TRIUMPH.

Happy Feast Day of the TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS


".Suffering is not a failure but THE source of man's hope.  

The picture that was hanging on the wall in my room
in the retreat house where Alina, Monika and I went for a weekend of silence
during my first weekend in Vienna last December (Maria Langegg) 

+ a few words from Pope Benedict XVI to reflect on today :


"<The different forms of suffering that have unfolded before our eyes in the course of this Way  of the Cross are the Lord's way of summoning us to spend our lives, following in his footsteps and becoming signs of his consolation and salvation >


<The Cross was not a sign of failure, but an expression of self-giving love. The cross teaches us to love what God loves and in the way that he loves. This is the good news that gives hope to the world. > 


+"and from an anonymous writer : 

Peter's affection towards Christ is not yet pure. He tries to hold Jesus back. He is anxious to understand what is happening because he needs to control the situation and he wants Jesus to correspond to what he is expecting. John on the contrary is pure love. He lays his head on Jesus' heart. He doesn't try to stop Jesus or to understand but he loves and he looks at him and he lets Jesus introduce him into his passion. 

That is why he will be there at the foot of the cross with Mary