Seventh station

The Risen Christ gives power to forgive sins

P  We adore, O Risen Christ, and we bless you. 

A  Because by your resurrection you have given life to the world.

R From the Gospel according to John (Jn 20,19-23)
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."  When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, even so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of  any, they are retained."
 
G1 The Holy Spirit is the first Easter gift that the Risen Christ  together with the Father offers as their best gift. It is their eternal tie of love and their "eternal kiss". It is their mutual joy and their perfect friendship. The Spirit is represented by the breath, that is the puff of life that comes from the depth of the chest. Just like the Spirit, that gushes out from the depth of the breast. Just like the Spirit, that gushes out from the depth of the life of the Father and the Son. Therefore the Risen Christ communicates peace here, the shalom: the remission of the sins. The Spirit is the perfect harmony between the Father and the Son. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son" (Jn 3,16). For the Father and the Son have loved the world so much that they give their Spirit. Here we touch the love that gives and that forgives.

G2 The people of today are in need of life. The whole world is in need of the Spirit, in need of Life and peace of the Father and of the Son and of the Spirit. Having developed and improved life, we have extinguished the joy of life. We have extinguished so many lives in their germ. We have extinguished the sense of life. Having multiplied also the means of  communication, we find ourselves in the cold anonymity and in a painful incommunicability. Although we have increased the general income, two thirds of the world live in total poverty. The desire to have in the Northern Hemisphere of the world causes the starvation of the goods of the Southern Hemisphere. Here is a chance for a possible healing. Christ's Church has the power to forgive our sins of closing up and of egoism.

A  Rejoice, O Virgin Mother Mary:
    Christ is risen, Alleluia.

P Come Holy Spirit. You, the first gift of Risen Jesus, be the enthusiasm of the Father and the Son within us who grope in boredom and in darkness. You, the Harmony of the Father and the Son, push us toward justice and peace: release us from our capsules of death. You, the Eternal Life of the Father and the Son, breathe on these our dried up bones and lead us  from sin to grace. You, Youthfulness of the Father and the Son, make us always young, make us enthusiastic and expert Easter people.
A  Amen.

A  O Mary, temple  of the Holy Spirit
    guide us, the witnesses to the Risen Christ
    on the path of light.