We too are called to be attentive to the needs of our suffering brothers and sisters as part of our Lenten observance.
It is just one year since his pontificate entered its final phase, full of suffering and yet triumphant and truly paschal.
No pope ever left us as many texts as he did; no pope in the past was able to visit all the world like he did and to speak directly to men of all continents. But in the end, he was struck by the path of suffering and silence.
The Holy Father, with his words and his works, has given us great things; but no less important is the lesson he gave us from the chair of suffering and silence.
In the mirror of the cross we have seen all the suffering of humanity today. We saw the suffering of abandoned, abused children ... threats against families, the division in the world in the pride of the rich and the misery of all those who suffer hunger and thirst.