Here is a translation of the Holy Father's catechesis today, devoted to the Paschal Triduum, at the general audience held in St. Peter's Square.
Dear brothers and sisters,
As the Lenten itinerary which began on Ash Wednesday, draws to a close, the liturgy of Holy Wednesday today already introduces us to the dramatic atmosphere of the next few days, permeated with the memory of the passion and death of Jesus Christ.
In today's liturgy, in fact, the evangelist Matthew invites us to meditate on the brief dialog which took place at the Cenacle between Jesus and Judas.
"Rabbi, could it be me?" the traitor asks the divine Master, who had predicted: "In truth, I say to you, one of you will betray me." The Lord's answer was terse: "You said it" (cfr Mt 26,14-25).
On his part, St. John closes the account of the announcement of Judas's betrayal with a few significant words: "And it was night" (Jn 13,30).
When the traitor left the Cenacle, darkness settled on his heart - an interior night. Bewilderment mounted among the Apostles - they too were heading towards the night - as shadows of abandonment and hate gathered over the Son of Man who was now on his way to consummate His sacrifice on the Cross.
What we will commemorate in the next few days is the supreme encounter between Light and Darkness, between Life and Death. We too should situate ourselves in this context, aware of our own 'night', our sins and our responsibilities, if we want to relive the Paschal Mystery profitably, if we want to achieve light in our hearts through this mystery, which is the central fulcrum of our faith.
The Paschal Tridumm starts with Maundy Thursday, tomorrow. During the Mass of the Chrism - which can be considered the prelude to the Holy Triduum - the diocesan pastor and his closest co-workers, the priests, surrounded by the people of God, renew the promises they made on the day of their priestly ordination.
Year after year, this is a moment of strong ecclesial communion, which highlights the gift of ministerial priesthood that Christ left to his Church on the eve of His death on the Cross. For every priest, it is a most moving moment on the eve of the Passion on which the Lord gave Himself to us, when He gave us the sacrament of the Eucharist, when he gave us the priesthood. It is a day that touches the hearts of us all.
There follows the blessing of the oils for the celebration of the Sacraments: the oil of the catechumens, the oil for the sick, the Holy Chrism. In the evening, entering the Paschal Triduum, the Christian community relives in the Mass of the Lord's Supper what took place during that Last Supper.
In the Cenacle, the Redeemer wishes ro anticipate, in the sacrament of bread and wine changed into His Body and Blood, the sacrifice of His life; he anticipates His death, gives His life freely, offers the definite gift of Himself to mankind.
With the washing of feet, we repeat the gesture with which He, loving His disciples, loved them to the end (cfr Jn 13,1) and left to His disciples this act of humility as their distinctive mark, a love unto death.
After the Mass of the Lord's Supper, the liturgy invites the faithful to pause in adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, reliving Jesus's agony in Gethsemani. And we see how the disciples slept, leaving the Lord by Himself. Even today, we are often asleep, we who are his disciples now.
But on this sacred night in Gethsemani, we want to be vigilant, we do not want to leave the Lord alone in this hour. This way, we can better understand the mystery of Maundy Thursday, which contains the triple gift of the ministerial priesthood, the Eucharist, and the new commandment of love (agape).
Good Friday, which commemorates the events that start with the condemnation of Chrsit to death by crucifixion, is a day of penance, fasting and prayer, of participation in the Lord's Passion. At the appointed hour, the Christian assembly will review, with the help of the Word of God and liturgical acts, the story of human infidelity to the divine design, which nevertheless is now being realized, and it listens again to the moving story of our Lord's sorrowful Passion.
Then it addresses to God a long Prayer of the Faithful which encompasses all the needs of the Church and the world. The Community adores the Cross and approaches the Eucharist. partaking of the sacred species kept over from the Mass of the Lord's Supper the previous day.
Commenting on Good Friday, St. John Chrysostom observed: "First the Cross meant disgrace, now it is a venerable thing; First it was a symbol of condemnation, now it means hope of salvation. It has really become a spring of infinite good. It has liberated us from error, it has dispelled the shadows around us, it has reconciled us with God. From enemies of God, it has made us members of His family; from strangers, it has made us His neighbors. This Cross is the destruction of enmity, the spring of peace, our treasure chest (De cruce et latrone I,1,4).
In order to relive the Passion of the Redeemer in a more participatory manner, Christian tradition has given life to multiple manifestations of popular piety, among those the famous Good Friday processions with evocative rites that are repeated every year.
But there is a pious exercise, the Way of the Cross, which offers us during the year the possibility of imprinting ever more deeply intio our spirits the mystery of the Cross, to walk with Christ along this way and thus conform interiorly to Him.
We can say that the Way of the Cross educates us, to use an expression of St. Leo the Great, "to look with the eyes of the heart on Jesus crucified, so that we can recognize our own flesh in His (Disc 15 on the Passion of the Lord). And it is truly Christian wisdom which we wish to learn when we follow the Way of the Cross this Friday at the Colosseum.
Holy Saturday is a day on which liturgy is quiet - it is the day of the great silence, and Christians are invited to interior meditstion, often difficukt to cultivate in our day, to better prepare us for the Easter Vigil. In many communities, spiritual retreats and Marian prayers are organized, almost to unite ourselves with the Mother of the Redeemer, who awaits with faithful trepidation the resurrection of her crucified Son.
Finally, at the Easter Vigil, the veil of grief that has shrouded the Church for the death and burial of our Lord, will be torn away by the shout, "Christ has risen, and has defeated death for always."
Then we can truly understand the mystery of the Cross, 'as God created wonders and did the impossible" writes an ancient author, "so it may be known that only He can do as He pleases. From His death, our life; from His wounds, our healing; from His fall, our resurrection; from his descent, our rising." (Anonymous, 14th century).
Animated by the firmest faith, in the heart of the Easter vigil we welcome the newly baptized and renew the promises of our Baptism. Thus we experience that the Church is always alive, it is always getting younger, it is always beautiful and holy, because it rests on Christ, who, having resurrected, will never die again.
Dear brothers and sisters, the Paschal mystery, which the Holy Triduum makes us relive, is not just the memory of a past reality, it is actual reality. Even now, Christ triumphs with His love over sin and death. Evil, in all its forms, does not have the last word. The final trumph is that of Christ, the triumph of truth and of love.
If we are ready to suffer and die with Him, St. Paul reminds us durng the Easter Vigil, His life becomes our life (cfr Rom 6,9). Our Christian existence rests and is built on this certainty.
Invoking the intercession of the Most Blessed Mary who followed Jesus on the way of Passion and the Cross, and embraced Him after he was taken down from the Cross, I wish you may all participate devoutly in the Paschal Triduum in order to experience the joy of Easter along with your all your loved ones.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 09/04/2007 22.36]