Cardinal Felipe Arizmendi, Bishop Emeritus of San Cristóbal de Las Casas and responsible for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM), offers Exaudi readers his weekly article.

FACTS

The Passion of Christ is not merely something of the past; it is a present reality, because He told us that He remains alive in all who suffer, and that whatever we do to help them carry their cross, He considers it to be made for Himself.

Jesus continues to suffer in so many mothers searching for their missing children, of whom there is no trace; perhaps they were murdered and buried, who knows where, or disintegrated in acid by criminal hands.

Jesus continues to suffer in so many migrants whose doors of hope are closed to them, exposed to extortion by unscrupulous coyotes and cartels who exploit them in a thousand ways, or who disappear them if they don’t pay the sums these heartless individuals demand.

Jesus continues to suffer in so many prisoners, many of them innocent, living for years in legal uncertainty, abandoned even by their families, exploited and mistreated by their fellow inmates.

Jesus continues to suffer in so many sick and elderly people, many of them without resources for medicine or surgery, misunderstood and perhaps abandoned by their loved ones, treated as dregs and burdens of society.

Jesus continues to suffer in battered wives, undervalued, abandoned, alone, betrayed, humiliated, perhaps sexually abused, even within their marriages, struggling to raise their children in the face of the abandonment and irresponsibility of their fathers. And Jesus also continues to suffer in misunderstood spouses, deprived of affection and respect, but only required to provide daily bread, without any trace of gratitude.

Jesus continues to suffer in so many children, not only in extreme poverty, but also in broken or violent homes, whose parents fail to appreciate the pain a marital separation causes their children. Even if they cover the costs and provide money for support and education, they fail to provide affection, security, strength, and hope. Selfish parents ignore their children’s pain without a father or mother figure. Yet there are cases in which separation is the best way to avoid further suffering.

In short, Jesus continues to suffer in so many people who feel alone, without affection, without respect, without a promising future, without security, without acceptance, perhaps with very painful memories from their childhood. Some, for this reason, take refuge in alcohol, drugs, and even crime. Even if they have sufficient financial resources, how much they suffer, and how much Jesus continues to suffer in them!

ILLUMINATION

Pope Francis, in his homily last Palm Sunday, told us: “Jesus reaches out to everyone, in every situation… The passion of Jesus becomes compassion when we reach out to those who are helpless, when we lift those who have fallen, when we embrace those who are disconsolate. To experience this great miracle of mercy, let us decide during Holy Week how to carry the cross; not around our necks, but in our hearts. Not only our own, but also that of those who suffer around us; perhaps that of that unknown person whom a chance encounter—but is it a chance?—has caused us to meet. Let us prepare for the Lord’s Easter by becoming Cyrenians for one another” (13 April 2025).

And in the Angelus of that same Sunday, he expressed: Today, Palm Sunday, in the Gospel we heard the account of the Lord’s Passion according to Saint Luke. We heard Jesus address the Father several times: “Father, if you wish, take this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done”; “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”; “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Defenseless and humiliated, we saw him walk toward the cross with the feelings and heart of a child clinging to his father’s neck, fragile in the flesh, but strong in trusting abandonment, until he fell asleep, in death, in his arms.

These are feelings that the liturgy calls us to contemplate and make our own. We all experience pain, physical or moral, and faith helps us not to give in to despair, not to close ourselves off in bitterness, but to face it, feeling wrapped, like Jesus, in the providential embrace and merciful of the Father.

Sisters and brothers, I thank you so much for your prayers. At this moment of physical weakness, they help me feel even more God’s closeness, compassion, and tenderness. I also pray for you and ask you to entrust with me to the Lord all those who suffer, especially those affected by war, poverty, or natural disasters (April 13, 2025).

ACTIONS

If you want these days to be holy, do not make others suffer, perhaps in your own family. On the contrary, be like a Cyrenian, who helps them carry their cross, with affection, closeness, understanding, respect, forgiveness, tolerance—in a word, love. In this way, you are helping Jesus carry his cross, and there will be hope for resurrection.