing is as dark and mysterious as the death of the Son of God, who with God the Father is the source and fullness of life. Yet at the same time, nothing shines so brightly, for here the glory of God shines forth, the glory of all-powerful and merciful Love.
In the face of Jesus’ death, our response is the silence of adoration. In this way we entrust ourselves to him, we place ourselves in his hands, and we beg him that nothing, in our life or in our death, may ever separate us from him (cf. Rom 8:38-39).
All: Pater noster…
THIRTEENTH STATION: Jesus is taken down from the cross and placed in the arms of his Mother
V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R/. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
From the Gospel according to John 2:1-5
There was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
MEDITATION
Now the hour of Jesus has been completed and Jesus is taken down from the cross. Ready to receive him are the arms of his Mother. After having tasted the loneliness of death to the bitter end, Jesus immediately rediscovers – in his lifeless body – the strongest and sweetest of his human bonds, the warmth of his Mother’s affection. The greatest artists – we need but think for example of Michelangelo’s Pietà – have been able to intuit and express the depth and indestructible strength of this bond.
As we remember that Mary, standing at the foot of the cross, also became the mother of each one of us, we ask her to put into our hearts the feelings that unite her to Jesus. To be authentic Christians, to follow Jesus truly, we need to be bound to him with all that is within us: our minds, our will, our hearts, our daily choices great and small.
Only in this way can God stand at the centre of our lives. Only in this way can he be something more than a source of consolation which is ever close when needed, but without interfering with the concrete interests governing our daily lives and decisions.
All: Pater noster…
FOURTEENTH STATION: Jesus is placed in the tomb
V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R/. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
From the Gospel according to Matthew 27:57-60
When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed.
MEDITATION
With the stone that seals the entrance to the tomb, it all appears to be over. Yet could the Author of life remain a prisoner of death? This is why the tomb of Jesus, from that time forward, has not only been the object of the most intense devotion, but has also provoked the deepest divisions of minds and hearts. Herein lies the parting of the ways between those who believe in Christ and those who do not, even if many of them consider him an extraordinary man.
Soon that tomb would remain empty, and it has never been possible to find a convincing explanation for the fact of its being empty other than the one given by the witnesses to Jesus’s resurrection from the dead, from Mary Magdalen to Peter and the other Apostles.
Let us halt in prayer before the tomb of Jesus, asking God for the eyes of faith so that we too can become witnesses of his resurrection. Thus may the way of the cross become for us too a wellspring of life.
By a rare coincidence, this year our Easter falls on the same week of the Jewish Passover which is the ancestor and matrix within which it was formed. This pushes us to direct a thought to our Jewish brothers. They know from experience what it means to be victims of collective violence and also because of this they are quick to recognize the recurring symptoms. I received in this week the letter of a Jewish friend and, with his permission, I share here a part of it.
He said: "I am following with indignation the violent and concentric attacks against the Church, the Pope and all the faithful by the whole world. The use of stereotypes, the passing from personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt remind me of the more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism. Therefore I desire to express to you personally, to the Pope and to the whole Church my solidarity as Jew of dialogue and of all those that in the Jewish world (and there are many) share these sentiments of brotherhood. Our Passover and yours are undoubtedly different, but we both live with Messianic hope that surely will reunite us in the love of our common Father. I wish you and all Catholics a Good Easter."
And also we Catholics wish our Jewish brothers a Good Passover. We do so with the words of their ancient teacher Gamaliel, entered in the Jewish Passover Seder and from there passed into the most ancient Christian liturgy:
"He made us pass From slavery to liberty, From sadness to joy, From mourning to celebration, From darkness to light, From servitude to redemption Because of this before him we say: Alleluia."
Pope Benedict XVI greets the faithful during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 7, 2010. (Daylife)
Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio takes questions from the media at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Tuesday, April 6, 2010, in Los Angeles. Archbishop Jose Gomez was named Tuesday to succeed the archbishop of Los Angeles, the Holy See's most significant acknowledgment to date of the growing importance of Latinos in the American church. The appointment also was evidence that Pope Benedict XVI wants a strong defender of orthodoxy leading the largest diocese in the nation. Gomez, 58, is an archbishop of Opus Dei, the conservative movement favored by the Vatican. (Daylife-AP)
