Christ’s sacrifice shows the depth of God’s love, as Saint Paul writes:

“For our sake, He made Him to be sin who knew no sin.” Pope Benedict XVI called this mystery a “turning of God against Himself,”

not out of division but out of total self-giving love.

Jesus enters humanity’s darkest places,

fulfilling His command to “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

” Yet today, constant noise and distraction make this message hard to hear, much like the Athenians who “spent their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.”

The paschal mystery calls us to conversion shown through sincere charity that restores dignity.

Lent deepens this call, inviting prayer, fasting, and almsgiving rooted in Christ’s example.

Through Mary’s intercession and Christ’s summons to be “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world,” faith leads us from the Cross to renewed hope.