On March 17, Cardinal Cantara Mesa, the preacher of the Pope’s Palace, led the staff of the Holy See to conduct the third meditation of Lent in 2023. The Pope also attended the meditation.
(Vatican News Network) On the morning of March 17, Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the Pope’s Palace, led the staff of the Holy See in the third meditation of this year’s Lent in the Paul VI Hall of the Vatican. Pope Francis personally attended the meditation.
First of all, Cardinal Cantara Mesa pointed out the theme of the day’s meditation, saying that today’s meditation “is completely centered on God, that is, theology. Theology is talking about God.” Theology cannot be divorced from reality. Without theology, “faith can easily become dead and repetitive.”
God’s nearness
Cardinal Cantara Mesa noted that to fulfill this mission, theology itself “needs a profound renewal.” He preached: “What the people of God need is a theology that is full of life and cannot always refer to God ‘in the third person’.” On the contrary, we should know God in a way that is close and understandable.
God loves you
Then, the preacher of the Pope’s Palace said that the church has the mission to spread the best news to the world, which is the news that everyone expects to hear in their hearts, that is: “God loves you!” The cardinal emphasized that this kind of The conviction that it must be eradicated and replaced is the inherent belief that we have always harbored: “God will judge you!”
He pointed out that the truth that “God is love” must always accompany the preaching of every Christian as a basis, and that in practice it is necessary to return to the source of this love, which is the source of the Gospel. Meditate on the mysteries of faith, namely the depth and meaning behind the trinity of God, the incarnation of the Son, and the sufferings of Christ.
Through the mystery of faith, our lives are changed. As we strive to deepen the treasures of the Christian faith, the good news will not be lost. This “good news is that, because of our union with Christ, we can also love God with a love commensurate with him”.
outpouring of divine love
Then Cardinal Cantara Mesa said: “The love that is poured out on us is the same love that the Father loves the Son, the divine love that the Trinity pours out on us.” Love the Father with the love of the Father, love Jesus with the love of the Father with the love of the Son. All this is due to the Holy Spirit of God, who is love.
“So, when we say ‘I love you’ to God, do we give ourselves to God? We have nothing but the love we receive from Him! Therefore, do we have absolutely nothing? Our love is As far as God is concerned, nothing more than ‘reflecting’ his love, like an echo that sends a sound back to its source?”
Not only that, the cardinal stressed, “from the caves of our hearts return to God, but with a newness, that is, all for God: the fragrance of our freedom and the gratitude of our filial children!”. All of this is realized in a special way in the Eucharist, in which we offer to the Father the Son of God who was given to us as “our sacrifice”.
Finally, Cardinal Cantara Mesa said: “We can say this to God the Father in prayer: ‘Father, I love you as your Son Jesus loves you! We can say to Jesus: Jesus, I love you. You, as the Father loves you in heaven!’ We are sure that none of this is the figment of our human imagination.”
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