“Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor 15:55).
We can exclaim it with jubilation on this day, the day on which the Church proclaims the Resurrection of the Son of God: The Lord is risen! Indeed He is risen! Hallelujah!
Showing all posts in March 2024
EASTER SUNDAY: The empty tomb
Mary Magdalene, wanting to show her love for the Lord even in death, runs to the tomb before daybreak.
“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don’t know where they have put Him” (Jn 20:2) – she exclaims in pain, when she discovers that the stone of the tomb has been removed. Are the dead not even left in peace? Where is her Lord?
THE SILENT SATURDAY
“I will say, ‘Let the darkness cover me, and the night wrap itself around me,’ even darkness to you is not dark, and night is as clear as the day” (Ps 138:8).
There is nothing that cannot be illuminated by the light of God.
HOLY SATURDAY: Mourning for the Lord
Mourning for the Lord; grief for men, who have not recognised their Redeemer and have crucified Him… Mourning of the Mother for the beloved Son; mourning and bewilderment among the disciples, who say to each other in confusion: “Our own hope had been that He would be the one to set Israel free…” (Lk 24:21)
But the Lord descended into hell, to those who were still waiting for the Redemption, and He filled them also with His love.
GOOD FRIDAY: Redeemed by love
Judas consummated his betrayal and Jesus is apprehended. This happens after the Lord had accepted in Gethsemane the suffering from the hands of his Father and had given his ‘yes’ to all that was before him.
A YES that had to go through anguish and agony; a YES, after having asked his Father that, if possible, that cup might pass without his having to drink it (cf. Mt 26:39-44); a YES that expresses unconditional surrender to the Father; a YES out of love for us men.
IT IS FULFILLED
“‘It is fulfilled’; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit” (Jn 19:30).
Today, together with the Heavenly Father and all the faithful, our gaze rests on the Cross on which the beloved Son hung. There, on the Cross erected on Calvary, the power of evil was broken by the manifest love of God. It is the Father who grants us true life through the sacrifice of His Son; a new life, which no longer has to hide from God because of its faults. “He was bearing our sins in his own body on the cross” (1 Pet 2:24), and we have been set free. Today is the great Friday, Good Friday! God, the Good One, has done all things well (cf. Mk 7:37).
“THY WILL BE DONE”
“Abba, Father! For you everything is possible. Take this cup away from me. But let it be as you, not I, would have it” (Mk 14:36).
These words of Jesus have deeply marked all those who have accepted suffering at the hands of the Father. It is not easy to recognise His fatherly love in them, even less so when it is a question of suffering that we have not brought on ourselves through our own fault. A person can find himself in deep darkness and only naked faith helps him to get through that situation: faith in the Father’s love.
MAUNDY THURSDAY: The service and self-giving of Christ
“During supper, Jesus got up from table, removed His outer garments and, taking a towel, wrapped it round his waist; he then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing.” (Jn 13:4-5)
What great love is manifested to us on this day, what extraordinary gestures do we encounter! The Lord of heaven and earth washes the feet of His disciples, thus revealing to them more deeply what their discipleship is all about: it is about service. God Himself, in His infinite love, serves man; and He calls us to live in this same service.
HOLY WEDNESDAY: Thirty silver pieces
Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you prepared to give me if I hand Him over to you?’ They paid him thirty silver pieces. (Mt 26:14-15)
The betrayal of God in exchange for unjust money… How often this story is repeated! How often people sell themselves at the price of money, of honour, of disorderly pleasures, of power!
THE CROSS IS MY WAY TO YOU
How incomparably does the love of God shine forth on the cross:
The love of the Father, who sent His Son to redeem us; the love of the Son for His Father and for us men; the love of the Holy Spirit, who reveals this event of love more deeply to us and makes it present in us.