Dom Donald's Blog: Eastertide; " ... to be present in the act of the ...Resurrection Mass (Redemption

    Dom Donald's Blog: Eastertide; " ... to be present in the act of the ...: Sent:  Friday, 24 April 2015, 13:09 Subject:  act Resurrection as all Eastertide Mystic prayer "act Resurrection". Queen o...  

COMMENT:

The previous Blogspot gives deeper to the actual narrative of Luisa Piccarreta Vol I of Book of Heaven.

Sent: Friday, 24 April 2015, 13:09
Subject: act Resurrection as all Eastertide

Mystic prayer "act Resurrection".

Queen of Heaven lessons on, first Resurrection,  second the Mass, below....

Not with picture missing.

Sent from my iPad.   

   Piggy Back

Feast of Easter

Feast of Easter

From the Writings of

The Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta

The Little Daughter of the Divine Will

 The Resurrection is the Confirmation of the Fiat Voluntas Tua on earth as It is in Heaven.

The Queen of Heaven in the Kingdom of the Divine Will. Limbo.

Day 28 – The Expectation.

Victory over Death: the Resurrection.

The soul to her Queen Mother:

My pierced Mama, your little child, knowing that You are alone, without your beloved Good, Jesus, wants to cling to You to keep You company in your most bitter desolation. Without Jesus, all things change into sorrow for You.

 

000

Jesus Allows Luisa to Participate in is Ineffable Sweetness by Assisting in Consoling Scenes of the Holy mysteries of Our Faith

I obedience made me narrate briefly the painful scenes that ever-loving Jesus made me record in order to let me take part in his very bitter sufferings, I cannot silently pass over the consoling scenes that raptured my heart. Now and then He allowed me to take part in untold and unheard-of spiritual graces by letting me see the good and holy Priests who, with fervent spirit and true humility, carried out the celebration of the Most Holy Mysteries of our faith. When I would see these precious Mysteries celebrated with deep appreciation and respect for what develops in about thirty minutes, I would very often be inspired to exclaim to my beloved Jesus, in the fullness of my affection: "How elevated, great, excellent, and sublime is the Priestly ministry to which is given this lofty dignity to not only deal so closely with You, but even to immolate You to your Eternal Father as reconciling Victim, of love and of peace."

I was consoled when I gazed upon, and we versioned together, a holy Priest celebrating the Holy Mass. With Jesus in him, the celebrant was transformed in a way as to appear as a single person. It even appeared as if Jesus celebrated the Divine Sacrifice. Sometimes Jesus concealed the Priest inside Himself so that I saw only Jesus celebrating the Holy Mass. It was extremely uplifting to hear Jesus recite with so much unction of grace; to see Him move around with dignity; and to execute the Holy Ceremony. This would arouse great marvels in me for a ministry so high and holy. I do not know how many graces I received when I succeeded in seeing the Mass celebrated with all divine attention and devotion.

How many illuminations and divine charisms I understood then, and now I would like to pass over in silence. But since obedience commands, I can hardly do other than say something succinctly, and that Jesus, more than anyone else, when I am writing, moving within me, has reprimanded me for being lazy and for having wanted to omit something. With maximum confidence in Him, I now write: "How much patience one must have with You my good Jesus. I will satisfy You, my sweet Love. But since I feel unworthy and inadequate to say anything that concerns this deep, sublime and exalted Mystery, I shall do it with the help of your grace."

000

 

The Holy Mass and Its Effects. In particular, the Bodily Resurrection of the Dead.

I can now say that while I was listening attentively to the Divine Sacrifice, Jesus made me understand that the Mass, in the depth of the Mystery that unfolds, encompasses all the mysteries of our religion. Yes, the Mass enables us to observe everything; and it silently speaks to the heart of the infinite Love of God with unheard-of developments given for the good of man. It always reviews our completed Redemption and makes us remember each part of the sufferings that Jesus bore for us who are ungrateful for his Love. Thanks to the institution of this permanent Sacrifice, He makes us understand that He, not satisfied with dying just once on the Cross for us, wants to diffuse Himself in his immense Love, and continue his status as Victim in the Holy Eucharist.

Jesus made me understand that the Mass and the Holy Eucharist are a perennial remembrance of his Death and Resurrection and that they communicate the antidote for our mortal life. The Mass and Eucharist tell us that our disintegrated bodies, which will decay and be reduced to ashes through death, will be resurrected on the last day, to immortal life. For the good, it will be glorious; but for the wicked, it will end in torment. Those that have not lived with Christ will not resurrect in Him; but the good who have been intimate with Christ during their lifetime, will have a Resurrection similar to that of Jesus.

