Vigils Reading

THE BEATING HEART

OF THE UNIVERSE

From a homily by Pope Benedict XVI

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It is not God’s presence that alienates man, but His absence: without the

true God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, illusory hopes become an invitation

to escape from reality. Speaking with God, dwelling in His presence, letting

oneself be illuminated and purified by His Word introduces us, instead, into the

heart of reality, into the very motor of becoming cosmic; it introduces us, so to

speak, to the beating heart of the universe.

In a harmonious connection with prayer, fasting and almsgiving can also

be considered occasions for learning and practicing Christian hope. The ancient

writers liked to emphasize that these three dimensions of Gospel life are

inseparable, reciprocally enrich each other and bear more fruit the more they

collaborate with each other. Lent as a whole, thanks to the joint action of prayer,

fasting and almsgiving, forms Christians to be men and women of hope after the

example of the Saints…

The true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to

suffering and the sufferer. This holds true both for the individual and for

society. Easter, to which Lent is oriented, is the mystery which gives meaning to

human suffering, based on the superabundant compassion of God, brought

about in Jesus Christ. The Lenten journey therefore, since it is wholly steeped in

the Easter light, makes us relive what happened in Christ’s divine and human

heart while he was going up to Jerusalem for the last time to offer himself in

expiation.

Suffering and death fell like darkness as he gradually came nearer to the

Cross, but the flame of love shone brighter. Indeed Christ’s suffering was

penetrated by the light of love. It was the Father’s love that permitted the son to

confidently face his last “baptism”, which he himself defines as the apex of his

mission.

Jesus received that baptism of sorrow and love for us, for all of humanity.

He has suffered for truth and justice, bringing the gospel of suffering to human

history, which is the other aspect of the Gospel of love. God cannot suffer, but

He can and wants to be compassionate. Through Christ’s passion he can bring

his <consolation> to every human suffering, “the consolation of God’s

compassionate love – and so the star of hope rises.”

As for prayer, so for suffering: the history of the Church is very rich in

witnesses who spent themselves for others without reserve, at the cost of harsh

suffering. The greater the hope that enlivens us, the greater is the ability within

us to suffer for the love of truth and good, joyfully offering up the minor and

major daily hardships and inserting them into Christ’s great compassion.