1. In these days of
Holy Week, the liturgy very forcefully underscores the opposition
between lightand darkness, between life and death, but it leaves us
in no doubt as to the final outcome: the glory of the risen Christ.
Tomorrow the solemn celebration "in Cena Domini" will lead us into
the Sacred Triduum, which offers the central events of salvation
history for the reflection of all believers. Together we will relive
and deeply participate in the Passion, Death and Resurrection of
Jesus.
2. At tomorrow's Chrism Mass, the morning prelude of Holy Thursday,
priests will gather with their own Bishop. During a significant
Eucharistic celebration, which usually takes place in diocesan
cathedrals, the oils for the sick and for catechumens will be
blessed, and chrism will be consecrated. These rites symbolize the
fullness of Christ's priesthood and that ecclesial communion which
must enliven the Christian people, gathered by the Eucharistic
sacrifice and strengthened in unity by the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Tomorrow evening we will celebrate with grateful hearts the
institution of the Eucharist. At the Last Supper, the Lord, "having
loved his own who were in the world, loved them to the end" (Jn
13:1). Precisely at the moment when Judas was preparing to betray
him and night had fallen over his heart, divine mercy triumphed over
hatred, life over death: "Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke
it, and gave it to the disciples and said: 'Take, eat; this is my
body'. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to
them, saying, 'Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the
covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins'
" (Mt 26:26-28).
God's new and eternal Covenant with man is thus written indelibly in
the blood of Christ, the meek and mild lamb, freely sacrificed to
atone for the sins of the world. At the end of the celebration, the
Church will invite us to remain in prolonged adoration of the
Eucharist, to meditate on this extraordinary and incomparable
mystery of love.
3. Good Friday is marked by the Passion account and by contemplation
of the Cross, in which the Father's mercy is fully revealed. The
liturgy has us pray in this way: "When we were lost and could not
find the way to you, you loved us more than ever: Jesus, your Son,
innocent and without sin, gave himself into our hands and was nailed
to a cross" (Roman Missal, 1983 ed., Eucharistic Prayer for Masses
of Reconciliation, I). So great is the emotion evoked by this
mystery, that the Apostle Peter, writing to the faithful of Asia
Minor, exclaimed: "You know that you were ransomed from the futile
ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as
silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of
a lamb without blemish or spot" (1 Pt 1:18-19).
Therefore, after proclaiming the Passion of the Lord, the Church
puts the adoration of the Cross at the centre of the Good Friday
liturgy, not as a symbol of death but as a source of authentic life.
On this day, charged with spiritual emotion, the Cross of Christ is
lifted up upon the world as a banner of hope for all who in faith
welcome its mystery into their lives.
4. Meditating on these supernatural realities, we will enter the
silence of Holy Saturday, in expectation of Christ's glorious
triumph in the Resurrection. At the tomb we will be able to reflect
on the tragedy of a humanity that, deprived of its Lord, is
inevitably dominated by loneliness and discouragement. Turned in on
himself, man feels deprived of every breath of hope in the face of
suffering, the failures of life and, especially, death. What should
we do? We must wait for the resurrection. At our side, according to
an ancient, widespread popular tradition, will be Our Lady, the
Sorrowful Virgin and Mother of Christ sacrificed.
On Holy Saturday night, however, during the solemn Easter Vigil,
"the mother of all vigils", the silence will be broken by joyful
song: the Exsultet. Once again the victory of Light over darkness,
of Life over death, will be proclaimed and the Church will rejoice
in meeting her Lord.
Thus we will enter the atmosphere of Easter, the Resurrection, the
endless day which the Lord inaugurated by rising from the dead.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us open our hearts to God's grace and
prepare ourselves to follow Jesus in his Passion and Death, in order
to enter with him into the joy of the Resurrection.
With these sentiments, I wish everyone a fruitful paschal Triduum,
and a holy and happy Easter.
To the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors the Holy Father said:
I extend a warm welcome to all the English-speaking pilgrims and
visitors present at this Audience, especially those from the
Philippines and the United States of America. Upon you and your
families I cordially invoke the blessings of almighty God. To all of
you, a happy Easter!
