Weekly Meditation

Weekly Meditation

Pope Benedict XVI asks us to keep in mind the
theme of his Lenten message this year.

"They shall look on him whom they have pierced."
(John 19:37)

"Therefore, we enter the Lenten season with our
gaze fixed on Jesus' side. In the encyclical letter
'Deus Caritas Est' I wished to underline that only
by gazing on Jesus, dead on the cross for us, can we
know and contemplate this fundamental truth:
"God is love" (1 John 4:8, 16). In this contemplation
the Christian discovers the path along which his life
and love must move (Deus Caritas Est #12).

"...He whom we ourselves have pierced with our
faults does not cease to shed over the world an
inexhaustible torrent of merciful love. May
humanity understand that only from this source
is it possible to draw the spiritual energy
indispensable to build that peace and happiness
for which every human being is ceaselessly searching."

And don't we want and urgently need "peace and happiness"
for every human being in our world these days.
May our lives help to achieve them.


Bishop William R. Houck
President Emeritus, Catholic Extension
www.catholicextension.org