He made me understand well that the most consoling thing contained in the Sacrifice of the Mass is Jesus in the Sacrament of his Resurrection. It is superior to any of the other mysteries of our holy religion. This, together with his Passion and Death, is mystically renewed on our altars whenever the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated. Under the veil of unleavened Sacramental Bread, Jesus actually gives Himself to the communicants so as to be their companion along life's pilgrimage of mortal existence. By means of his grace that comes from the Bosom of the Holy Trinity, He gives everlasting life to those that participate, with soul and body, in this Sacrament. These mysteries are so profound that only in our immortal life will we fully understand. However, now in the Sacrament, Jesus gives us, in many ways-almost tangibly-a foretaste of what He will give us in Heaven.

Foremost, the Mass disposes us to meditation on the Life, Passion and Death of Jesus, who has been gloriously resurrected. Christ's Humanity, through the vicissitudes of life, was accomplished in thirty-three years; whereas in the Mass, mystically, and in a brief period of time, it is all renewed in a state of true annihilation, in which the Sacramental species contain Jesus, living and real, up to the time they are consumed. Afterwards, his real presence no longer exists Sacramentally in our hearts. He returns to the bosom of his Divine Father, just as He did when He arose from the dead. Then, consecrated anew in the Mass, under the forms of bread and wine, He descends to assume the Victim state of peace and propitiating love. His "Sacramental state" is renewed for our good as wayfarers, and for the glory and satisfaction of his Eternal Father.

Thus, in the Sacrament, He reminds us of the Resurrection of our own bodies into glory. Just as He resides in the bosom of his Father when He ceases his Sacramental state, so too will we pass to our eternal residence in the bosom of God when we cease to exist in our present life. Our bodies will be consumed like the Sacramental forms that seem to exist no longer. Then, on the universal Day of Resurrection, by the miracle of God's Omnipotence, our bodies will acquire "life"; and joined to our souls, will go to enjoy the eternal beatitude of God. Others, to the contrary, will go away from God to suffer atrocious, eternal torments.

If these marvellous effects flow from the limpid and unobscured Sacrifice of the Mass, why do Christians not accustom themselves to profit from it? For a soul that loves God, can there be anything more consoling and beneficent? In the Sacrament, He nourishes a soul so that it can be worthy of Heaven; and He gives the body the privilege of becoming beatified in the Eternal Will of God.

It seems to me that on that great day, a supernatural event will occur like the natural event that takes place after we have contemplated the starry heavens-and the sun appears. What happens? The sun, in its dazzling light, absorbs the light of the stars and, even though they disappear from the observer's sight, each star keeps its light, and stays in place. When the sun sets, the stars receive new light and shine in the firmament.

Like the stars, the souls that find themselves in front of the Universal Judgment in the Valley of Jehosophat as it was before the arrival of Jesus, will be able to observe other souls. The light acquired and communicated by the Most Holy Sacrifice and Sacrament of Love will be observable to each soul. But when Jesus, the Judge and Eternal Sun of Justice, appears in his great light, He will absorb into Himself, all the blessed souls that shine like stars. He will allow them to exist always, to swim in the immense sea of God's perfection.

And what will happen to souls deprived of this Divine Light? If I wanted to answer this question, I could write indefmitely. But if the Lord wishes, I shall reserve this for another time and say something else about the object of his Love. He had me understand, simply, that the bodies that are re-united to the souls with resplendent light, will be eternally united with God. On the other hand, other souls, because of the lack of light from not wishing to participate in the Sacrifice and Sacrament of Love, will be thrown into the depths of the thickest darkness; and because of their ingratitude, knowingly committed against so great a Giver, they will be placed in the slavery of Lucifer, the prince of darkness. They will be eternally tormented by terrible and terrifying remorse.

000

The Last Preparations for the Mystical Marriage.

Now to continue from the beginning. Thanks to the light of grace that Jesus always imbued in me, I was completely impassioned with holy yearning to be always united to Him-even when my soul left my body and Jesus would set apart bitter pains for me to suffer because of those who lacked appreciation for the Sacrifice and Sacrament of Love-the Mass. On his part, He would renew the sweet promises I already mentioned, about the Mystical Marriage He wanted with me. Because of this, I would plead many times with Him by saying: "Oh sweetest Spouse, hurry and do not postpone my intimate union with You. Do you not see that I can wait no longer? Let us hold ourselves together with strong bonds of love so that no one can separate us, even for an instant."

