Life has blossomed from the Sepulchre that welcomed death

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Seminatore As we read in the parable of the Sower (Mk 4:1-20), the seed that is sown in "our" soil, in our lives, is destined to bear fruit

This month the Grand Master will make his solemn entrance into the Holy Sepulchre. Here he explains the profound meaning of this pilgrimage.

 

So, our eyes look to the Lord our God,
till he shows us his mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us,
for we have endured no end of contempt.

(Ps 123: 2-3)

 

Singing this and other psalms (known as the song of ascents, Ps 119-133) the pilgrim people approached Jerusalem with their gaze turned towards the Holy City, which was like a true ascent: the faithful remembered once again that everything comes from their Lord who dwells in heaven.

When we look at Jerusalem today, we too know that we receive everything from that "Seed" which was sown in the Sepulchre: the humanity of Christ, buried there, has opened-up new life for us all. Jesus foretold it: "Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." (Jn 12:24). Those were almost enigmatic words, which took on a new light with the resurrection from the tomb, and from death life blossomed.

And it is precisely from that place of life that we are called to start again. As we read in the parable of the Sower (Mk 4:1-20), the seed that is sown in "our" soil, in our lives, is destined to bear fruit, and this happens in a particular way when we experience the pilgrimage to Christ. Pilgrimage renews us, it makes our hearts and lives more receptive to what the Father wants from us, it makes us willing to accept the challenges we encounter, enlightened by the unique experience of the Son of God, who first walked along this road.

As Knights and Dames of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, we are part of this millenary path of the Church, which invites us to retrace the steps of Jesus in the places where he lived his earthly existence, and to do so alongside the Christian communities that still live there, to whom we show our concern in a fraternal spirit, aware that together we form the same Body of Christ.

With these thoughts I approach my official entrance into the Holy Sepulchre as Grand Master of our Order, after two years of pandemic, finally having the opportunity to experience this pilgrimage. I hope that all those who will have the joy of this experience in the Holy Land will feel the parable of the seed that dies and makes itself available to God's action in bearing fruit in our communities.

 

Fernando Cardinal Filoni
Grand Master

 

(May 2022)