Pope's Good Friday message urges contemplation of ‘lifeless face of Christ’, holds out light of Christ’s hope for Italy’s quake-hit people

(April 11, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI on Good Friday held out the hope of the Risen Christ to those hit by tragedies and disasters, saying His lights shines even in the darkest of nights. His words of comfort came at the end of the traditional Way of the Cross procession around Rome's Colosseum, commemorating Christ's crucifixion and death.
Attended by tens of thousands of faithful, clutching prayer books and candles in paper lanterns, the solemn, night-time candle-lit ceremony is one of the main services of the Easter Triduum, the three most solemn days in the Church’s liturgical calendar that climaxes into Christianity’s holiest feast, the Resurrection of Jesus from death.
Speaking at the end of 90-minute Holy Week ceremony, the Pope noted that even the hardest of hearts are moved to pity upon witnessing Christ's suffering during his passion and death, as it reveals the fullness of God's love for mankind, says Benedict XVI. He reflected on the words of the centurion whom St. Mark quotes at the end of his Passion narrative: "The centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, and said: ‘Truly this man was the Son of God!’" Commenting on this dramatic scene on Calvary, Pope Benedict said, "When the darkness of night was falling on that Friday so unlike any other in history, when the sacrifice of the Cross was already consummated and the bystanders were making haste to celebrate the Jewish Passover in the usual way, these few words, wrung from the lips of a nameless commander in the Roman army, resounded through the silence that surrounded that most singular death. "This Roman army officer, having witnessed the execution of one of countless condemned prisoners, was able to recognize in this crucified man the Son of God, who had perished in the most humiliating abandonment." Christ's "shameful end ought to have marked the definitive triumph of hatred and death over love and life," said the Pope. "But it was not so! Hanging from the Cross on Golgotha was a man who was already dead, but that man was acknowledged to be the 'Son of God' by the centurion."
The Holy Father noted that, "like the centurion, we pause to gaze on the lifeless face of the Crucified One…" on the night of Good Friday. "The anguish of the Passion of the Lord Jesus cannot fail to move to pity even the most hardened hearts," he said, "as it constitutes the climax of the revelation of God’s love for each of us." Apart from the great multitude of men and women, saints and the martyrs, many of whom remain unknown to us, who have followed Jesus, making of themselves a gift to others like Him, the Pope said, “"Even in our own time, how many people, in the silence of their daily lives, unite their sufferings with those of the Crucified One and become apostles of a true spiritual and social renewal!" The Pope invited all to contemplate on the disfigured face of Christ reflected in face of every person who is humiliated and offended, sick and suffering, alone, abandoned and despised. "Pouring out his blood, he has rescued us from the slavery of death, he has broken the solitude of our tears, he has entered into our every grief and our every anxiety."
In his talk at the end of the Way of the Cross Pope Benedict also offered a special prayer for survivors of Monday's quake in Italy, asking that they find hope, despite a disaster that killed at least 289 people and left almost 40,000 homeless. "We pray that even for them, on this dark night, a star of hope appears, the light of the risen Lord," said the pope, who soon plans to visit the disaster zone in the Abruzzo region, whose capital, L’Aquila was hardest hit. Pope Benedict told the faithful they had come to “sing together a hymn of hope. We want to tell ourselves that all is not lost in moments of difficulty.” “Let us pray for all those who feel sorrow, above all for those suffering in the quake-stricken area of L'Aquila,” Pope Benedict urged.
The German-born pontiff, who turns 82 next week, wore a crimson-coloured, ermine-trimmed cape against the cool night air. Kneeling under a white canopy on a terrace opposite the Colosseum, he folded his hands in prayer and bowed his head in reflection.
At this year’s Way of the Cross, the Pope listened to meditations written by Indian Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati, in north-east Assam state. The theme of the fourteen Stations of the Cross was one of hope amidst the most trying times. "When misfortune hits us close to home, we grow disheartened. When we fall direct victims of a disaster, our self-confidence is totally shaken and our faith is put to the test. But all is not lost yet," wrote Archbishop Menamparampil.
The archbishop who was not present at the Colloseum Way of the Cross said his personal reflections were scripted under very trying circumstances while carrying out intense evangelization and formation activities in his diocese and beyond. During these difficult times, he said, he tried to let himself be led by hope, perceiving first-hand the agony of mankind today, seeing so many people suffer from illnesses, hunger, and misery.” Although composed before the disaster, the mediations took on special significance for Italy, a country grappling with its most deadly earthquake in three decades. "Tragedies make us ponder. A tsunami tells us that life is serious. Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain pilgrim places," the Indian Archbishop wrote in one of the meditations. "When death strikes near, another world draws close. We then shed our illusions and have a grasp of the deeper reality."
Flags in Italy flew at half-mast on a national day of mourning on Friday, shops closed their shutters and airports halted take-offs, observing a minute's silence at 11 am. Pope Benedict granted a special dispensation to allow a funeral for quake victims to be held earlier on Good Friday in L'Aquila, the worst hit by the quake. Mass is not celebrated on Good Friday; instead a liturgy of the Lord’s Passion is held.
The Way of the Cross meditations also lamented all forms of violence, corruption, oppression and what Archbishop Menamparampil said was an erosion of the public expression of religious life. "Jesus continues to suffer when believers are persecuted," he wrote.
The German-born pope will usher the 1.1 billion-member Roman Catholic Church into the fourth Easter of his pontificate. On Saturday night, he will lead an Easter Vigil Mass and on Easter Sunday will deliver an "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing and message after the Easter Sunday Mass.