Ongoing Formation Apr09


Ongoing Formation Apr09

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April 2009
Dear Confreres and Friends,
This month’s theme continues our
look into liturgical season, with special
emphasis on the Sacred Triduum we are
about to enter. The 75th anniversary of
Don Bosco’s cannonization message of
our Rector Major is also included. We
conclude with advertisement for the
Institute of Salesian Spirituality for the
upcoming academic year. Blessings to
you all in this Easter Season.
Gael E. Sullivan,sdb
Office of Ongoing Formation
THE SACRED TRIDUUM
By Arthur J. Lenti, SDB
A. MAUNDY THURSDAY
(AD MANDATUM)
I. JESUS WASHES HIS DISCIPLES’ FEET
1. Scripture Reading: John 13:1-20
(Text of NRSV)
1 Now before the festival of the
Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had
come to depart from this world and go
to the father. Having loved his own who
were in the world, he loved them to the
end. 2 The devil had already put into the
heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to
betray him. And during supper 3 Jesus,
knowing that the Father had given all
thing into his hands, and that he had
come from God and was going to God,
4 got up from the table, took off his
outer robe, and tied a towel around
himself. 5 Then he poured water into a
basin and began to wash the disciples
feet and to wipe them with the towel
that was tied around him. [Cf. Lk 22:27]
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to
him, “Lord, are you going to wash my
feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not
know now what I am doing, but later
you will understand.” 8 Peter said to
him, “You will never wash my feet”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you,
you have no share with me.” 9 Simon
Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet
only but also my hands and my head!”
10 Jesus said to him, “One who has
bathed does not need to wash, except
for the feet, but is entirely clean. And
you are clean, though not all of you.”
11 For he knew who was to betray him;
for this reason he said, “Not all of you
are clean.”
12 After he had washed their feet,
had put on his robe, and had returned
to the table, he said to them, “Do you
know what I have done to you? 13 You
call me Teacher and Lord—and you are
right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I,
your Lord and Teacher, have washed
your feet, you also ought to wash one
another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an
example, that you also should do as
I have done to you. [Cf. 1 Pt. 2:21] 16
Very truly, I tell you, servants are not
greater than their masters, nor are
messengers greater than the one who
sent them. [Cf. Mt 10:24; Lk 6:40] 17 If
you know these things, you are blessed
if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of
all of you; I know whom I have chosen.
But it is to fulfill the Scripture, ‘The
one who ate my bread has lifted his
heel against me.’ [Ps. 41:9] 19 I tell you
this now, before it occurs, so when it
does occur, you may believe that I am
he. 20 Very truly, I tell you, whoever
receives one whom I send receives me;
and whoever receives me receives him
who sent me.”
2. Reflection on the Washing of the
Feet
(1) Theological Introduction
The story of the Washing of the
Feet by Jesus on the occasion of the
last meal he took with his disciples
before he suffered opens with a solemn
introduction. This preface makes two
important statements about Jesus that
not only throw light on the person of
Jesus but also give us an understanding
of the drama that is about to unfold.
The first statement reads: “Jesus
knew that his hour had come to depart
from this world and go to the Father.
Having loved his own who were in
the world, he loved them to the end.”
[13:1] Jesus’ knowledge, freedom,
and love for “his own” express Jesus’
total and unconditional commitment
to completing in full freedom the work
of salvation that God had entrusted to
him.
Now right before the Washing, and
immediately connected with it, we
hear a second extraordinary statement:
“During supper Jesus, knowing that
the Father had given all things into his
hands, and that he had come from God
and was going to God, got up from the
table …” [13:3] Jesus had come from
the Father with all powers, and now
being about to finish the work he had
come to do and to return to the Father,
he wished to give his disciples a sign of
the mystery of his servant-abasement

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by washing their feet. What an extraordinary statement!
The washing of the feet, therefore, is to be the sign, or acted
parable, of all that has preceded in the Gospel, as well as of
all that is to follow, Jesus’ passion and death.
(2) The Foot Washing
After the grand introduction, the symbolical action
of the washing of the feet is narrated, and it is told in two
parts, the first part [13:4-11] reveals the mystery of servant-
abasement; the second part [13:12-15] tells us what this
service means for the disciples. In both parts, we discern two
levels of meaning: service and the quality and limitlessness
of this service.
[The Mystery of the Service Rendered by Jesus in His Life and
in His Death]
As a sign that Jesus loves his own he engages in the menial
service of washing his disciples’ feet. One of the duties of
slaves, household servants, as also of the disciples of a rabbi,
was to wash their masters’ feet. Jesus is the master, the
rabbi or teacher, and yet it is he who washes the disciples’
feet.
By this “shocking” reversal of roles, Jesus wished to
remind his disciples of what he had been doing all along, of
what he had come for, of the nature of his ministry. Jesus’
life had been a life of service. The Son of Man came not
to be served but to serve. [Cf. Mk. 10:42-45; Mt 20:25-28;
Lk 22:25-27] This he did by preaching the word of life, by
exorcising evil from people’s soul and bodies, by healing
the sick and feeding the hungry, by receiving and forgiving
sinners, and by comforting people in their pain.
At a second and higher level, by this reversal of roles
Jesus wished to indicate that he was going now to engage
in the highest kind of service, even unto death. He loved
his own to the end. The phrase to the end is all important,
because it tells us that by washing his disciples’ feet like a
slave Jesus meant to symbolize the service of his redeeming
death, the limitless giving of himself on their behalf.
This is why to be washed by Jesus is presented as a matter
of vital importance for the disciples. It is a prerequisite
to having a share with Jesus, that is, to passing, like him,
from death to life. To Peter, who objected to having his feet
washed because he did not understand, Jesus said: “Unless
I wash you, you have no share with me.” [13:8]
[The Disciples Bidden to Imitate the Master in Service]
In the second part of the story of the washing, Jesus
calls on his disciples to imitate him in self-giving service: “I
have set you an example that you also should do as I have
done to you.” At one level, the disciples are exhorted to
imitate him by mutual love and service. This is what Jesus,
at one level, certainly wished to teach by the menial action
of washing the feet. He wanted his disciples, whom he was
about to leave behind “in the world,” to form a community
made one in mutual love and service. But at a second and
higher level, he challenged his disciples to imitate him all the
way in self-giving sacrifice, and to be ready even to lay down
their life for their brothers or sisters. For by the abasement
of the Washing, he, the Master and Teacher, symbolized
that he “loved them to the end.” At a third level, in the final
sentences of the story, Jesus goes one step further and calls
on his disciples, the Church, all of us “who remain in the
world,” to continue his ministry in our own lifetime. It is
a commission to continue his redeeming service not only
for one another in the community of the Church, but for
the world, to be other Christs. Jesus says, “Servants are
not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater
than the one who sent them. Whoever receives one whom
I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him
who sent me.” [13:16ff] Thus Jesus calls us both to build
up the community in love, and to become his messengers
and representatives in the world—and like him to give of
ourselves even to death.
