Dear brothers and sisters:
In the past few days, as you know, I underwent spiritual exercises along with my co-workers in the Roman Curia. It has been a week of silence and prayer: the mind and the heart could be dedicated entirely to God, listening to his Word, and meditating on the mysteries of Christ.
To some degree, it was a bit like what happened to the apostles Peter, James and John when Jesus brought them with him to a high mountain, quite apart from everyone else, and while he prayed, he was 'transfigured': his face adn his figure became luminous, resplendent.
The liturgy reminds us of this famous episode today, the second Sunday of Lent (cfr Mk 9,2-10). Jesus wished that his disciples, in particular those who would be responsible for leading the nascent Church, might have a direct experience of his divine glory to help them face the scandal of the Cross.
In effect, when the time of Jesus's betrayal would come and Jesus retreated to pray in Gethsemane, he had near him the same,e Peter, James and John, asking them to watch and pray with him (cfr Mt 26.38). They were unable to do that, but the grace of Christ would sustain them and help them to believe in the Resurrection.
I wish to underscore that the Transfiguration of Jesus was substantially an experience of prayer (cfr Lk 9,28-29). Prayer, in fact, reaches its peak - and thus becomes a source of interior light - when the spirit of man adheres to God;s and their wills merge almost as to become one.
When Jesus went up the mountain, he immersed himself in teh contemplation of the Father's plan of love in sending him to the world in order to save mankind.
Next to Jesus, there appeared Elijah and Moses, ot indicate that the Sacred Scriptures concurred in announcing the mystery of his Pasch, and that is, that the Christ must suffer and die in order to enter into his glory (cfr Lk 24,24.46).
At that moment, Jesus saw the Cross looming before him, the extreme sacrifice that was necessary to liberate us from the dominion of sin and death.
And in his heart, he repeated yet again his 'Amen'. He said 'Yes, here I am; let your will of love be done, Father '.
And as it had been after his baptism in the Jordan, the signs of pleasure from God the Father came from heaven: light, which transfigured the Christ, and the voice that proclaimed 'the beloved Son" (Mk 9,7).
Along with fasting and works of mercy, prayer forms the weight-carrying structure of our spiritual life. Dear brothers and sisters, I call on you to find during this season of Lent prolonged moments of silence, possibly of retreat, in order to see your own life in the light of the Heaven;y Father's plan of love.
Let yourselves be guided in this more intense listening to God by the Virgin Mary. teacher and model of prayer. Even in the dense darkness of the passion of Christ, she never lost the light of her divine Son but kept it in her spirit. That is why we call her Mother of trust and of hope.
After the prayers, he said the following:
On today's date, March 8, we are invited to reflect on teh condition of women and to renew the commitment that always and anywhere, every woman may be able to live and manifest the fullness of her capacities, obtaining full respect for her dignity.
In this sense, the Second Vatican Council and the papal Magisterium have expressed themselves, particularly teh apostolic letter Mulieris dignitatem by the Servant of God John Paul II (Aug. 15, 1988).
More than documents, however, are the testimonies of the saints. Our age has had that of Mother Teresa of Calcutta: a humble daughter of Albania who became, through the grace of God, an example for all the world of the exercise of charity in the service of human promotion.
How many other women work every day, unpublicized, for the good of mankind and the Kingdom of God!
Today I assure my prayers for all women that they may always be respected in their dignity and valued for their positive potential.
Dear brothers and sisters, in the climate of more intense prayer that characterizes Lent, I entrust to your remembrance in prayer teh two apostolic trips that, God willing, I will be making soon.
Next week, from March 17-23, I will go to Africa - first to Cameroon and then to Angola - to show concretely my nearness and that of the Church to the Christians and other peoples of that continent which is particularly dear to me.
Then, from May 8-15, I will make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to invoke the Lord, while visiting the places sanctified by his earthly passage, the precious gift of unity and peace in teh Middle East and for all mankind.
I count on the spiritual support from all of you so that God may accompany and fill with his graces all those whom I will encounter on these trips.