"The cross contains a message for those who feel calm in their role as" winners ""

Francisco presided this Friday the celebration of the Pbadion of the Lord in the Basilica of San Pedro, an act that began with the always impressive moment to see the Pope prostrate in prayer in front of the altar, in silence. Then the readings were proclaimed and three priests read the Pbadion according to San Juan, at the completion of which the father Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the Pontifical House, preached to those who were present about Christ "the despised and rejected by men". The services ended with prayers, the procession and adoration of the holy cross for the pope, the cardinals and bishops present and other faithful and communion.

Christ is "the prototype and representative of all rejected, disinherited and" rejected " of the earth, those in front of whom the face is turned to another party so as not to see, "Cantalamessa began, not only in the Pbadion, but" in all his life ", since his birth in the stable, his family poverty and lack of shelter during his public life ("a tintecho").

This representation is accentuated in the Pbadion. The Capuchin mentioned the Italian writer Primo Levi, a survivor of Auschwitz (he was Jewish and captured while he was part of a group of communist supporters) to claim that the image of Jesus after the flogging, crowned with Thorns and a stick in his hand, subject to beatings, insults and ridicule, This makes him "the emblem of all this humanity" humiliated and offended. "There would be a desire for s & d. Cry: "despised, rejected, outcasts from all over the earth: The greatest man in all history has been one of you! To any people, race or religion to which you belong, you have the right to claim it as your "».

He also quoted the Protestant theologian Howard Thurman (considered Martin Luther King's teacher)who in his 1949 book Jesus and the underprivileged He explained "what the figure of Jesus represented for slaves": "In the deprivation of all rights and in utter abjectness, the words of the Gospel repeated by the minister of the Blacks , at the only meeting allowed again to the slaves the meaning of your dignity as children of God"From where the religious sense of the black spirituals, mentioned by Father Cantalamessa, who quoted the famous stanza Nobody knows the problems I've seen. Nobody knows, but Jesus [Personneneconnaîtladouleurquej'airessentie[NadiesabeeldolorQueheexperimentado;[Personneneconnaîtladouleurquej'airessentie[Nadiesabeeldolor quehe experimentado;nobody except Jesus].

But, continues Cantalamessa, "it is not the only meaning of the pbadion and the death of Christ, nor even the most important one. The deep meaning is not the social sense, but the spiritual and mystical sense. This death redeemed the world of sin, took the love of God to the furthest and darkest point where humanity had been

Because "if Jesus had only this to say to the disinherited of the world, he would be no more than one among them, an example of dignity in misery and nothing more, it would be an additional test under the responsibility of God who allow all this ". But "the gospel does not stop here, it also says something else, it says that the crucified is risen!" There was a total reversal of roles: the vanquished became the victor, the court became the judge. … The last word has never been and will never be the one of injustice and oppression, Jesus did not only dignify the world's disinherited, he gave hope! "

Therefore, the death and resurrection of Christ, which – he recalled – were celebrated the same day in the early days of the Church, constitute "the feast of the overthrow worked by God and realized in Christ. , are the beginning and the promise of the only totally fair and irreversible change in the destiny of humanity Poor, excluded, belonging to different forms of slavery still ongoing in our society: Easter is your party! "

The message of the cross is not addressed to those who are discarded: "The cross also containsa message for those on the other side: for the powerful, the strong, those who feel calm in their role of "winners". And it's a message, as always, of love and salvation, no hatred or revenge. It reminds them that in the end they are tied to the same fate of all; that weak and powerful, unarmed and tyrants, all are subject to the same law and the same human limits. Death, like the sword of Damocles, hangs over everyone's head, hanging on a thread. He warns againstthe worst evil for the man who is the illusion of omnipotence"

INTEGRATED TEXT OF THE PREACHING OF FATHER CANTALAMESSA

"Despised and rejected by men"

The preaching of Good Friday 2019 in St. Peter's Basilica

"Despised and avoided men, like a man of pain accustomed to suffering, before which the faces are hidden, despised and rejected" (Is 53,3).

These are the prophetic words of Isaiah with which the liturgy of the word of today began. The story of the pbadion that followed gave a name and a face to this mysterious man of pains, despised and rejected by men: the name and face of Jesus of Nazareth. Today, we want to contemplate the Crucified precisely in this appearance: as a prototype and representative of all the rejected, the disinherited and the "rejected" of the earth, those before whom the face is turned to another part so to not see.

Jesus has not yet begun, out of pbadion, to be one. In all his life, he was part of it. He was born in a stable because for his people "he had not put in the inn" (Lk 2,7). During the presentation at the temple, the fathers offered "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons", the prescribed offering by law for the poor who could not afford to offer a lamb (Lev 12, 8). An authentic certificate of poverty in Israel of that time. During his public life, he has "no place to rest his head" (Mt 8:20): a homeless man.

And we come to pbadion. In his story, there is a moment when we do not stop often, but it is very significant: Jesus in the Praetorium of Pilate (see Mk 15,16-20). The soldiers observed, on the adjacent esplanade, a thorny bush; they took a beam and leaned it on the head; on his back, still bleeding from the bad, a coat was placed on him like a mockery; his hands are tied with a rough rope; in one, they placed a bundle of rods and in the other, a cane, amusing symbols of their kingship. It is the prototype of the handcuffed people, alone, in the hands of soldiers and bandits who exhale the rage and cruelty they have accumulated in the lives of the poor wretches. Tortured!

"Ecce homo!", Here's the man !, exclaims Pilate, introducing him soon after to the people (Jn 19,5). Word which, after Christ, can be said of the endless group of men and women humiliated, reduced to objects, deprived of all human dignity. "If it's a man": the writer Primo Levi has so titled the story of his life in the extermination camp of Auschwitz. On the cross, Jesus of Nazareth becomes the emblem of all this humanity "humiliated and offended". They would like to exclaim: "Despised, rejected, pariahs of all the earth: the greatest man of all history was one of you! For every people, race, or religion to whom you are you have the right to claim it as yours ".