(3) Relevance for Here and Now
As we reflect on what Jesus did, and on what he meant
to signify by it, we recall that the washing took place “during
supper.” This was Jesus’ last supper, the meal that he took
with his disciples on the night before he died. It was the
same supper during which, according to the other gospels,
Jesus shared the bread and the cup of the Eucharist with his
disciples, and told them to do the same as a memorial of his
passion and death.
We are his disciples, “his own” as Jesus called us. On
Holy Thursday night, we have table fellowship with Jesus;
we share the bread and the cup by which Jesus offers us,
with the forgiveness of sins, the blessings of his redeeming
sacrifice. The Washing of the Feet represents symbolically
Jesus’ same self-giving service. He loved us to the end. He
invites us to come to him and let ourselves be washed, and
so share the blessings of his Eucharistic sacrifice.
Sinners though we are, because of our faith and Christian
commitment, we already belong to Jesus. We are “his own.”
We gladly submit to the washing, even though, like Peter,
we may stand in awe before the abasement of the Son of
God. But, like Peter, we surrender and say, “Lord, not my
feet only, but my hands and my head!” [13:9]
B. GOOD FRIDAY: JESUS ON THE CROSS
I. WHAT JESUS SUFFERED: ARCHAEOLOGY OF
CRUCIFIXION
1. Introduction: Jesus sentenced to death
When Jesus appeared in Pilate’s court for trial, the
charge was a criminal one, for the Roman procurator did
not concern himself with religious matters. The charge
was subversion or insurrection, with a claim of kingship.

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The Roman authorities were skittish about any individual
(especially if Galilean) who drew a following. That would
worry Pilate. The gospels, however, (Matthew and John are
especially heavy-handed) are unanimous in the claim that
it was the Jewish authorities who plotted to put Jesus to
death, and who pressured Pilate into passing and executing
the sentence. They were glad to encourage the procurator
and to let him solve their own problem with Jesus.
The sentence decreed against Jesus was death by
crucifixion according to Roman law and custom. This was
one of the cruelest methods of execution ever devised. It
was so horrible and dishonorable that it was applied only to
slaves and non-Roman criminals, men only, and only for the
most serious crimes: murder, temple theft, high treason,
insurrection or revolution. This last was the charge brought
against Jesus.
2. The Scourging
According to Roman custom, a scourging preceded
every crucifixion. It was the first stage of the execution,
and it was designed to weaken the criminal, so that he
wouldn’t be hanging on the cross forever. This punishment
was so gruesome that it could by itself cause death. An
ancient historian relates instances of scourging in which
the person’s entrails were ripped out, and the bones on the
back and shoulders were laid bare. The scourging before a
crucifixion was so punishing because the executioners had
discretionary power and no limits were set the number of
blows. The thongs of the flail or whip were fitted with pieces
of bone or metal.
Until the time of execution the victim was totally in the
power of the executioners. The soldiers continued to abuse
the victim, and played brutal games with him just to pass
the time of day. This, as the gospels tell us, is what they did
with Jesus.
3. The Cross and the Death-Walk
The cross was made of two poles: the upright beam and
the crossbeam. The upright pole, or “tree,” consisted of a
fairly stout trunk, either tall or short, which was set firmly
in the ground at the place of execution, and a transversal or
cross beam.
On the way to the place of execution, the death-walk,
the victim carried only the crossbeam, as the upright pole
was set in the ground, some times permanently, at the place
of execution. The gospels tell us that at one point during the
death-walk the soldiers forced a man named Simon, who
happened to be on his way home from the fields, to carry
this beam for Jesus. The fact that Jesus lacked the strength
to carry this wooden stave shows that the scourging and the
abusive treatment had been extremely severe.
4. The Inscription or Title
Hanging from the cross beam carried by the criminal
on route to the place of execution was a placard that bore
an inscription stating the charge or reason for the death
sentence. This inscription was called “the title.” In Jesus’
case, the title, inscribed in Aramaic, Greek and Latin: read,
“The king of the Jews.” For Jews such a designation carried
the heavy religious connotation of messiah (king), and that
is why they objected. For Pilate it was a statement charging
revolutionary activity. But the very wording (“king”) was his
way of showing his callous contempt both for Jesus and for
the Jews.
5. Calvary
The little hill on which Jesus was executed was called
Golgotha (Gogoltha, in Aramaic), a word that means “skull.”
The place was so named not because skulls were strewn
about the site (unthinkable in a Jewish city) but because of
a rocky outcrop shaped like a skull.
The church of the Holy Sepulcher stands on this
traditional site of Jesus’ death and burial. Excavations have
revealed that in Jesus’ times the place might have been an
abandoned stone quarry. There were tombs at the farther
end; and John tells us that there was a garden there and
a new tomb hewn in the rock that may have belonged to
Joseph of Arimathea or to Nicodemus.
The place was located right outside the city’s west wall,
separated from it only by a shallow and narrow depression.
Notwithstanding other rival claims (such as “Gordon’s
Calvary” farther out), this traditional site is the most likely
place of the crucifixion.
6. Preliminaries to Crucifixion
Immediately before execution, the victim was given
wine mixed with myrrh. This was a humane gesture
required by custom. It acted as a narcotic and made the
torments of crucifixion a little less painful. Jesus, however
(according to Mk. and Mt) refused to drink it. This drink is to
be distinguished from the drink of cheap wine (or vinegar)
that (according to all the gospels) was offered to Jesus with
a sponge fixed to a reed, as he was dying on the cross. The
use of a reed to reach Jesus’ lips shows that he was hanged
on a “high cross,” not on a “low cross.”
The execution squad by an unwritten right could take
whatever the victim wore. Thus the soldiers divided Jesus’
clothing among themselves: girdle or belt, sandals, perhaps
a headband and tunic. Obviously, this outer garment was
the most desirable piece of clothing. In Jesus’ case (as John
tells us) it was of high quality, woven in one piece. The
soldiers cast lots for it.
7. Crucifixion
At the place of execution, after being given the drugged
drink and being stripped naked, the criminal was made to
lie flat, supine on the ground, with arms outstretched. His
hands were then nailed to the crossbeam with spikes driven

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through the wrists, so they could support the weight of the
body. Some times the man’s arms were also secured to the
crossbar with ropes. Next, the crossbeam with the body
dangling from it by the wrists was hoisted into position and
fastened on top of the upright pole to form a T. Only then
were the victim’s feet nailed together to the pole with one
large spike, some times with an additional supporting peg
under the feet.
In some forms of crucifixion, when a long drawn-out
exposure was desired, a second peg was used as a kind of
seat—hence the expression, “sedere in cruce” (to sit on the
cross).