But Jesus, who infused in me the burning desire to complete this Mystical Marriage, kept repeating to me: "Everything earthly must be cast away. Everything, everything-not only from your heart, but also from your body. You do not know how harmful the slightest earthly shadow can be. It is a strong impediment to my Love." At these words I became bold and quickly said: "My Lord, does it appear that I still have something to remove from myself before I can be completely pleasing to You? Why do you not tell me what it is? You know if I am ready to do everything You wish." As I said this, I received a ray of light from Jesus through which I became aware that He wanted to speak about the gold ring, with his crucified image, that I wore on my finger. So I quickly said to Him: "Oh Holy Spouse, I am disposed to remove this from my finger if You

Tomorrow OCSO 22 April 2015 BLESSED MARIA GABRIELLA

   

Ut  Unum Sint  the great cause of Christian Unity, Sr. Maria Gabriella felt immediately involved and interiorly compelled to offer her young life. "I feel the Lord is calling me"

    http://www.nunraw.com/sanctamaria/gabriella.htm 

BLESSED MARIA GABRIELLA SAGHEDDU

(1914-1939)

Maria Sagheddu was born in Dorgali, Sardinia, into a family of shepherds. Witnesses from
the period of her childhood and adolescence speak of her as a girl with an obstinate, critical,
protesting and rebellious character, but paradoxically with a strong sense of duty, loyalty and
obedience: "She obeyed grumblingly, but she was docile", it was said of her. "She would say,
'No,' but she would do the task at once."
What everyone noticed was the change that came over her when she was 18. Little by little she
became gentle. Her outbursts of temper disappeared. She became more pensive and austere:
more tender and reserved. The spirit of prayerful charity grew in her, togther with a new
sensitivity concerning the Church and the needs of the apostolate. She enrolled in "Catholic
Action", a Church-sponsored youth movement.
A new depth of receptivity was also born in her, one that hands itself totally over to the will of
God. At 21 she decided to consecrate herself to God. Following the guidance of her spiritual
father, she entered the Cistercian monastery of Grottaferrata, an economically poor and
culturally under-developed community, governed at that time by Mother Maria Pia Gullini.
Her life in the monastery appears to have been dominated by a few essential principles:
- The first and most obvious of these was gratitude for the mercy which God had poured
out on her, calling her to belong completely to him. She liked to compare herself to the
prodigal son and could only say, "Thank you!" for the monastic vocation, her monastery, the
superiors, the sisters, everything. "How good the Lord is!" was her constant exclamation and
this gratitude will pervade everything, even the last moments of her illness and agony.
- The second principle of her life is the desire to respond to God's grace with all her
strength, so that what the Lord had begun in her might be completed and God's will fulfilled
in her, because here is where her true peace lay.
In the novitiate she was afraid that she would be sent away, but after her profession this
anxiety was overcome and a peaceful, trusting self-surrender took its place, producing a deep
inner drive toward the complete sacrifice of herself: "Now do what You want with me!" she
would simply say. Her brief life in the cloister -- she lived as a nun for only three and a half
years -- was consumed simply, like the Eucharist, in her daily commitment of conversion, so
as to follow Christ better in his obedience to the Father unto death. Gabriella saw herself as
defined by a mission of self-gift: the total handing over of herself to the Lord.
The memories which the sisters have of her are both simple and meaningful: her promptness
in acknowledging her faults and asking pardon of others without justifying herself; her
simple, sincere humility; her cheerful readiness to do any sort of work, even the most tiring,
without making a fuss about it. After her monastic profession there grew in her the
experience of her littleness: "My life is of no value..., I can offer it in peace."
Her abbess, Mother Maria Pia Gullini, had a precocious ecumenical awareness and a desire to work for Christian unity. She had communicated this desire to the community, so when she explained to the sisters the Church's request for prayer and offering for the great cause of Christian Unity, Sr. Maria Gabriella felt immediately involved and interiorly compelled to offer her young life. "I feel the Lord is calling me" - she confided to her abbess - "I feel urged, even when I don't want to think about it".  

