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.
“In all truth I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” (Jn 13:21b)
Betrayal! Here the most terrible depths of the human heart are revealed. Betraying a friend, betraying the Master and Lord, betraying love…
“But Yahweh God called to the man. ‘Where are you?’ he asked” (Gen 3:9).
These are the first words that the Father addresses to man after he has fallen into sin. He expresses all his love in how he seeks us.
“Mary brought in a pound of very costly ointment, pure nard, and with it anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them with her hair.” (Jn 12:3)
What a tender gesture on Mary’s part this Gospel passage tells us! It is a tenderness that corresponds to the being of a woman, and which reflects something of her beauty and her capacity for self-giving. Mary has given her whole heart to Jesus, and what a consolation that loving soul must have been for Him in the midst of so much hostility. Something similar will happen to Him on the Way of the Cross, when Veronica wipes His face.
“Lift up your eyes with me to the Father from the cross of this world, which causes so much suffering” (Interior Word).
“Jesus said: Father, the hour has come: glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you” (Jn 17:1).
The hour of Jesus… It is the dark hour in which Jesus shows His love for the Father unto the end.
It is the dark hour when Jesus seeks comfort from His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, but finds none (Mt 26:36-46).
“Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who is coming in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heavens!” (Mt 21:9)
The people are gathered, and for a short time that which corresponds to the reality of the coming of the Son of God is happening: He is received with rejoicing and joy, the people receive their true King, their Messiah, the one long promised!
“I will not give rein to my fierce anger, I will not destroy Ephraim again, for I am God, not man, the Holy One in your midst, and I shall not come to you in anger” (Hos 11:9).
Undoubtedly many acts committed by man attract the wrath of God, for He is merciful but also just. Let us remember, for example, how Jesus expelled the merchants from the Temple (Jn 2:14-16), because they, instead of worshipping God, were doing their business in the sacred precinct, thus contributing to its profanation. Read More
We are now on the threshold of Holy Week. From tomorrow, daily meditations, accompanied by a video and many songs, will lead us through the events of this week, which is rightly called the “Great Week” of the year.
The time has come to look back on the path we have travelled, to look at the fruits that have come from it and to give thanks to the Lord.
As we come to the end of our Lenten itinerary, we do not want to miss a glance at the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. What creature could better understand the suffering of her Son than the one who received the unspeakable grace of being His Mother and disciple? The traditional calendar dedicates the Friday before Holy Week to contemplating Mary’s sorrows.
