At the close of this Good Friday night's annual
Way of the Cross at the Colosseum the Pope kept his custom of offering a
self-written prayer.
Please take a moment to pray with and for Pope Francis...
O Cross of Christ, symbol of divine love
and of human injustice, icon of the supreme sacrifice for love and of boundless
selfishness even unto madness, instrument of death and the way of resurrection,
sign of obedience and emblem of betrayal, the gallows of persecution and the
banner of victory.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you
raised up in our sisters and brothers killed, burned alive, throats slit and
decapitated by barbarous blades amid cowardly silence.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
the faces of children, of women and people, worn out and fearful, who flee from
war and violence and who often only find death and many Pilates who wash their
hands.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
those filled with knowledge and not with the spirit, scholars of death and not
of life, who instead of teaching mercy and life, threaten with punishment and
death, and who condemn the just.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
unfaithful ministers who, instead of stripping themselves of their own vain
ambitions, divest even the innocent of their dignity.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
the hardened hearts of those who easily judge others, with hearts ready to
condemn even to the point of stoning, without ever recognizing their own sins
and faults.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
expressions of fundamentalism and in terrorist acts committed by followers of
some religions which profane the name of God and which use the holy name to
justify their unprecedented violence.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
those who wish to remove you from public places and exclude you from public
life, in the name of a pagan laicism ["secularism"] or that equality
you yourself taught us.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
the powerful and in arms dealers who feed the cauldron of war with the innocent
blood of our brothers and sisters.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
traitors who, for thirty pieces of silver, would consign anyone to death.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
thieves and corrupt officials who, instead of safeguarding the common good and
morals, sell themselves in the despicable market-place of immorality.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
the foolish who build warehouses to store up treasures that perish, leaving
Lazarus to die of hunger at their doorsteps.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
the destroyers of our “common home”, who by their selfishness ruin the future
of coming generations.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
the elderly who have been abandoned by their families, in the disabled and in
children starving and cast-off by our egotistical and hypocritical society.
O
Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas
which have become insatiable cemeteries, reflections of our indifferent and
anesthetized conscience.
O Cross of Christ, image of love without
end and way of the Resurrection, today too we see you in noble and upright
persons who do good without seeking praise or admiration from others.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
ministers who are faithful and humble, who illuminate the darkness of our lives
like candles that burn freely in order to brighten the lives of the least among
us.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
the faces of consecrated women and men – good Samaritans – who have left
everything to bind up, in evangelical silence, the wounds of poverty and
injustice.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
the merciful who have found in mercy the greatest expression of justice and
faith.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
simple men and women who live their faith joyfully day in and day out, in
filial observance of your commandments.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
the contrite, who in the depths of the misery of their sins, are able to cry
out: Lord, remember me in your kingdom!
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
the blessed and the saints who know how to cross the dark night of faith
without ever losing trust in you and without claiming to understand your
mysterious silence.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
families that live their vocation of married life in fidelity and fruitfulness.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
volunteers who generously assist those in need and the downtrodden.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
those persecuted for their faith who, amid their suffering, continue to offer
an authentic witness to Jesus and the Gospel.
O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in
those who dream, those with the heart of a child, who work to make the world a
better place, ever more human and just.
In you, Holy Cross, we see God who loves
even to the end, and we see the hatred of those who want to dominate, that
hatred which blinds the minds and hearts of those who prefer darkness to light.
O Cross of Christ, Arc of Noah that saved
humanity from the flood of sin, save us from evil and from the Evil One. O
Throne of David and seal of the divine and eternal Covenant, awaken us from the
seduction of vanity! O cry of love, inspire in us a desire for God, for
goodness and for light.
O Cross of Christ, teach us that the rising
of the sun is more powerful than the darkness of night. O Cross of Christ,
teach us that the apparent victory of evil vanishes before the empty tomb and
before the certainty of the Resurrection and the love of God which nothing can
defeat, obscure or weaken. Amen!
(Prayer Written by Pope Francis – Good Friday March
25, 2016)
No comments:
Post a Comment