January 10, 2023, Holy Rosary (Sorrowful Mysteries)

The fifth sorrowful mystery, that we pray today, includes the final words spoken by the Lord on the cross:

“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk 23:46).

It was a ceaseless self-entrustment into the hands of his Father, as Pope Francis remembered in the funeral mass of Benedict XVI.

The Son of God — and our brother Jesus Christ — allowed himself to be shaped by the Father’s will, even to the death of the Cross.

Everyone’s cross is heavy. Our Father trusts us and knows that we can handle that burden. He wants to receive us fully purified, cleansed from our sins.

My wife Maria Blanca used to say that it was better to suffer a purgatory on earth than later before accessing Heaven.