“From the cross of this world, which causes so much suffering, raise your gaze with me to the Father” (Inner Word).
The immense suffering He endured on the Cross of Calvary brought us Redemption. Jesus did everything with His eyes fixed on the Father in order to fulfil His will. As Saint Paul suggests, we too are called to share in the sufferings of this world: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church” (Col 1:24).
If we raise our eyes to the Father, all will be well, whatever it may be. For those of us who follow the Lord, there will always be suffering. But this suffering will be fruitful for the Kingdom of God, as it was for the Apostle to the Gentiles. It is not a suffering that devours us or drives us to despair. Rather, if we bear it in the Lord and look to our Father, it will ennoble us and lead us to great depths. If we are able to carry the cross with dignity and serenity, it will become a great treasure. Let us think of those who accepted their cross with this attitude and thus helped to “complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church”.
When we go through such sufferings, we can always take refuge in the Lord and in our Father and be deeply united with them.
This meditation is closely linked to an event that took place in one of our houses in Germany two years ago, on the 7th of April 2023: on that Good Friday, at 9 o’clock in the morning, the face of Jesus appeared on the veil that covered the crucifix. This face remains visible to this day.
If you would like to know more about this sign, which we call “Jesus’ gaze on the Heavenly Father”, please follow the link in the text:
https://cloud.harpadei.com/s/FaceofJesus