8. Death on the Cross
The inhumanity of execution by crucifixion lay in the
fact that death was repeatedly postponed as the victim
struggled on the cross, and the pain was prolonged. The
moment that strength gave way and the body sagged, the
lungs collapsed cutting off oxygen and circulation. By reflex,
the victim would struggle to draw himself up by pushing and
shifting the weight on to the feet. Since they were firmly
nailed or pegged, the pressure on the chest was relieved,
and he would experience a reprieve. After a while he would
tire again, and again collapse, and so on— prolonging the
agony some times for several days, until he could no longer
react. In most cases the victim died of circulatory failure
brought about by the collapse of the lungs and the chest
cavity.
When a quick death was desired, the legs (that is, the
shinbones) of the man were broken by blows delivered with
a pole or truncheon. As a result, when the man slumped he
could no longer draw himself up by putting weight on his
feet, and death ensued quickly.
John again tells us that due to the on-coming feast of
Passover the legs of the two criminals who were crucified
with Jesus were broken to hasten their death. But Jesus’ legs
were not broken, because he was already dead. However,
as if to make sure, one of the soldiers stabbed him in the
chest with his lance, and the fluid which had collected in
and around the lungs gushed out as “blood and water.”
Jesus died very quickly—according to Mark, within a
mere 6 hours, from 9 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon.
This again may indicate that in Jesus’ case the scourging and
the abuse were so severe that he never quite recovered,
so that a few hours on the cross were enough to cause his
death.
9. Redeeming Love
As believers, we reverently recall Jesus’ gruesome
physical sufferings in his passion and death. But we know
that on the cross our redemption was won not through the
pain, excruciating through it was, but through Jesus self-
offering in freedom and perfect love. It was the freedom
with which Jesus embraced the cross out of love for God and
for us that brought about our reconciliation with God in his
blood.
It will likewise be the freedom and love with which we
embrace the gospel of Jesus with its radical demands, and
the pain this entails, that will enable us to be the signs and
bearers of God’s love to others.
II. WITNESSES OF THE PASSION: TYPES OF RESPONSE
The witnesses of the Passion—that is, the people who
appear in the dramatic story of the Passion and who have
to do with Jesus, by design are made to portray various
postures with respect to Jesus, and various aspects of faith
or lack thereof. This is especially true in the Johannine
narrative. Here they represent the attitudes and decisions
of people at large, ours included, when confronted by Jesus.
The response, as portrayed in the actions and words of
these “secondary” actors is typical and instructive.
1. Jesus, Victorious in His Defeat, at Center Stage.
I said “secondary” because in the Passion story, as
throughout the gospels, the figure of Jesus commands our
attention at every step and in the most impressive manners.
This is true not only because Jesus holds center stage as the
victim who is tried and executed but also, especially in the
Gospel of John, because of the transcendent portrayal of
Jesus as the Incarnate Word and Son of God.
For example, the death of Jesus is presented as a
supremely free act of self-donation, and as the ultimate
revelation of God’s redemptive love for the world.
It is presented as the victorious culmination of Jesus’
mission, as his “hour of glory” triumphantly leading him
back to God, The death of Jesus is the moment of his return
to the Father in resurrection.
Again, from the cross Jesus is presented as judging and
defeating all the powers of darkness, thereby making the
cross the norm by which all other expressions of power
must be judged.
Implicit in all the transcendent glory with which John
endows the figure of Jesus on the cross, is the conviction,
shared with the other Gospels, that the death of Jesus has
redemptive power and brings about human salvation. It is
from the crucified Jesus that new life streams into the world.
Obviously, these and other points in the Passion
narrative are all part of our Christian belief about Jesus and
about the meaning of his death and resurrection, but this
story brings them into higher relief and sharper focus. This
is especially true, if one may single out one point, of John’s
presentation of Jesus as transcendently free, powerful and
victorious in his very humiliation.
With good reason, therefore, we pray, “We adore you,
O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy cross you
have redeemed the world.

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2. The Witnesses of the Passion as Portraying the Life of
Faith
The Passion narrative in John’s Gospel also throws
light on a number of other characters and on their
varying responses to Jesus and his mission, minor roles by
comparison with Christ’s, to be sure. But their roles and
their attitudes illuminate our experience of the life of faith
and of the cost of discipleship, as we struggle in our own
Christian life. We look at these
(1) The Opponents of Jesus
The opponents of Jesus, the Jewish religious authorities
in Jerusalem, illustrate the tragedy of unbelief. The problem
they have with Jesus leads them to ally themselves with the
Roman ruler, and thus to betray their own religious and civil
commitments.
Judas, the apostate disciple, is presented as an even
more tragic instance of betrayal. Unlike Matthew and Luke-
Acts [Mt 27:3-5; Acts 1:15-19] John spares us the details of
the man’s horrible death, remembered with horror in the
early Christian community. But the reader understands that
this disciple, this “lost soul” (as John refers to him, 17:12)
will come to a bad end.
Likewise, the fate of Pilate, the brutally insensitive
ruler who is responsible for the sentencing and execution
of Jesus, is not projected in the narrative. History tells us
about it. The reader, however, observes the tragic moment
when this man has God’s Truth standing before him, and
fails the great test: “What is Truth?” He then goes on to
pass the sentence of death on an innocent man with callous
pragmatism.
These opponents of Jesus exemplify in their response,
or lack thereof, our own experience of compromise, betrayal
and evasion, that is, our failures as we struggle in our life of
discipleship. True, our failures, unlike the actions of Jesus’
opponents, did not crucify the Lord. They do nonetheless
weaken our commitment, or even seriously separate us
from the love of Christ. That is why we come to seek God’s
forgiveness at the foot of the cross of Jesus.
(2) The Friends of Jesus
It falls to another group of characters, few in number but
eloquent in testimony, to exemplify the cost of discipleship
and the trials of faith.
[Examples of Faithful Love]
The Passion story features one and only one heroic
example, that of Jesus. But it makes room also for a few
admirable, if minor, characters.
Foremost among them are the Mother of Jesus and
the Beloved Disciple. Theirs is a largely passive role. But as
they stand fearlessly by the cross of Jesus they exemplify
the faithful devotion and the mystical love the true disciple.
Because of their devotion and love they are chosen to be
the recipients of Jesus’ final words of care: “Behold your
son. Behold your mother” [Jn. 19:26-27].
Along with them are Mary, the wife of Clophas, and
Mary Magdalene [Jn. 19:25]. We learn nothing more of
them in the Passion story itself, but Mary Magdalene’s
faith and love shine forth when she is rewarded with the
first meeting with the Lord in his resurrection. Likewise (in
the Gospel of Luke, 24:13-25] the other Mary (not named)
and her husband Clophas (named) are rewarded with the
encounter with Jesus on the road to Emmaus.
To stand by Jesus in fidelity and love, to experience his
resurrection, and to walk, and have table fellowship, with
him—this is a paradigm of true discipleship.
[Peter’s Story]
There are three other characters who take a more
active role in the Passion drama, and who thereby serve
to illuminate cost of discipleship and the struggle that
accompanies the life of faith. Peter is the prime example.