Sister Gabriella

  By the quick, straight road of her tenacious commitment to obedience, Gabriella attained the inner freedom to be conformed to Jesus, who "having loved his own who were in the world, loved them to the end". As a counterweight to the laceration of the Body of Christ, she realized the urgency of offering herself and carrying out that offering with faithful consistency until its final consummation. She was conscious of her own frailty, but her heart and her will had only one desire: "God's Will! God's Glory!" On the very day of her offering, tuberculosis appeared in her young body which until then had been extremely healthy. It swept her to her death after 15 months of suffering.
On the evening of 23 April 1939, Gabriella ended her long agony, totally abandoned to the will of God, while the bells were ringing full peal at the end of Vespers on Good Shepherd Sunday. The Gospel that day had proclaimed: "There will be one fold and one Shepherd."
Even before the consummation of her offering, her self-gift for the sake of Christian Unity had been communicated to the Anglican brethren and had been welcomed by them. It has also sparked a deep response in the hearts of believers of other Christian confessions. The most concrete gift of Sister Gabriella to her own community has been the influx of vocations, who arrived in great numbers during the following years.
Her body, found intact on the occasion of its recognition in 1957, now rests in a chapel adjoining the monastery of Vitorchiano, where the community of Grottaferrata has transferred. She was beatified by John Paul II on 25 January 1983 in the basilica of St.Paul outside the Walls. It was 44 years after her death, the feast of the Conversion of St.Paul and the last day of the week of prayer for Christian Unity.

Publications in English: - Mary Paula Williamson, R.C.: THAT ALL MAY BE ONE - P.J.Kennedy and Sons, New York 1949. 185 pp. - Martha Driscoll: A Silent Herald of Unity, (Cistercian Studies Series 119) Cistercian Publications, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008, 1990. 142 pp. - Paul B.Quattrocchi: A Life for Unity: Sr.Maria Gabriella - New City Press, New York 1990. 183 pp. - Pearce Cusack: Blesed Gabriella of Unity: A Patron for the Ecumenical Movement, Cistercian Press, Ros Cré, Ireland 1995. 166 pp. - Monica Della Volpe: "Blessed Maria Gabriella Today" in Cistercian Studies Quarterly 35 (2000), pp.335-344.

BLESSED MARIA GABRIELLA

(1914 -1939)

CISTERCIAN NUN

WOMAN OF UNITY

BEATIFIED ON

JANUARY 25th 1983

A Brief Life by Fr. Bonaventure ocso,

Monk of Mount Melleray Abbey.

Contents

Chapter 1:	Early Years
Chapter 2:	Grottaferrata
Chapter 3:	The Novice
Chapter 4:	"Spouse of Christ"
Chapter 5:	An Ordinary Life
Chapter 6:	Our Mission is Prayer
Chapter 7:	The Oblation
Chapter 8:	Suffering
Chapter 9	Beatification

Saint Anselm: 12 April 2015

Patristic Readings

 Ninth Centenary 
of the death of St Anselm, 2009

   _{BXVI - General Audience, Wednesday 23 September 2009 - © Copyright 2009 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana}

Benedict XVI's Letter on the 9th Centenary of the Death of St Anselm
_{- in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish}

To Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, Special Envoy to the celebrations for the Ninth Centenary 
of the death of St Anselm

Venerable Brother, in view of the celebrations in which you will be taking part as my Legate, in the illustrious city of Aosta for the ninth centenary of the death of St Anselm in Canterbury, on 21 April 1109,   

 Totus2us.com/vocation/church-fathers/st-anselm/

   For the Memorial of Saint Anselm:

 12 April 2015   

SECOND READING

From the Proslogion by Saint Anselm, bishop
(Cap. 14, 16, 26: Opera omnia, edit. Schmitt, Seccovii, 1938, 1, 111-113, 121-122)

Let me know you and love you, so that I may find my joy in you

My soul, have you found what you are looking for? You were looking for God, and you have discovered that he is the supreme being, and that you could not possibly imagine anything more perfect. You have discovered that this supreme being is life itself, light, wisdom, goodness, eternal blessedness and blessed eternity. He is everywhere, and he is timeless.

Lord my God, you gave me life and restored it when I lost it. Tell my soul that so longs for you what else you are besides what it has already understood, so that it may see you clearly. It stands on tiptoe to see more, but apart from what it has seen already, it sees nothing but darkness. Of course it does not really see darkness, because there is no darkness in you, but it sees that it can see no further because of the darkness in itself.

