List of points

We cannot, must not, be sugar-candy Christians: on earth there must be suffering and the Cross.

In this life of ours we must expect the Cross. Those who do not expect the Cross are not Christians, and they will be unable to avoid their own “cross”, which will drive them to despair.

Now, when the Cross has become a serious and weighty matter, Jesus will see to it that we are filled with peace. He will become our Simon of Cyrene, to lighten the load for us.

Then say to him, trustingly: “Lord, what kind of a Cross is this? A Cross which is no cross. Now I know the trick. It is to abandon myself in you; and from now on, with your help, all my crosses will always be like this.”

To be an apostle you have to bear within you Christ crucified, as Saint Paul teaches us.

To be a Christian, and in particular to be a priest —bearing in mind, too, that all of us who are baptized share in Christ’s priesthood — is to be at all times on the Cross.