When Jesus is placed under arrest in the Garden of
Olives, Peter lashes out with his sword at the high priest’s
slave. A little later, with the assistance of “another disciple,”
he gains entry into the courtyard of the high priest on the
cold night of the arrest. Confronted by the servant woman
who is doorkeeper, in the glare of her questions, three times
he denies any association with Jesus.
Superficially Peter’s recourse to the sword might appear
as a praiseworthy act of loyalty in defense of Jesus. In
effect, however, it reveals how little he had understood the
mystery of Jesus. Jesus in fact rebukes him, for, as he later
would bluntly tell Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.”
Peter’s lack of understanding of Jesus explains how he could
succumb to fear and deny the master, despite the warnings
received [Jn. 13:37-38]. Here we witness a breakdown of
discipleship.
After these incidents Peter plays no further role in
John’s Passion narrative. But by the Lord’s mercy his faith
is restored. For one thing, the other Gospels [Mk. 14: 72;
Mt 26:75; Lk 22:62], tell us of his repentance and tears
under Jesus’ gaze. Then the Gospel of John, tells us that, in
response to Mary Magdalene’s summons on the morning
of the resurrection, Peter ran to Jesus’ burial site, saw the
empty tomb, and was graced with the resurrection faith.
Later, in a decisive encounter with the Risen Lord, as though
to offset his threefold denial, three times he professed his
love for Jesus and was given the commission to shepherd
and feed Christ’s lambs and sheep. [Jn. 21:15-19]
In spite of lack of understanding, fear, seeming
confusion, and weakness, Peter remained a friend of Jesus.
His story, perhaps more than that of any other character
in the Passion narrative, reflects the real-life situation of a
disciple of Jesus, our real-life situation. We too are plagued
with lack of understanding, fear, confusion, and weakness
in our faith. Peter’s story teaches us not to despair, but to
throw ourselves upon the mercy of our loving Savior.

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[Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus]
Two further characters appear briefly at the end of the
Passion drama: Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus both
depicted in somewhat ambiguous tones.
We know little about Joseph of Arimathea except that
he was a “secret” disciple, keeping out of sight for fear of
reprisals from the Jewish authorities. [Jn. 19:38] Nicodemus
appears at several points in the Gospel where we are told
that he was a person in authority and that he came to Jesus
“by night.” [Jn. 3:1-2] Their faith as disciples seems to have
been less than exemplary. Fear of discovery kept them in a
kind of limbo. But now at the risk of public exposure they
came to claim the body of Jesus and to offer to it the homage
of a lavish burial. The shock of Jesus’ unjust execution may
have stirred them to action and started them on a journey
of explicit faith.
May it be the same for us who honor the crucified Christ
today. If our faith has languished in limbo, may the grace
of Christ draw it out into the light. May our act of worship
through the Sacred Triduum strengthen us on our journey
of faith as committed disciples of Jesus, not counting the
cost.
III. JESUS’ PRAYER ON THE CROSS
the Laments, much like the Fourth Servant Song of Is 53,
as speaking of the suffering and victorious Messiah and as
realized in Jesus.
Psalm 22 comes from an individual sufferer, but because
of its sheer beauty and power as a prayer it became the
property of the “great congregation of God’s afflicted ones.”
From the ranks of this innocent, suffering, yet trustful
community (the ‘anawim) came Jesus the Messiah (the
‘anaw par excellence). He turned to this psalm for his prayer
while dying on the cross.
The early disciples of Jesus also turned to this psalm
in preaching the saving message of Jesus’ death and
resurrection in the Gospels. Psalm 22 is quoted 13 times
in the New Testament, 9 times in the Passion story alone.
It received consecration on the lips of the dying Jesus.
But even if it were not so, it would still remain one of the
most precious gems of the Psalter. The early disciples also
turned to this psalm for their own prayer. What Jesus had
made personal as the corporate representative of the Old
Testament ’anawim, became again the property of the
“great congregation” of the New Testament ’anawim, the
Church.
When we pray Psalm 22, with Jesus we pour out our
lament, and we give thanks to God for the victory achieved
by him on the cross.
1. Psalm 22 as Jesus Prayer on the Cross [Mk. 15:34; Mt
27:46]
(1) Introductory Comment
About to die on the cross, Jesus cried out in a loud
voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”—
the opening line of Psalm 22.
There is no cause here for thinking horrible Lutheran
thoughts evoking such horrible words as discouragement,
despair, or outright vicarious damnation. No, Jesus died
praying. He died praying the psalms. He died praying the
psalms of the Just Sufferers of the Old Testament. Psalm 22
is such a psalm, a Lament uttered in the certainty of being
heard, followed by a Thanksgiving for having been heard.
Despite total abandonment, in Psalm 22 the psalmist
lives within a domain of peace. The sufferer makes no
allusion to sin. There is no recrimination against unjust
charges, no claims of personal innocence, no curses or
angry sallies against the “enemies”—all features that occur
in most laments. The Psalmist asks little of God: only that
God hear his prayer. Then a sense of simple abandonment
and peace takes over, and there arises a sense of mystic
presence with the certainty of having been heard. The
Lament then modulates into a Song of Thanksgiving.
How does Psalm 22 speak of Jesus, and of Jesus’
suffering? How is it messianic? Obviously, the primary
messianic psalms are the royal psalms. But the Christian
Church has always regarded the psalms of the just sufferers,
(2) Text of Psalm 22(from NRSV):
Lament, Prayer and Thanksgiving
[Lament]
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so from helping me, from the words of
my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.
3 Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried, and were saved;
in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm, and not human;
scorned by others, and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock at me;
they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;
8 “Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”
9 Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
10 On you I was cast from my birth,
and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls encircle me,
strong bull of Bashan surround me;

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13 they open wide their mouths at me,
Like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
15 my mouth is dried up like a potsherd;
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs are all around me;
a company of evildoers encircles me.
My hands and feet have shriveled;
17 I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
[Prayer for Deliverance]
19 But you, O Lord, do not be far away!
O my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my life from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!
[Thanksgiving for Deliverance]
From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.
22 I will tell of your name to my brother and sisters;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he did not despise or abhor the affliction
of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me but heard
when I cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before him.
28 For dominion belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
29 To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
and I shall live for him.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord,
31 and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that he has done it.
2. Psalm 31 as Jesus’ prayer on the Cross
(1) Introductory Comment
According to Luke 23:46, the dying Jesus prayed
with the words of Psalm 31:5:
“Into your hand I commit my spirit.”
Psalm 31 could not be more dissimilar from
Psalm 22. Psalm 22 is a deeply personal utterance that
scales authentic poetic heights, while Psalm 31 is a kind
of compilation that draws freely from other biblical texts,
especially from Jeremiah and other psalms.
And yet Psalm 31 is peculiarly similar to Psalm 22, in
that it is also basically a lament followed by a thanksgiving.
