Happy Easter from Little Sisters of the Poor: From Indifference to Compassion Holy Week 2015

This final reflection in our series on Pope Francis' Lenten theme, From Indifference to Compassion, brings us to Holy Week and the Easter Triduum, the highpoint of our year as Christians. But for those who are seriously ill, who may be weighed down with pain, and who are perhaps homebound, will this be a special week at all? And what about caregivers, who have so much to do, and who may not even have time to think about attending Holy Week services? This sacred time need not be complicated. The heart of the Easter Triduum is the Cross of Christ and the Love with which he gave his life upon it, for each and every one of us! We can access the graces of Holy Week simply by meditating on the Cross as the proof of God's love.

YOU ARE THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST AMONG US!  YOU ARE WORTH ALL THE BLOOD OF CHRIST.

Find a few minutes for quiet prayer. Take out your rosary, or pause before the crucifix in your home. Let these words of two Popes penetrate deep into your heart... "You are the crucified Christ amongst us. It is one thing to look at a Crucifix, it is another to look at a sick man, woman or child who is crucified within their disease: you are Christ's living flesh." These words were spoken by Pope Francis to a group of sick people in Naples, Italy, on March 21. They communicate incredible reverence for the dignity of each and every sick person: YOU ARE THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST AMONG US!   Your life and your sufferings have tremendous meaning. Don't ever doubt that. You are a special presence of Christ for everyone you know. Thank you for allowing us to accompany you on your own very personal way of the Cross. For caregivers, you are Simon of Cyrene and Veronica to the sick for whom you care with so much compassion. Thank you for your example in accompanying the sick, and in doing so, for attesting to the dignity of the human person, especially in his weakness and vulnerability. "Man is worth so much to God that he himself became man in order to suffer with man in an utterly real way - in flesh and blood - as is revealed to us in ... Jesus' Passion." Commenting on this insight of Pope Benedict XVI another author wrote, "The price Christ paid to redeem us was inestimable: his own life, and the shedding of his own blood, down to the last drop. We are worth all the blood of Christ." You are worth all the blood of Christ, just as you are, in all your weakness and pain. YOU ARE THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST AMONG US. YOU ARE WORTH ALL THE BLOOD OF CHRIST.

If Easter morning dawns and you are still being crucified within your illness, may these words of Saint John Paul II fill you with Easter hope: If you know the eternal love who created you, You also know that there is  an immortal soul within you. There are various seasons of life; If by chance you feel winter approaching, I want you to know that it is not the last season, Because the last one will be spring: The springtime of the resurrection. Your whole life extends beyond its earthly limits: Heaven awaits you. (words to the sick in Fatima, May 13, 2000) Christ our hope has arisen and we will rise with him! Happy Easter from all the Little Sisters of the Poor!

For more information, contact the Publications Office: serenity@littlesistersofthepoor.org |  410-744-9367  |  www.littlesistersofthepoor.org