Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) - “They shall look on Him whom they have pierced” (Jn 19:37)” is the theme of Pope Benedict XVI’s Message for Lent 2007 presented today at the Holy See Press Office. “Dear Brothers and Sisters, the Pope writes, Lent is a favourable time to learn to stay with Mary and John, the beloved disciple, close to Him who on the Cross, consummated for all mankind the sacrifice of His life (cf. Jn 19:25). With a more fervent participation let us direct our gaze, therefore, in this time of penance and prayer, at Christ crucified who, dying on Calvary, revealed fully for us the love of God”.
Benedict XVI recalls his Encyclical “Deus caritas est”, in which he speaks of love in its two fundamental forms: agape and eros and he says: “The term agape, which appears many times in the New Testament, indicates the self-giving love of one who looks exclusively for the good of the other. The word eros, on the other hand, denotes the love of one who desires to possess what he or she lacks and yearns for union with the beloved. The love with which God surrounds us is undoubtedly agape… But God’s love is also eros. … eros is part of God’s very heart: the Almighty awaits the “yes” of His creatures as a young bridegroom that of his bride. Unfortunately, from its very origins, mankind, seduced by the lies of the Evil One, rejected God’s love in the illusion of a self-sufficiency that is impossible … God, however, did not give up. On the contrary, man’s “no” was the decisive impulse that moved Him to manifest His love in all of its redeeming strength.”
In order to win back the love of His creatures, God accepted to pay the highest price: the blood of His Only Son. “It is in the mystery of the Cross that the overwhelming power of the heavenly Father’s mercy is revealed … Death, which for the first Adam was an extreme sign of loneliness and powerlessness, was thus transformed in the supreme act of love and freedom of the new Adam”. The Pope in writes “Dear brothers and sisters, let us look at Christ pierced in the Cross. He is the unsurpassing revelation of God’s love, a love in which eros and agape, far from being opposed, enlighten each other. On the Cross, it is God Himself who begs the love of His creature: He is thirsty for the love of every one of us. The Apostle Thomas recognized Jesus as “Lord and God” when he put his hand into the wound of His side. Not surprisingly, many of the saints found in the Heart of Jesus the deepest expression of this mystery of love. … Jesus said: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself” (Jn 12:32). The response the Lord ardently desires of us is above all that we welcome His love and allow ourselves to be drawn to Him. Accepting His love, however, is not enough. We need to respond to such love and devote ourselves to communicating it to others. Christ “draws me to Himself” in order to unite Himself to me, so that I learn to love the brothers with His own love.
Blood and water, the Fathers of the Church considered these elements as symbols of the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist the Pope recalled and he concluded “Blood, symbol of the love of the Good Shepherd, flows into us especially in the Eucharistic mystery … Let us live Lent then, as a “Eucharistic” time in which, welcoming the love of Jesus, we learn to spread it around us with every word and deed. Contemplating “Him whom they have pierced” moves us in this way to open our hearts to others, recognizing the wounds inflicted upon the dignity of the human person; it moves us, in particular, to fight every form of contempt for life and human exploitation and to alleviate the tragedies of loneliness and abandonment of so many people. May Lent be for every Christian a renewed experience of God’s love given to us in Christ, a love that each day we, in turn, must “regive” to our neighbour, especially to the one who suffers most and is in need. Only in this way will we be able to participate fully in the joy of Easter”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 13/2/2007, righe 44, parole 661)