We see here a devout Israelite who has drunk deeply from
the wellsprings of the prophetic tradition and liturgical
prayer. In fact, we see a mystic who is imbued with the
word of God, and who is capable of using the traditional
texts to express powerful human experiences: loving trust,
harrowing pain, and the joy of deliverance. This just sufferer,
voices his full trust in God who delivered him from sickness,
rejection, and persecution. He gives thankful praise for
God’s “steadfast love” (hesed), the dominant theme of the
psalm.
With Jesus on the cross, with Stephen being stoned,
we pray this psalm with trust in God’s steadfast love.
(2) Text of Psalm 31 (from NRSV): Prayer, Lament, Trustful
Prayer, Thanksgiving
[Initial Trustful Prayer for Deliverance]
1 In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
do not let me ever be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me.
2 Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me.
3 You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
4 take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God,
[Rejoicing for delivery]
6 You hate those who pay regard to worthless idols,
but I trust in the Lord.
7 I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love,
because you have seen my affliction;
you have taken heed of my adversaries,
8 and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
you have set my feet in a broad place.
[Lament]
9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
my eye wastes away from grief,
and my soul and body also.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,

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and my years with sighing;
(Cf. NCE 5, 9-12, Pius XII, Holy Week Ordinal, 1955)
my strength fails because of my misery,
and my bones waste away.
I. HISTORY AND MEANING OF THE HOLY NIGHT
11 I am the scorn of all my adversaries,
a horror to my neighbors,
1. Holy Saturday and Easter Vigil
an object of dread to my acquaintances;
Holy Saturday has been from the earliest times
those who see me in the street flee from me.
consecrated to Our Lord’s “Sabbath rest,” his burial in
12 I have passed out of mind like one who is dead;
the tomb. The early Church commemorated this burial
I have become like broken vessel.
by spending the day in rest, prayer, expectation of the
13 For I hear the whispering of many—
Resurrection, and strict fasting. There was no liturgy of any
terror all around!—
kind. In our own day, too, the Church keeps Holy Saturday in
as they scheme together against me,
quiet mourning because Jesus is lying in the tomb.
as they plot to take my life.
Hence, in spite of its name, the Easter Vigil is not a vigil
[Prayer of Trust against Enemies]
in the modern sense (the day before a feast) but the Vigil in
14 But I trust in you, O Lord;
the ancient sense (the night celebration of the greatest feast
I say, “You are my God.”
of the liturgical year). It is not the preparation for Easter but
15 My times are in you hand;
the true celebration of Easter itself. The reason why Pius
deliver me from the hand of my enemies and XII “restored” the Vigil was to emphasize the truth that had
persecutors.
become obscure with the passing of time: the Vigil is the
16 Let your face shine upon your servant;
Easter Feast. And that is what Vatican II re-emphasized.
save me in your steadfast love.
17 Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord,
for I call on you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
let them go dumbfounded to Sheol.
18 Let the lying lips be stilled
that speak insolently against the righteous
with pride and contempt.
[Praise and Thanksgiving]
19 O how abundant is your goodness
that you have laid up for those who fear you,
and accomplished for those who take refuge in you
in the sight of everyone!
20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them
from human plots;
you hold them safe under your shelter
from contentious tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord,
for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
when I was beset as a city under siege.
22 I had said in my alarm,
“I am driven far from your sight.”
But you heard my supplications
when I cried out to you for help.
[Closing Exhortation]
23 Love the Lord, all you his saints.
2. Time of Celebration
The earliest references to Pascha (the ancient name for
the comprehensive commemoration of the Redemption—
Easter Vigil to Pentecost) show that it was essentially a night
celebration. Ancient Christian writers (such as Tertullian)
and Church Fathers (such as Jerome and Augustine) leave no
doubt that this was the accepted practice both in the East
and in the West in antiquity. The Eastern Churches in fact
have never abandoned it, whereas in the West, beginning
with the 12th century, the Roman Ordinal had the service
start at noon, and by the end of the century at 11 A.M. of
Holy Saturday.
By 1570 the Vigil had been advanced to the early
morning hours of Holy Saturday, a practice that the Missal
of Pius V make into law. This is the situation that continued
in the West until 1951 and Pius XII’s reform. Thus for some
380 years the celebration of the greatest liturgical feast was
held a whole day ahead of time.
This was no trifling matter for it had the unhappy effect
of de-emphasizing the Easter Vigil and simultaneously
eliminating any real observance of Holy Saturday as a day of
quiet mourning and reflection while the Lord “rested in the
tomb.” Pius XII was not merely reviving an ancient practice;
he was restoring the Easter feast to its proper place in the
life of the Church.
The Lord preserves the faithful,
but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.
24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord.
3. Reasons for Night Celebration
A nighttime celebration is hardly a matter of
sentiment; it is rooted in the very nature of the events
it commemorates. There several reasons for holding the
C. EASTER VIGIL
CULMINATION OF LENT, HOLY WEEK AND SACRED
TRIDUUM
Paschal festival at night, and it hard to say which one had
the greatest influence upon the practice, though all have
their importance. We may mention the following.

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A first reason is that Easter is the feast of the triumph of
light over darkness; hence the celebration calls for a setting
in which the symbols of light and darkness can be effectively
displayed. Another reason is the Easter commemorates in a
special way the Resurrection of Our Lord, which took place
during the night.
But, above all, a night celebration for this feast may
have been determined by the fact that Easter is the Christian
Passover, the fulfillment of the Jewish Passover, which was
always celebrated at night. The wording of the Exultet
(Easter Proclamation, Praeconium paschale) lends support
to this idea. An important part of the Jewish Passover
service was the vigil, or night watch, that commemorated
the vigil God is represented as keeping through the night of
the Exodus: “At night the Lord struck down all the firstborn
of the land of Egypt…” [Ex 12:29-32] Prior to this, the lintel
and doorposts of Israelite homes had been marked with the
blood of the lamb. Then the Lord offered an explanation and
gave a command: “None of you shall go outside the door of
your house until morning. For the Lord will pass through to
strike down the Egyptians; when he sees the blood on the
lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over that
door…. You shall observe this rite as a perpetual ordinance
for you and your children…. And when your children ask
you, ‘What do you mean by this observance?’ You shall say,
‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over
the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck the
Egyptians but spared our houses.’” [Ex 12:22b-27a]
By means of this feast, celebrated during the night, the
people of Israel kept alive all that God had done for them—
not only the deliverance but what the deliverance had led
to— especially their birth as a nation, for it was on that
night that Israel began to exist as a nation.
When the Christian Church took over the feast of the
Jewish Passover, it gave all that it meant a new, Christian
direction. The deliverance of Israel from Egypt prefigured a
mightier and more far-reaching one—the “mighty deeds”
of God who “rescued us from the power of darkness and
transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom
we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” [Col 1:13-14]
This new deliverance, like the old, was associated with the
night and the darkness; for the New Exodus, the death of
Christ, took place in the darkness, and the Resurrection,
which completed our Redemption, happened during the
night.
