The Way of the Cross with Pope Benedict XVI
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
From
the Gospel according to Matthew 27:59-61
Joseph
took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and laid it in his own
new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the
door of the tomb, and departed. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there,
sitting opposite the sepulcher.
MEDITATION
Jesus,
disgraced and mistreated, is honorably buried in a new tomb. Nicodemus brings a
mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight, which gives off a
precious scent. In the Son's self-offering, as at his anointing in Bethany, we
see an "excess" which evokes God's generous and superabundant love.
God offers himself unstintingly. If God's measure is superabundance, then we
for our part should consider nothing too much for God. This is the teaching of
Jesus himself, in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:20). But we should also
remember the words of Saint Paul, who says that God "through us spreads
the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ everywhere. We are the aroma of
Christ" (2 Corinthians 2:14ff.). Amid the decay of ideologies, our faith
needs once more to be the fragrance which returns us to the path of life. At
the very moment of his burial, Jesus' words are fulfilled: "Truly, truly,
I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains
alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24). Jesus is the
grain of wheat which dies. From that lifeless grain of wheat comes forth the
great multiplication of bread which will endure until the end of the world.
Jesus is the bread of life which can satisfy superabundantly the hunger of all
humanity and provide its deepest nourishment. Through his Cross and Resurrection,
the eternal Word of God became flesh and bread for us. The mystery of the
Eucharist already shines forth in the burial of Jesus.
PRAYER
Lord
Jesus Christ, in your burial you have taken on the death of the grain of wheat.
You have become the lifeless grain of wheat which produces abundant fruit for
every age and for all eternity. From the tomb shines forth in every generation
the promise of the grain of wheat which gives rise to the true manna, the Bread
of Life, in which you offer us your very self. The eternal Word, through his
Incarnation and death, has become a Word which is close to us: you put yourself
into our hands and into our hearts, so that your word can grow within us and
bear fruit. Through the death of the grain of wheat you give us yourself, so
that we too can dare to lose our life in order to find it, so that we too can
trust the promise of the grain of wheat. Help us grow in love and veneration
for your Eucharistic mystery -- to make you, the Bread of heaven, the source of
our life. Help us to become your "fragrance," and to make known in
this world the mysterious traces of your life. Like the grain of wheat which
rises from the earth, putting forth its stalk and then its ear, you could not
remain enclosed in the tomb: the tomb is empty because he -- the Father --
"did not abandon you to the nether world, nor let your flesh see
corruption" (Acts 2:31; Ps 16:10 LXX). No, you did not see corruption. You
have risen, and have made a place for our transfigured flesh in the very heart
of God. Help us to rejoice in this hope and bring it joyfully to the world.
Help us to become witnesses of your Resurrection.
All:
OUR FATHER, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will
be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and
forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
By the Cross
with thee to stay,
there with thee
to weep and pray,
is all I ask of
thee to give.
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