Easter Message

March 23, 2008. In the words "I have risen, I am still with you" which ring out at the beginning of today's Mass, the Church recognizes the voice of Jesus Himself, Who, on rising from death, turns to the Father filled with gladness and love, and exclaims: "Your Spirit never abandoned me." The death and resurrection of the Word of God incarnate is an event of invincible love, it is the victory of that Love which has delivered us from the slavery of sin and death. It has changed the course of history, giving to human life an indestructible and renewed meaning and value. 

With His redeeming sacrifice, Jesus of Nazareth has made us adopted children of God, so that we too can now take our place in the mysterious dialogue between Him and the Father. The words addressed by the risen Jesus to the Father on this day apply to us as well, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. 

In this way we enter the depths of the Paschal mystery. The astonishing event of the resurrection of Jesus is essentially an event of love. From today's solemnity, in which we relive the absolute, once-and-for-all experience of Jesus' resurrection, we receive an appeal to be converted to Love; we receive an invitation to live by rejecting hatred and selfishness, and to follow with docility in the footsteps of the Lamb that was slain for our salvation. 

Dear Christian brothers and sisters, dear men and women whose spirit is sincerely open to the truth, let no heart be closed to the omnipotence of this redeeming love! Jesus Christ died and rose for all; He is our hope - true hope for every human being. Today, just as He did with His disciples in Galilee before returning to the Father, the risen Jesus now sends us everywhere as witnesses of His hope. Fixing the gaze of our spirit on the glorious wounds of His transfigured body, we can understand the meaning and value of suffering, we can tend the many wounds that continue to disfigure humanity in our own day. 

It is Christ who heals the wounds of broken hearts, who defends the weak and proclaims the freedom of slaves, who consoles all the afflicted and bestows upon them the oil of gladness instead of a mourning robe. If with humble trust we draw near to Him, we encounter in His gaze the response to the deepest longings of our heart: to know God and to establish with Him a living relationship in an authentic communion of love, which can fill our lives, our interpersonal and social relations with that same love. 

How often relations between individuals, between groups and between peoples are marked not by love but by selfishness, injustice, hatred and violence! These are the scourges of humanity, open and festering in every corner of the planet, although they are often ignored and sometimes deliberately concealed; wounds that torture the souls and bodies of countless of our brothers and sisters. They are waiting to be tended and healed by the glorious wounds of our Risen Lord and by the solidarity of people who, following in His footsteps, perform deeds of charity in His name, make an active commitment to justice, and spread luminous signs of hope in areas bloodied by conflict and wherever the dignity of the human person continues to be scorned and trampled, such as Darfur and Somalia, the tormented Middle East, the Holy Land, Iraq, Lebanon, and Tibet, to mention a few. It is to be hoped that these are precisely the places where gestures of moderation and forgiveness will increase!

Let us invoke the fullness of His Paschal gifts, through the intercession of Mary who, after sharing the sufferings of the passion and crucifixion of her innocent Son, also experienced the inexpressible joy of his resurrection. Sharing in the glory of Christ, may she be the one to protect us and guide us along the path of fraternal solidarity and peace.

Source: Vatican Information Service:
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html