CV NEWS FEED // Cardinal Baldo Reina presided over the Good Friday Way of the Cross at Rome’s Colosseum April 18, reflecting on meditations written by Pope Francis. The Pope’s texts on each of the traditional 15 Stations of the Cross offered a deeply personal and prophetic invitation to conversion, compassion, and renewed hope amid the challenges of modern life.
Pope Francis began his meditations by reminding the faithful that “the road to Calvary passes through the streets we tread each day.” He noted how “usually, Lord, we are walking in the other direction,” but an encounter with Christ’s gaze can prompt a change of heart: “We can walk in your footsteps and come to realize that it was good for us to change direction.”
Throughout the meditations, the Pope emphasized the relevance of Christ’s Passion to contemporary struggles.
At the First Station, Pope Francis reflected on the drama of freedom and responsibility: “Pilate could have freed you: he had already acquitted you. He chose not to. The way of the cross, Jesus, is a possibility that we have already too many times failed to consider.”
Pope Francis also highlighted the burdens people carry, both seen and unseen. “Selfishness burdens us more than the cross. Indifference burdens us more than sharing,” he wrote, urging the faithful to “stop running away and to remain in the company of those [God has] given us, in the situations where [God has] placed us.”
In true Pope Francis style, the meditations gave special attention to the marginalized and those who fall along the way. “Today’s builders of Babel tell us that there is no room for losers, and that those who fall along the way are losers. Theirs is the construction site of Hell. God’s economy, on the other hand, does not kill, discard or crush. It is lowly, faithful to the earth.”
The Pope repeatedly called for hearts to be open to compassion and solidarity. Reflecting on Jesus meeting the women of Jerusalem, Pope Francis wrote: “In women, Lord, you always saw a special likeness to the heart of God… There is a kind of weeping, indeed, which can bring forth a new birth. It brings forth tears of regret, unabashed and unrestrained.”
The prayers at each station were simple yet profound, such as: “Open my heart, Jesus!”, “Deliver us from weariness, Lord!”, and “May your kingdom come!”
In the concluding prayer, Pope Francis invoked the words of Saint Francis of Assisi: “Most High and glorious God, cast your light into the darkness of my heart. Grant me right faith, firm hope, perfect charity, and profound humility.”
As the ancient Colosseum stood witness, Pope Francis’ meditations echoed a timeless message: The Passion of Christ is not distant history, but a living call to “turn towards the love from which nothing can ever separate us.”
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