Hence, just as the Exodus Passover of old marked the
beginning of Israel as the people of God, so in the death
and Resurrection of Christ, the Christian Passover, the new
People of God came into being, and the Easter Vigil is the
“memorial” of that event. This was probably the real reason
for having Baptism during this night, for Baptism is the
sacrament of entrance into God’s people and, at the same
time, the means whereby this People renews itself.
II. ELEMENTS AND RITES OF THE EASTER VIGIL
The altogether special character of this greatest feast
of the Church year is apparent in the beautiful rites that
make up its celebration. All of them express the Christian’s
passing over with Christ from the death of sin to new life
under God.
1. Blessing of the New Fire
This is a brief rite of Gallican origin preparatory to the
Vigil, specifically to the lighting of the Paschal Candle. The
formula originated in Germany in the 10th century, though
the practice is much older. The fire was struck from a flint,
the ancient kindling method. Later it acquired meaning as
a symbol: just as fire is struck from a stone, so light arises
from the risen Christ, the cornerstone.
For the whole first part of the service, before the Easter
Eucharist is celebrated at the altar, the Paschal Candle holds
center stage. The presiding celebrant wears the cope, and
the liturgical color is purple. Only the deacon wears white
when chanting the Exultet (Easter Proclamation).
2. The Paschal Candle
The Paschal Candle is the symbol of the risen Lord and
one of the most impressive of the Church’s sacramentals, as
it evokes Christ’s victory, the triumph of light over darkness.
Yet the origin of the symbol is uncertain. The explanation
most favored by liturgists is that the symbol comes from the
ancient practice of lighting and blessing a lamp (or lamps)
in the early evening to provide light in the darkness. In
the liturgy of the hours the ceremony, though practical in
origin, became in time an elaborate rite called Lucernarium,
“the lighting of lamps,” accompanied by psalms, chants
and prayers before Vespers. It was the deacon’s special
function to light the lamps. Thus, the lighting and blessing
of the paschal candle on the greatest night of the year is
a liturgical development of a custom once observed every
evening. It is still the deacon who carries the paschal candle
into the church, sets up on its stand and chants to Exultet
or praeconium paschale (which was originally a candle
blessing).
One of the happiest changes introduced by Pius XII
in 1955 is to have the candle lighted and blessed at the
beginning of the service and then (carried aloft by the
deacon) have it lead the procession into the church.
The presiding celebrant first prepares the candle to be
the symbol of Christ by marking it (using a stylus) with the
sign of the cross and the monogram of Christ (the Alpha and
Omega), and inserting the grains of incense that represent
the five wounds. Also this “consecration” of the candle was
restored in 1955.
The full meaning of the paschal candle as the symbol of
Christ is made clear when the candle, lighted from the new
fire, is carried by the deacon into the dark church, dispelling

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the darkness. The deacon heralds the Resurrection with the
chanted words Lumen Christi, and the community responds
with Deo gratias. All present receive the Easter light from
the paschal candle. This signifies that we share the glory
of the Resurrection, and are thereby made light bearers,
children of the light.
Upon reaching the sanctuary and setting the candle of
its stand, the deacon chants the beautiful hymn in its honor,
the Exultet. This hymn, which retains the form and style
of the ancient Eucharistic prayer, is in the present version
ascribed to St. Ambrose. It expresses the full meaning of
the paschal feast, Christ’s victory over death, sin and hell.
The Jewish Passover was the prelude to the true Passover,
our Lord’s passage from death to life. We partake of this
passage; it becomes ours through the sacred mysteries of
Baptism and Eucharist. As Christ rose from the dead we rise
with him to newness of life.
3. Reading Service and Baptismal Rite
Readings. — The Scripture Readings make up to
oldest part of the Easter Vigil. In early Roman practice
these readings (originally six in number) were related to
Baptism and (together with the Collects) were intended to
be a scriptural commentary on the whole rite of Christian
initiation. From the Middle Ages onward the reading were
expanded to 12 in number, but Pius XII’s Holy Week Ordinal
reverts to the practice of the time of Pope Gregory I (590-
604).
Baptismal Rite. — When the readings are finished, the
blessing of the baptismal water follows immediately. Pius
XII’s Ordinal gives prominence to the blessing of water by
having it take place in the sanctuary so that all can see and
hear.
The modern formula for the blessing of the water harks
back to the sacramentaries of Popes Gelasius I (492-496)
and Hadrian I (772-795). Its general theme is that the water,
made productive by the Spirit, gives birth to divine life. The
font is compared to a womb in which a person is conceived
in holiness and reborn as a new creation. During the Preface
the priest plunges the candle into the water to signify that
the water of Baptism derives its power from Christ’s Passion
and Resurrection. He pours in the chrism to signify the grace
of the Holy Spirit bestowed through the waters of Baptism.
The Ordinal also strongly recommends that at least one
candidate be baptized in the sanctuary. This gives poignancy
not only to the blessing of the water but also to the entire
Vigil. Since the Vigil is primarily a solemn celebration of the
mystery of Baptism it would appear anomalous indeed if
the Sacrament itself were omitted from the celebration. The
conferring of Baptism completes the celebration as nothing
else could, except obviously the Eucharist, which climaxes
the whole Vigil.
Whether Baptism is conferred or not, the restored Easter
Vigil features something new—the renewal of the baptismal
promises. By this action the members of the congregation
renounce Satan and bind themselves to serve God faithfully.
This is not just more than a moving ceremony; it is after
Baptism and Eucharist a high point of the Vigil service.
The whole Lenten observance is in fact intended to lead
us a heightened awareness of our baptismal commitment.
And as a further reminder, after the promises, the priest
sprinkles the people with the Easter water.
4. Easter Mass
The true climax if the Easter Vigil is the celebration of the
Eucharist, for the Eucharist in its very essence is the paschal
mystery. No other way of celebrating our redemption,
however beautiful and meaningful, can take its place.
For everything else that is done in the Easter Vigil is only
an unfolding of what is daily celebrated in the Eucharistic
mystery. The Mass that climaxes and concludes the Easter
Vigil is the true and original Easter Mass.
The joyful and solemn singing of the triple Alleluia is a
special feature of the Easter celebration. It is a thanksgiving
for all the wonders God has wrought for our redemption.
The Easter Preface, sung for the first time in this Mass,
extols the Paschal Lamb whose sacrifice frees us from sin
and enables us to pass with to eternal life through Christ’s
Resurrection.
D. DÉNOUEMENT—THE EMPTY TOMB
AND FIRST APPEARANCE
(John 20:1-18)
In his resurrection narrative Matthew 28:13-15 reports
that a story was spread among the Jews to discredit the fact
of Christ’s resurrection: the body of Jesus was stolen, the
“resurrection” was a matter of theft.