Surely, Lord, inaccessible light is your dwelling place, for no one apart from yourself can enter into it and fully comprehend you. If I fail to see this light it is simply because it is too bright for me. Still, it is by this light that I do see all that I can, even as weak eyes, unable to look straight at the sun, see all that they can by the sun’s light.

The light in which you dwell, Lord, is beyond my understanding. It is so brilliant that I cannot bear it, I cannot turn my mind’s eye toward it for any length of time. I am dazzled by its brightness, amazed by its grandeur, overwhelmed by its immensity, bewildered by its abundance.

O supreme and inaccessible light, O complete and blessed truth, how far you are from me, even though I am so near to you! How remote you are from my sight, even though I am present to yours! You are everywhere in your entirety, and yet I do not see you; in you I move and have my being, and yet I cannot approach you; you are within me and around me, and yet I do not perceive you.

O God, let me know you and love you so that I may find my joy in you; and if I cannot do so fully in this life, let me at least make some progress every day, until at last that knowledge, love and joy come to me in all their plenitude. While I am here on earth let me learn to know you better, so that in heaven I may know you fully; let my love for you grow deeper here, so that there I may love you fully. On earth then I shall have great joy in hope, and in heaven complete joy in the fulfilment of my hope.

O Lord, through your Son you command us, no, you counsel us to ask, and you promise that you will hear us so that our joy may be complete. Lord, I am making the request that you urge us to make through your Wonder-Counsellor. Give me then what you promise to give through your Truth. You, O God, are faithful; grant that I may receive my request, so that my joy may be complete.

Meanwhile, let this hope of mine be in my thoughts and on my tongue; let my heart be filled with it, my voice speak of it; let my soul hunger for it, my body thirst for it, my whole being yearn for it, until I enter into the joy of the Lord, who is Three in One, blessed for ever. Amen.

RESPONSORY

We honor Anselm, an outstanding doctor and a disciple of Lanfranc.
While an abbot he was greatly loved by his fellow monks, 
but he was called to serve as bishop.
– He fought strenuously for the freedom of holy church, alleluia.

He steadfastly asserted that the Church, the bride of Christ,
was not a slave but free.
– He fought strenuously for the freedom of holy church, alleluia.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Let us pray.

Father,
you called Saint Anselm
to study and teach the sublime truths you have revealed.
Let your gift of faith come to the aid of our understanding
and open our hearts to your truth.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

Sant 'Anselmo d'Aosta Bishop and Doctor of the Church April 21 - Optional Memory

Aosta, 1033 - Canterbury, England, April 21, 1109 Was born around 1033 in Aosta mother Piedmont, both noble and rich. Troubled relationship with the family that sends it from a relative for education. Only with the Benedictines Aosta that Anselmo finds its place: at fifteen feels the desire to become monaco. Thwarted by the parents decides to leave after three years between Burgundy and Central France, goes to Avranches in Normandy, where the abbey of Bec with the school, founded in 1034. There he met the Prior Lanfranco of Pavia who cure the course of study. Anselmo in 1060 entered the seminary Benedictine Bec, which will become prior. Here you will start its activities theological research which led him to be counted among the greatest theologians of the West. In 176 the public "Monologion." In 1093 became archbishop of Canterbury. Because of disagreements with the political power is forced into exile in Rome twice. He died in Canterbury in 1109.(Future) Etymology: Anselmo = protected by God, God is the helmet, from the German Emblem: Stick pastoral Martyrology: St. Anselm, bishop and doctor of the Church, who, born in Aosta, was first monaco in the monastery of Bec in Normandy in France; divenutone abbot, taught his brothers to pursue their quest for perfection and to seek God with the intellect of faith; then promoted all'insigne headquarters of Canterbury in England, fought valiantly for the freedom of the Church, for enduring this suffering and exile.  Listen to Vatican Radio:     Listen to RadioRai:     Listen to RadioMaria:

Souls who are about to take their last breath.

Luisa Piccarreta, NOON: First  Hour of the Agony on the Cross, p. 29            

.....

·         While we pray, work, walk,
we ought also not forget the poor souls
who are about to take their last breath.

·          

·         Let us bring them Jesus’ prayers
and kisses for help and comfort,

in order that  his precious Blood
may purify them and
enable them to take their flight to Heaven.

·             Joseph Iannuzzi, [translation] Companion to the Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Luisa Piccarreta, NOON: First  Hour of the Agony on the Cross, p. 29

  It is difficult to find the publication.

