GENERAL AUDIENCE: THE GLORY OF THE TRINITY IN THE PASSION

VATICAN CITY, MAY 3, 2000 (VIS) - John Paul II's catechesis during today's general audience, which was held in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 50,000 pilgrims, focussed on "the glory of the Trinity in the passion."

The Holy Father said that the gospel account of the passion and death of Christ emphasizes His "intimate relationship with the heavenly Father." St. John highlights that "with absolute faith in the Father, Jesus departs to carry out His supreme act of love."

"In the passion," the Pope went on, "the bond that unites Him to the Father is shown as being particularly intense and, at the same time, dramatic. ... When the hostility of men is unleashed upon Him, He reminds Peter that the hour of darkness is part of the Father's divine plan."

The Holy Father confirmed that "even the dialogue with the high priest becomes a revelation of messianic and divine glory that embraces both Son and Father. ... On the cross, Jesus continued His intimate dialogue with the Father, living it with all His mutilated and suffering humanity, never losing the faithful attitude of a Son, who is 'one' with the Father."

"The Holy Spirit also participates in this constant dialogue between Father and Son," the Pope added. "In His passion, Christ fully opened His anguished human state to the action of the Holy Spirit who gave Him the necessary motivation to make of His death a perfect offering to the Father. ... The Father, then, glorifies the Son, giving Him the power to communicate the Spirit to all men."

At the end of the audience, the Pope greeted Polish pilgrims, recalling that today is the day of the Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland. "Today, our thoughts also turn towards the holy martyrs, witnesses of Christ at the beginning of our history, Sts. Abelard and Stanislaw. ... The witnesses of martyrdom given 1,000 years ago in our land by the Bishop of Prague and the Bishop of Krakow, endure through the centuries, from generation to generation, and brings abundant fruits of sanctity. One of these fruits is the canonization of Sister Faustyna Kowalska which took place last Sunday."

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