In his gospel St. John never refers to that story. And
yet his resurrection narrative in 20:1-9 is conceived and
reported as an answer to the theft theory. Jesus was laid
to rest on Friday, just before the Sabbath began at sunset.
[John 19:42, see v. 31]
1. Mary Magdalene and the Empty Tomb (John 20:1-2)
On the Sabbath nothing happened since the Jews
were supposed to stay home for the sacred rest. After the
Sabbath, very early on the first day of the Jewish week,
Mary of Magdala came to Jesus’ tomb “it was still dark.”
In the presentation of the evangelist the only detail she
catches sight of is that the stone had been “removed”
from the tomb (not “rolled back” as in the other gospels).
Without a look into the tomb and without even considering
how the stone had been removed from its place—this is
how the evangelist sees it—she rushes to the conclusion
that the Lord had been taken from the tomb. Her reaction
is immediate. She runs “to Simon Peter and to the other
disciple, the one whom Jesus loved” [John] and conveys to

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them the message: “They have taken the Lord out of the
tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
2. John and Peter at the Tomb (John 20:3-10)
The two disciples hasten on a run to the tomb, and John
arrives ahead of Simon Peter. He bends down and peers in:
there he “sees” the wrappings with which Jesus had been
prepared for burial. [Cf. 19:40; see 11:44] The Greek verb
used by the evangelist (kéimena) would suggest that the
wrappings rather than just lying there had been laid there,
in some part of the tomb. There seems to be no sign of a
hurried theft having been perpetrated. John looked and
observed but did not enter the tomb, which might seem
surprising. But John had already reminded his readers [Cf.
8:12; 15:26-27] that according to Jewish Law the testimony
of two witnesses was required for a case to be valid. Thus
he leaves everything untouched until both he and Peter
together can witness the state of affairs in the tomb. Their
verification, therefore, is valid and meaningful to the readers
of his gospel.
Meanwhile Peter arrives, and he goes into the tomb.
He tries to analyze the “evidence” available. He observes
[theôrei] the wrappings there, and the face cloth that
had been over his head “laid” not with the wrappings but
apart, “rolled up (or folded up” in a place by itself. There
was a certain order in the tomb, and the “evidence” did
not suggest the idea of a theft conducted a hurry, nor of a
violation of the tomb. Above all, the wrappings and the face
cloth were there. If there had been a theft, the perpetrators
would have wasted no time in removing the wrappings and
the face cloth just to leave them there in good order. They
would have taken away the body just as it was, wrapped for
burial. The Jewish theory of a theft—John seems to want to
tell his readers—clashes against the evidence. The findings
are evidence that Jesus was not restrained or impeded by
the wrappings and bands. He could move about freely as a
living person and could come out of the tomb in no hurry,
leaving everything behind in order. Here John certainly
presents the evidence of the empty tomb to his readers as a
valid “proof” of Christ’s resurrection.
This was John’s reflection while Peter is in the tomb.
Then he too steps inside and is again confronted with the
facts: the Lord is not in the tomb where he had been laid;
the tomb is empty but not violated, because there is order
in the place.
On this “evidence” (he “saw”) John “believed.” He
believed, of course, that Christ had risen and was alive. The
evidence was there, still he “believed.” From the historical
evidence, guaranteed by two witnesses, he rose to the
realm of theological faith. The complex mystery of Christ’s
resurrection remains something to be “believed” because it
is not just the resuscitation of a dead man who comes back to
the life he had before (as was the case with Lazarus). Christ’s
resurrection is a divine declaration that he was right (John
16:10), that he enjoyed God’s protection and pleasure—
that he had been exalted and had entered a new mode of
existence that is beyond the laws and understandings of the
world of our experience.
Still the factual historical evidence retains its value as
the starter that sets in motion a process of which the final
result is “faith,” the work of the Holy Spirit. It was a flash
that flooded John’s mind and soul with light. In no time
he saw the connections between what he was witnessing
and the prophetic Scriptures of the Old Testament, and he
“believed.” Peter (at this point receding into the penumbra)
also rose to the realm of “faith” from what he witnessed. As
he would later express it in his first address to the people in
Acts 2:25-28, quoting Psalm 16:8-11 (David speaks):
25a “I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;
26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
moreover my flesh will live in hope.
27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One experience corruption.
20 You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of gladness with your
presence.”
3. Mary Magdalene meet the Risen Lord (John 20:11-18)
Like other accounts of Jesus’ appearances, this
Johannine story of Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene
after his resurrection manifests a triple dimension: divine
initiative, recognition, and mission.
While Mary Magdalene is looking for the dead Jesus,
Jesus takes the initiative of showing himself to her as living.
However, a mere sense encounter is insufficient for the
recognition of Jesus. Jesus is not recognized until (again
by divine initiative) he makes himself present to her by a
personal address, “Mary!” At this point the sense encounter
through sight becomes personal encounter with the Master
through experience.
But the full revelation of the meaning of the event (that
is, the meaning of the Resurrection) requires a further divine
initiative. As Mary attempts to cling to the Master, (that is,
to the earthly understanding of Jesus), Jesus proclaims his
return to the Father (that is, his Lordship) and commissions
Mary to deliver this saving message to all the disciples: “I
am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and
your God.”
Let us hear these words aright: “my father and your
father; my God and your God.” If Jesus is to be truly present
in the world, he must return to the heavenly realm, never
to be humbled again in the kenosis of the incarnation. He
is Lord: I am ascending to my father, to my God, who is
also our father, our God. By his exaltation as Lord his father
becomes our father, his God become our God. We must
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becomes our mission; and the cause for which he lived and
died must be ours as well.
This is the message that Jesus commissioned Mary
Magdalene to convey to his disciples. This is the paschal
mystery; but this is also the test of faith. Throughout the
Fourth Gospel Jesus is presented as trying to explain this
mystery to all who would hear. For all of them it was a
test of their faith. His enemies tried repeatedly to kill him,
and finally succeeded. Most of his followers abandoned
him in the end and ran off. It is also the test for all in the
present day. Jesus’ enemies would, if not kill him, commit
him to an insane asylum or simply dismiss him as a lunatic.
His followers today as always often prefer to lie low. Mary
conveyed the message to the disciples; but, as the Thomas
story teaches (John 20:24-29), we are neither in a worse
nor in a better position than were the early disciples. The
mystery continues to be for us all a test of faith.
E. ADJUNCTS
1. SPIRITUAL THEOREM
Great Sun, flame of Christ,
You have passed through four houses of the Zodiac:
Through Virgo, where Christ was born of flesh
From His soul, matched and matchless;
Through the Waterbearer, when He sorrowed
In tears, blameless; through the Bull,
When He offered His body on the gallows.
Now he enters the house of the Lion
With a mane of light whose beams
Enflame the hemispheres, and His voice
Is the shaking thunder, the roar from the grave
That brings the world of beasts to the yoke
Of His redemption.
[Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936)]
2. FLOWER AND FRUIT
Your wounds, my Jesus,
are my delight, my whole good,
and yet they break my heart.
