Raniero Cantalamessa - The Fire of Christs Love: Meditations on the Cross

THE FIRE OF CHRISTS LOVE

MEDITATIONS ON THE CROSS

MEDITATIONS ON THE CROSS

RANIERO CANTALAMESSA, OFM CAP

Copyright 2013 Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap
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ISBN: 978-1-59325-222-9
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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture texts used in this work are taken from the Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1965 and 1966 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Scripture texts marked JB are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, copyright 1966, 1967, and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and Doubleday, a division of Random House. Used with permission.

Scripture texts marked NJB are taken from The New Jerusalem Bible, copyright 1985 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and Les Editions du Cerf.
Used with permission.

Cover design by John Hamilton Design

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When Jesus suffered and died on the cross on that hill called Calvary, on that Friday strangely called Good, literally, the lights went out as even the sun hid in shame, and the earth sobbed with convulsions of sorrow as an earthquake occurred.

Jesus, pure goodness, seemed bullied to death by undiluted evil

Love, jackbooted by hate;

Mercy incarnate, smothered by revenge;

Life itself, crushed by death.

It seemed we could never smile again.

But then came the Sunday called Easter! The sunS-U-Ncame up, and the SonS-O-Ncame out as he rose from the dead. Guess who had the last word? God!

Hope, not despair, had the final say;

Faith, not doubt;

Love, not spite;

Light, not an eclipse of the sun;

Life, not the abyss of death.

He who laughs last, laughs bestand we believers have never stopped smiling since that resurrection of Jesus from the dead!

So, as the Bible teaches us, if God loves us so much that he didnt even spare his only Son, well, then, nothing can separate us from the love of God (cf. Romans 8:35-38), can it?

So, Good Friday did not have the last wordEaster did!

We believe that all is in Gods providential hands, and thatthe Bible againAll will work out for those who believe (cf. Romans 8:28).

Lord knows there are plenty of Good Fridays in our livesbut they will not prevail; Easter will. As we Irish claim, Life is all about loving, living, and laughing, not about hating, dying, and moaning.

Thats why a crabby, griping, whining believer is an oxymoron! Thats why we say, Joy is the infallible sign of Gods presence.

I saw it in Haiti when I went there with Catholic Relief Services right after the devastating earthquake in January 2010. Crying, horror, death, anguishyou bet, in abundance. But still a resilience and a hope in a people clinging onto faith after centuries of oppression and grind.

I see it every time I visit the pediatric oncology department at Sloan-Kettering. Beautiful little innocent children, bald-headed, emaciated by chemo, but they and their folks still radiating an interior trust and calm such that they can smile while Im choking up.

I see it every time I visit cloistered nuns. Even though they possess nothing of earthly value but the clothes on their back and the prayer books in their hands; even though they live a life of silence, penance, enclosure, and virginity unknown to most of us, they still laugh heartily, and they are the best audience I could ask for in roaring at my corny jokes.

When I was a parish priest, a young man in college once approached me to say that he wanted to become Catholic. When I asked him why, he replied, Last week I was at the wake of a Catholic man I admired very much, who died suddenly, still young. And his family, while mourning him deeply, could still laugh, as if they knew it would all be okay.

Faith in the cross of Christ and hope in his resurrection does that!

Hes hardly a household name, but you should get to know Franciscan Capuchin Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa. Since 1980 he has been the Preacher to the Papal Household and has preached the sermon for Good Friday in St. Peters Basilica in Rome. Most of us, I know, were unable to be there. But here in this volume are selected sound bites of these homilies. As you read this book, perhaps you could imagine yourself sitting in that magnificent basilica, soaking up Fr. Cantalamessas words. Youd be imagining yourself in good companyBlessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have heard him preaching these homilies.

The gift that Fr. Cantalamessa brings to us in this book is his ability to shine new perspectives on a topic that we can never fully explorethe cross of Christ. Count on coming away with a new insight, a new way of experiencing the fire of Christs love for youpersonally. Thats the love that was lifted high on the cross as a sign for the world, a sign that says, Yes, I love you, beyond all reason, beyond all imagining.

Reading through these selections from Fr. Cantalamessas sermons reaffirmed my hope in the cross of Christ, because they are filled with important reminders of Gods love for each one of us, that he has overcome death and that he is risen! Alleluia!

Even though you may never be in St. Peters on a Good Friday to hear Fr. Cantalamessa, perhaps you might want to take this book to your own parish church. After praying and meditating on Fr. Cantalamessas words, take the time to kneel before the crucifix and offer yourself once again to Jesus. It is a fitting response to the One who, through his cross and resurrection, has set us free from sin, given us eternal life, and offers himself to us in the Eucharist at every Mass all over the world each day.

We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee! Because by Thy Holy Cross, Thou hast redeemed the world!

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan

Archbishop of New York

In the New Testament, the kerygma of the passion is always made up of two elements: of a facthe suffered and died; and of the reason for this factfor us, for our sins (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:3; Romans 4:25). Christs passion is ultimately unrelated to us unless we enter into it through the narrow door of this for us, because only he who acknowledges that Christs passion is his work really understands Christs passion.

Therefore, my personal sin was also present in Gethsemane, weighing on the heart of Jesus; on the cross, my egoism and my abuse of freedom kept him nailed. If Christ died for my sins, thensimply by making the phrase activeI killed Jesus of Nazareth! The three thousand whom Peter addressed at Pentecost had not all been present in Pilates praetorium or on Calvary hammering in the nails, yet he lifted his voice and said to them, You crucified Jesus of Nazareth! (cf. Acts 2:23). And by the work of the Holy Spirit, they acknowledged it was true, because it is written, They were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do? (2:37).

Were you there, were you there, when they crucified my Lord? says an African-American spiritual full of faith. And it goes on: Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Every time I hear this hymn, I am compelled to think, Alas, yes, I was also there, I was also there, when they crucified my Lord!