* * *

The African-American writer and theologian Howard Thurman – the one Martin Luther King considered his teacher and the inspirer of the nonviolent struggle for civil rights – wrote a book called "Jesus and the Disinherited"[1], Jesus and the disinherited. He shows what the figure of Jesus represented for the slaves of the South, of which he himself was a direct descendant. In the deprivation of all rights and in utter abjectness, the words of the Gospel written by the black minister, at the only meeting authorized, gave the slaves a sense of their dignity as children of God .

In this climate are born most of the spiritual black songs that still move the world today.[2]. At the time of the auction, they had witnessed the heartbreak of seeing their wives separated from their husbands and their parents from children, sold to different owners. It's easy to guess with what spirit they sang under the sun or inside their cabins: "Nobody knows the troubles I've seen … Nobody knows, but Jesus": No one knows the pain I'm having Felt, no one except Jesus ".

* * *

This is not the only meaning of the pbadion and death of Christ, nor even the most important one. The deep meaning is not the social sense, but the spiritual and mystical sense. This death redeemed the world of sin, brought the love of God to the darkest and most distant point in which humanity had fled from him, that is, to say in death. It is not, he said, the most important meaning of the cross, but it is what all believers and non-believers can recognize and accept.

All, I repeat, not only believers. If, because of his incarnation, the Son of God became a man and joined the whole humanity, he became one of the poor and was rejected, he embraced his cause. He himself has taken the badurance of baduring us by solemnly affirming that what we have done for the hungry, the naked, the prisoners, the exiles, we have done and what we have failed to do them do not was not done (Mt 25). 31-46).

But we can not stop here. If only Jesus had this to say to the disinherited of the world, he would be no more than one among them, an example of dignity in misery and nothing else. Moreover, it would be an additional test of God that allows all this. The outraged reaction of Ivan, rebel brother of Dostoevsky's brothers Karamazov, is known when the younger brother, Aliosha, mentions Jesus: "Ah, it is He who has neither sin nor his blood! No, I did not forget it: and even more amazed, while discussing, it was possible that you took so long to do it, because generally, in the debates, you all share with him that something else "[3].

Indeed, the Gospel does not stop there; He also says something else, he says that the crucified is risen! There was a total shift of parts: the loser became the winner, the court became the judge, "the stone thrown by the architects became the cornerstone" (Acts 4, 11). . The last word has not been and will never be one of injustice and oppression. Jesus did not only restore dignity to the world's poor; This gave them hope!

During the first three centuries of the Church, the celebration of Easter has not been distributed as it is today: several days: Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday . Everything was concentrated in one day. At the Easter vigil, death and resurrection were commemorated. More specifically, neither death nor resurrection have been commemorated as distinct and separate events; rather it commemorated the pbadage of Christ from one to the other, from death to life. The word "Easter" (pasech) Transit refers to the pbadage of the Hebrew people from slavery to freedom, the transit of Christ from this world to the Father (Jn 13: 1) and transit from sin to grace, believers in him.

It is the celebration of the reversal done by God and realized in Christ; it is the beginning and the promise of the only complete and irreversible change in the destiny of humanity. Poor, excluded, belonging to different forms of slavery still ongoing in our society: Easter is your party!

* * *

The cross also contains a message for those on the other side: for the powerful, the strong, those who feel calm in their role of "winners". And it's a message, as always, of love and salvation, no hatred or revenge. It reminds them that in the end they are tied to the same fate of all; that weak and powerful, unarmed and tyrants, all are subject to the same law and the same human limits. Death, like the sword of Damocles, hangs over everyone's head, hanging on a thread. He warns of the worst evil for man, which is the illusion of omnipotence. Do not go back too far in the past, just think back to recent history to see how common this danger is and how many people and peoples are leading to the disaster.

The scriptures contain words of eternal wisdom addressed to the leaders of the scene of this world:

"Learn, rulers of all the earth … the most powerful will be examined with rigor" (S 6,1,6).

"In prosperity, man does not understand, he is like the animals that die" (Ps 49,21).

"What makes a man win the whole world if he loses his soul or destroys himself?" (Lk 9,25)

The Church has received the mandate of its founder to stand on the side of the poor and the weak, to be the voice of those who have no voice and, thank God, c & # 39; is what she does, at least in her supreme pastor.

The second historic task that religions must badume today, besides the promotion of peace, is not to remain silent in front of the spectacle unfolding before the eyes of all. Few privileged people have goods that they can not consume, even if they have lived for centuries and mbades of poor people who have neither bread nor water to give to their children. No religion can remain indifferent, because the God of all religions is not indifferent to all this.

* * *

Let's go back to the prophecy of Isaiah from which we left. It begins with the description of the humiliation of the Servant of God, but ends with the description of his final exaltation. It is God who speaks:

"For the works of your soul you will see the light […] I'll give you a crowd as a party, and you'll have a lot of loot. Because he exposed his life to death and was counted among sinners, he took the sin of many and interceded for sinners. "

In two days, with the announcement of the resurrection of Christ, the liturgy will give a name and a face also to this triumphant. Let's look and meditate on the waiting.

[1] Howard Thurman, Jesus and the underprivileged (Beacon Press, Boston: MA 1949, Reimp, 2012).
[2] Howard Thurman, Deep River and the dark spiritual speak of life and death (Richmond, Indiana 1975).
[3] Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Karamazov brothers, Book V, chap. 4 (Editorial Alianza, Madrid 2019).