They are the wounds of a lover
who declares his passion;
and yet they break my heart.
They are the wounds you chose
to accept for them
in your hands, that they might not wound;
in your feet, so they could not run away;
in your heart, to open the pardon door;
and yet they break my heart.
[José De Valdivieso (1560?-1638)
Translated from the Spanish
by Sister M. Katharine Elaine, C.S.C.]
3. INCARNATION HYMN (Phil 2:6-11)
They are clefts in that divine rock
where love looks out
to make a nest for the dove, flying listlessly.
They are portals to the pool of mercy,
ports of entry to salvation;
and yet they break my heart.
They are five roses on a red rosebush widening;
five pomegranates cleaved wide
on the wide-pierced trunk of a pomegranate tree.
They are flower and fruit
of the Promised Land,
and yet they break my heart.
They are the wounds of a captain
gone ahead to spy out the land,
the wounds given you
in the good fight to save all the rest.

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Rome, April 1st, 2009
To Salesian Confreres of the Congregation
My Dear Confreres,
We are in the Jubilee year of the 150th anniversary
of the founding of our Salesian Society. There are many
initiatives under way in various Provinces, and a lively
historical interest in the beginnings of our charismatic fam-
ily is spreading pretty well everywhere. All of this makes
for a greater awareness in us of our Salesian consecrated
vocation and fosters the maturing of our charism which
can lead to a deep renewal in our life and in out mission.
With a sense of humble gratitude we feel the need to give
praise to the Lord for the great gift we have received.
At the centre of all that we are celebrating in this
“Holy Year” of the Congregation there is the fascination
with the person of Don Bosco, who, still today, renews in
us our enthusiasm, attracting our heart for an ever more
complete gift of ourselves, re-enforces the passion for the
mission to the young. In these days the memory of his
canonisation which took place on Easter Sunday seventy
five years ago by Pius XI, on 1 April 1934, helps us to
understand that it is precisely his holiness that has con-
quered us. Our admiration for Don Bosco grows because of
his holiness and it is this which invites us to invoke and to
imitate out Founder.
1. In my first letter at the beginning of the last six-year
period, with the same words that the Servant of God John
Paul II used, I wrote to you “Dear Salesians, be saints!”. In
this way I invited you to make holiness our plan of spiritual
life and of pastoral action. At the beginning of this new
six-year period, the year of grace which we are celebrating
once again presents us with the commitment to holiness
as the main way “to make a fair copy of the Congrega-
tion”, as Don Bosco himself prophetically expressed it.
Holiness is the beautiful thing about our lives, our
communities, our Congregation. Holiness which is ex-
pressed in the radical following of the Lord Jesus obedient,
poor and chaste, is the fascinating thing about consecrated
life. Holiness lived in the total giving of oneself to God for
poor youth, is the power which emanates from a witness
which is genuine, capable of raising up and attracting voca-
tions. This then is why holiness together with its art and its
liturgy, constitutes the beauty of the Church. Rightly then
one can say: “Only beauty will save the world!”
2. Don Bosco’s holiness is the guarantee that his life-
project, his school of spirituality, his style of apostolic
action constitute an authentic path which leads to the ful-
ness of love. Following the path opened up by Don Bosco
in the following of Christ, we have the certainty of living a
life that is fully evangelical, completely given without con-
ditions, with reserve without holding back. At the school of
Don Bosco we too learn to be saints.
3. The many forms and the great variety of holiness
that have flowered in the 150 years of the Congregation,
among the young pupils, in the Salesian Family are a sign
of the holiness of our Founder. “The holiness of the sons
proves the holiness of the father ,”Blessed Michael Rua
wrote to Salesian Rectors, in sending them the spiritual
testament of Don Bosco, a few days after his death. The
first Salesian generation had no doubts about the holiness
of their “father and teacher,” even though they could not
proclaim it before the Church had solemnly recognised it.
In the meantime the holiness which at its beginnings
the Congregation succeeded in living in its service of the
young, applying the extraordinarily simple but equally
effective method used by Don Bosco, would have been
the most valid argument in favour of the holiness of the
Founder. In this way with time the holiness of the sons and
daughters has gone on increasing: following the father a
good number of his disciples made their own that sympa-
thetic form of holiness almost “homely” which is the “holi-
ness of work and of the playground.”
4. There are so many Salesian saints male and female
who have drawn their inspiration from Don Bosco. The
same path is being set before us: if we want to become
saints we have to look at him. We are the heirs of a saint.
Holiness is the greatest legacy that he has left us. Don
Bosco has handed on to us an original style of holiness,
consisting in simplicity and attractiveness. A holiness that
makes us friendly, good, simple, easy-going. This is the
holiness to which we are called, capable of attracting the
young. This has been Don Bosco’s gift to the young and this
is the best gift that we too can offer to the today’s young
people. Let us remember dear Confreres: poor young
people have a right to our holiness!
Paraphrasing Don Bosco, we may say that it is a fasci-
nating thing to be saints, because holiness is luminosity,
spiritual energy, splendour, light, inner joy, equilibrium,
serenity, love taken to the extreme. The Church too in Vati-
can Council II reminds us that “everyone is called to holi-
ness” (LG 39). This is the priority of the new millennium: “it
would be a contradiction to settle for a life of mediocrity,
marked by a minimalist ethic and a shallow religiosity… The

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time has come to re-propose wholeheartedly to everyone
this high standard of ordinary Christian living” (NMI 31).
Holiness should not intimidate us, as though it were
asking us to live an impossible heroism, reserved to the
few privileged ones. Holiness is not our work, but the
gratuitous participation in God’s holiness, and therefore a
grace. It is a gift, before being the fruit of our efforts. Our
whole being is inserted in the mysterious sphere of the
purity, the goodness, the gratuity, the mercy, the love of
the Lord Jesus. It is the total handing over of ourselves in
faith, in hope, in love to God; a handing over that is accom-
plished day by day with serenity, patience, gratuity, accept-
ing daily trials and joys with the certainty that all makes
sense in God’s eyes.
Don Bosco’s holiness shines out with the splendour
with the hope and with the joy of Easter. The Jubilee of
Easter Sunday 1 April 1934, experienced in St Peter’s
Square on the day of the canonisation, places Don Bosco’s
holiness in an Easter light. With the approach of Easter
in this year of grace 2009 it is my prayer for all of us that
with renewed joy and commitment we may live this
journey of holiness as a new life.
Cordially in the Lord
Fr. Pascual Chávez Villanueva, SDB
The Institute of Salesian Spirituality
is accepting applications
for the 2009 - 2010
academic year.
Please contact
Director
Don Bosco Hall
Institute of Salesian Spirituality
1831 Arch St.
Berkeley, CA 94709
(510) 204-0801
sullivangael@aol.com
The Institute of Salesian Spirituality
is one of the Congregation official centers
of
Salesian Spirituality
and
Ongoing Formation.