Editorial > Editorial Archive

A reflection by Fr. Oscar Pezzarini, General Commissioner of the Work of Don Orione

Father Oscar Pezzarini

"Each cross we carry is a means to get us much closer to Jesus"

Father Oscar said we cannot meet with God without sacrifice. He also commented that the harsh reality we live day-by-day helps us to purify and to improve ourselves. "In order to be able to rise with Christ we must go along with Him on his way towards the Cross", he recalled.

Buenos Aires, Sunday, April 6, 2003.- Father Oscar Pezzarini, General Commissioner of the Work of Don Orione, in charge of the weekly comment in "La Manga", Fr. Julio Grassi's radio program (Radio Rivadavia -AM 630 kHz- Sundays from 2 to 5 a.m.), asserted tonight that "in order to be able to rise with Christ we must go along with Him on his way towards the Cross".

"We are very close to the Holy Week, which gives sense to our faith since through Jesus' passion, death, and resurrection we find the true meaning of our life."

"Recently these days became holidays for many people. Maybe this is not wrong if this is not used just to recover and rest our physical and intellectual strength, but if we also can recover our strength on a spiritual level and can live these days as a rest which allows us to fill our live spiritually", said Father Oscar.

"Jesus saved us through the Cross. He had to overcome suffering so He could later rise. The Cross is the sign of salvation to Christians. When we talk about the Cross we refer to the hardships in our life."

"He invites us to renounce to ourselves, to take our own cross and to follow Him. The goal of this Holy Week is to walk along with Jesus towards Golgotha, towards the Cross, so later we can keep Him company in resurrection."

"It is true, Jesus is alive. But first he had to go through suffering."

"In a world like the one we are living in, talking of sacrifice as a means of salvation is difficult to be understood. From the point of view of human logic it is not easy to understand that pain and mortification, which most of the times are shown to us as something hard, can become a benefit. But, on the other hand, experience show us that harsh reality are good for our purification and improvement."

"Fear towards everything related to pain is a deep-rooted drive in us. However, without sacrifice we cannot meet with God. In order to be able to rise with Christ we must go along with Him on his way towards the Cross."

"Today the whole Mankind is experiencing the Cross: The Cross of war, of selfishness, of the children who starve and die under the bombs."

"This type of crosses does not only belong to those who suffer it, but to the whole Mankind. But this Cross makes sense since Jesus."

"The same children who are on the street or are exploited by adults, or the youths who cannot find their course, they all live a cross. Each one of us has to carry a physical, psychological or emotional cross."

"On this Holy Week we can transform every cross by faith into a means of salvation for ourselves and for others. This is very difficult to understand from another point of view than that of faith. But let us understand that each cross we are carrying is a means which doubtlessly brings us much closer to Jesus and makes us walk along with him on Holy Week, so after going through Passion and the Cross we may get to Glory", reflected Father Oscar Pezzarini at the closing.

Return to Editorial Archive.