5th) "And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross" (Mk 15:21). Simon of Cyrene! There's one of the "fortunate" ones on the Way of the Cross. The question is: Could anyone have been as close to the Heart of Jesus as Cyrene was? He could hear the beating of his Heart; he could probably hear the prayers that Jesus murmured on his lips as he dragged himself up to Calvary. And in the face of such goodness, Simon of Cyrene fell in love with Jesus Christ and converted. There his name and that of his sons have been immortalized forever in the three Synoptic Gospels! (He is considered a saint in the East). God wanted to reach the Cross, and without the Cross - that of Christ - one does not reach God!

But let's not overlook a detail: "He was coming in from the country." As always, those who work are the ones who "arrive" (Read more: The dignity of work). Let us remember that in Bethlehem, to adore the Child-God, only those who worked arrived: the shepherds from the region and the Kings from the East. Perhaps now is the opportune moment to recall a phrase of Christ that scandalized (?) the Jews who heard it: "My Father is working still, and I am working" (Jn 5:17). There it is...

6th) "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church" (Col 1:24) (there are various versions of the same passage, but without changing the substance of the matter). The cooperation of Cyrene leads us to meditate on that affirmation of Saint Paul (which has given much to talk about).

Is it possible that the Passion was not "completed" with the sufferings of Christ? The answer is: no and yes. "No" in the sense that any of His suffering was more than enough to redeem all of us. "Yes" in the sense that God has wanted to count on us (this was already discussed in the Prayer of Gethsemane). That is to say, God has wanted to need us (Read more: "By your perseverance you will secure your lives"). In Benedict XVI's elegant language, we would say that God's "agape" love (pure charity) includes "eros" love (desireful love: He desires us! He waits for us!). That is another mystery: how is it possible for God to desire and wait for me, if He doesn't need anything from me? How is it possible for the Infinite to fall in love with the finite? (as Romano Guardini asks). The underlying theme is our divine filiation: considering that our destiny is to become "sons in the Son", God has arranged for us to be "co-protagonists" (with Jesus) in the redemption of humankind.

So how was that done? Christ - for our salvation - offered to the Father His sufferings and ours too. It's no wonder Jesus spent a good while in Gethsemane before going up to Calvary... There was much to be learned and offered (from ours). This implies the following: "My pains are no longer mine; they belong to God."

And how is that done now? By accepting with joy and love my sufferings (that is, without protests or complaints; without noise, "suffering without causing suffering") (obviously, all of this doesn't exclude us from fighting to overcome and help overcome the pains of this life and the world). If I didn't accept my pains, if I didn't receive them with joy (at least, with serenity), then I would be perpetrating a "robbery" against God, because my pains are no longer mine, they are His. Essentially, it is in the Eucharist where I can confirm to God that I "yield" my sufferings (and those of all humanity) to Him. Obviously, the world cannot receive or understand all of this (cf. Jn 14:17) (some say: "I'm not going to Mass because I don't feel anything... Response: The Eucharist was precisely instituted so that you don't feel the death of Christ with the cruelty with which He and His Mother felt it). That is good for us: more faith and less sentimentality!

7th) "A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him" (Lk 23:27). There - in the midst of the procession - was Virgin Mary. Why were they crying? Because they were not spared from seeing and feeling the extreme cruelty that the Christ whom they loved was suffering (Read more: "Anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair"). Saint Mary, accompanied by Saint John - who cleared a path for her through the crowd - may have at some point been able to touch and kiss her Son, simply saying to Him: "My Son!”

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