Divine Mercy Sunday homily Pope Francis:

Divine Mercy Sunday homily Pope Francis: 

  Vespers Benediction at Sancta Maria Nunraw

Sunday, April 12, 2015 10:27 am

Pope Francis presided over First Vespers of Divine Mercy Sunday on Saturday evening, during which he also delivered the homily. Below, please find the official English translation of the Holy Father's prepared remarks. Dear Brothers and Sisters, The greeting of the Risen Christ to his disciples on the evening of Easter, "Peace be with you!" (Jn 20:19), continues to resound in us all. Peace, especially during this Easter season, remains the desire of so many people who suffer unprecedented violence of discrimination and death simply because they bear the name "Christian".  

 

                         Pope Francis: Divine Mercy Sunday homily -
Independent Catholic News   

Pope Francis: Divine Mercy Sunday homily

Posted: Sunday, April 12, 2015 11:15 pm.

Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX      Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St Peter's Basilica on Sunday morning, with the Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church, His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX, and in the presence of His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, and His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church. During the Mass the Holy Father declared St. Gregory of Narek - a 10th century Armenian monk and mystic - Doctor of the Church. The Mass also marked the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Medz Yeghern, in which as many as 1.5 million Armenians perished under the Ottoman Empire. The official English translation of the Holy Father's homily follows: Saint John, who was in the Upper Room with the other disciples on the evening of the first day after the Sabbath, tells us that Jesus came and stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you!" and he showed them his hands and his side (Jn 20:19-20); he showed them his wounds. And in this way they realized that it was not an apparition: it was truly him, the Lord, and they were filled with joy. On the eighth day Jesus came once again into the Upper Room and showed his wounds to Thomas, so that he could touch them as he had wished to, in order to believe and thus become himself a witness to the Resurrection. To us also, on this Sunday which Saint John Paul II wished to dedicate to Divine Mercy, the Lord shows us, through the Gospel, his wounds. They are wounds of mercy. It is true: the wounds of Jesus are wounds of mercy. Jesus invites us to behold these wounds, to touch them as Thomas did, to heal our lack of belief. Above all, he invites us to enter into the mystery of these wounds, which is the mystery of his merciful love. Through these wounds, as in a light-filled opening, we can see the entire mystery of Christ and of God: his Passion, his earthly life - filled with compassion for the weak and the sick - his incarnation in the womb of Mary. And we can retrace the whole history of salvation: the prophecies - especially about the Servant of the Lord, the Psalms, the Law and the Covenant; to the liberation from Egypt, to the first Passover and to the blood of the slaughtered lambs; and again from the Patriarchs to Abraham, and then all the way back to Abel, whose blood cried out from the earth. All of this we can see in the wounds of Jesus, crucified and risen; with Mary, in her Magnificat, we can perceive that, "His mercy extends from generation to generation" (cf. Lk 1:50). Faced with the tragic events of human history we can feel crushed at times, asking ourselves, "Why?". Humanity's evil can appear in the world like an abyss, a great void: empty of love, empty of goodness, empty of life. And so we ask: how can we fill this abyss? For us it is impossible; only God can fill this emptiness that evil brings to our hearts and to human history. It is Jesus, God made man, who died on the Cross and who fills the abyss of sin with the depth of his mercy. Saint Bernard, in one of his commentaries on the Canticle of Canticles (Sermon 61, 3-5: Opera Omnia, 2, 150-151), reflects precisely on the mystery of the Lord's wounds, using forceful and even bold expressions which we do well to repeat today. He says that "through these sacred wounds we can see the secret of [Christ's] heart, the great mystery of love, the sincerity of his mercy with which he visited us from on high". Brothers and sisters, behold the way which God has opened for us to finally go out from our slavery to sin and death, and thus enter into the land of life and peace. Jesus, crucified and risen, is the way and his wounds are especially full of mercy. The saints teach us that the world is changed beginning with the conversion of one's own heart, and that this happens through the mercy of God. And so, whether faced with my own sins or the great tragedies of the world, "my conscience would be distressed, but it would not be in turmoil, for I would recall the wounds of the Lord: 'he was wounded for our iniquities' (Is 53:5). What sin is there so deadly that it cannot be pardoned by the death of Christ?" (ibid.). Keeping our gaze on the wounds of the Risen Jesus, we can sing with the Church: "His love endures forever" (Ps 117:2); eternal is his mercy. And with these words impressed on our hearts, let us go forth along the paths of history, led by the hand of our Lord and Saviour, our life and our hope. Source: Vatican Radio

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