| Affirm the victory of the Resurrection through
justice, truth and mercy On Easter Sunday morning, 12
April [2009], after celebrating Holy Mass in St Peter's Square, Pope
Benedict XVI imparted to the faithful the traditional Message and
Blessing 'Urbi et Orbi' (to the city and the world), broadcast live via
television and radio to many nations across the globe. At the end of the
Message the Holy Father greeted the faithful in 63 languages, wishing
everyone a holy and happy Easter in the peace and joy of the Risen
Christ. The following is a translation of the Pope's message, given in
Italian.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Rome and
throughout the world,
From the depths of my heart, I wish all of you a blessed Easter. To
quote Saint Augustine, "Resurrectio Domini, spes nostra
— the
resurrection of the Lord is our hope" (Sermon 261:1). With these words,
the great Bishop explained to the faithful that Jesus rose again so that
we, though destined to die, should not despair, worrying that with death
life is completely finished; Christ is risen to give us hope (cf.
ibid.).
Indeed, one of the questions that most preoccupies men and women is
this: what is there after death? To this mystery today’s solemnity
allows us to respond that death does not have the last word, because
Life will be victorious at the end. This certainty of ours is based not
on simple human reasoning, but on a historical fact of faith: Jesus
Christ, crucified and buried, is risen with his glorified body. Jesus is
risen so that we too, believing in him, may have eternal life. This
proclamation is at the heart of the Gospel message. As Saint Paul
vigorously declares: "If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is in
vain and your faith is in vain." He goes on to say: "If for this life
only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied" (1
Cor 15:14,19). Ever since the dawn of Easter a new Spring of hope has
filled the world; from that day forward our resurrection has begun,
because Easter does not simply signal a moment in history, but the
beginning of a new condition: Jesus is risen not because his memory
remains alive in the hearts of his disciples, but because he himself
lives in us, and in him we can already savour the joy of eternal life.
The resurrection, then, is not a theory, but a historical reality
revealed by the man Jesus Christ by means of his "Passover", his
"passage", that has opened a "new way" between heaven and earth (cf. Heb
10:20). It is neither a myth nor a dream, it is not a vision or a
utopia, it is not a fairy tale, but it is a singular and unrepeatable
event: Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary, who at dusk on Friday was taken
down from the Cross and buried, has victoriously left the tomb. In fact,
at dawn on the first day after the Sabbath, Peter and John found the
tomb empty. Mary Magdalene and the other women encountered the risen
Jesus. On the way to Emmaus the two disciples recognized him at the
breaking of the bread. The Risen One appeared to the Apostles that
evening in the Upper Room and then to many other disciples in Galilee.
The proclamation of the Lord’s Resurrection lightens up the dark regions
of the world in which we live. I am referring particularly to
materialism and nihilism, to a vision of the world that is unable to
move beyond what is scientifically verifiable, and retreats cheerlessly
into a sense of emptiness which is thought to be the definitive destiny
of human life. It is a fact that if Christ had not risen, the
"emptiness" would be set to prevail. If we take away Christ and his
resurrection, there is no escape for man, and every one of his hopes
remains an illusion. Yet today is the day when the proclamation of the
Lord’s resurrection vigorously bursts forth, and it is the answer to the
recurring question of the sceptics, that we also find in the book of
Ecclesiastes: "Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is
new’?" (Ec 1:10). We answer, yes: on Easter morning, everything was
renewed. "Mors et vita, duello conflixere mirando: dux vitae mortuus,
regnat vivus
— Death and life have come face to face in a tremendous
duel: the Lord of life was dead, but now he lives triumphant." This is
what is new! A newness that changes the lives of those who accept it, as
in the case of the saints. This, for example, is what happened to Saint
Paul.
Many times, in the context of the Pauline year, we have had occasion to
meditate on the experience of the great Apostle. Saul of Tarsus, the
relentless persecutor of Christians, encountered the risen Christ on the
road to Damascus, and was "conquered" by him. The rest we know. In Paul
there occurred what he would later write about to the Christians of
Corinth: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has
passed away, behold, the new has come" (2 Cor 5:17). Let us look at this
great evangelizer, who with bold enthusiasm and apostolic zeal brought
the Gospel to many different peoples in the world of that time. Let his
teaching and example inspire us to go in search of the Lord Jesus. Let
them encourage us to trust him, because that sense of emptiness, which
tends to intoxicate humanity, has been overcome by the light and the
hope that emanate from the resurrection. The words of the Psalm have
truly been fulfilled: "Darkness is not darkness for you, and the night
is as clear as the day" (Ps 139 [138]:12). It is no longer emptiness
that envelops all things, but the loving presence of God. The very reign
of death has been set free, because the Word of life has even reached
the "underworld", carried by the breath of the Spirit (v. 8).
If it is true that death no longer has power over man and over the
world, there still remain very many, in fact too many signs of its
former dominion. Even if through Easter, Christ has destroyed the root
of evil, he still wants the assistance of men and women in every time
and place who help him to affirm his victory using his own weapons: the
weapons of justice and truth, mercy, forgiveness and love. This is the
message which, during my recent Apostolic Visit to Cameroon and Angola,
I wanted to convey to the entire African continent, where I was welcomed
with such great enthusiasm and readiness to listen. Africa suffers
disproportionately from the cruel and unending conflicts, often
forgotten, that are causing so much bloodshed and destruction in several
of her nations, and from the growing number of her sons and daughters
who fall prey to hunger, poverty and disease. I shall repeat the same
message emphatically in the Holy Land, to which I shall have the joy of
travelling in a few weeks from now. Reconciliation
— difficult, but
indispensable
— is a precondition for a future of overall security and
peaceful coexistence, and it can only be achieved through renewed,
persevering and sincere efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. My thoughts move outwards from the Holy Land to neighbouring
countries, to the Middle East, to the whole world. At a time of world
food shortage, of financial turmoil, of old and new forms of poverty, of
disturbing climate change, of violence and deprivation which force many
to leave their homelands in search of a less precarious form of
existence, of the ever-present threat of terrorism, of growing fears
over the future, it is urgent to rediscover grounds for hope. Let no one
draw back from this peaceful battle that has been launched by Christ’s
Resurrection. For as I said earlier, Christ is looking for men and women
who will help him to affirm his victory using his own weapons: the
weapons of justice and truth, mercy, forgiveness and love.
Resurrectio Domini, spes nostra! The resurrection of Christ is
our hope! This the Church proclaims today with joy. She announces the
hope that is now firm and invincible because God has raised Jesus Christ
from the dead. She communicates the hope that she carries in her heart
and wishes to share with all people in every place, especially where
Christians suffer persecution because of their faith and their
commitment to justice and peace. She invokes the hope that can call
forth the courage to do good, even when it costs, especially when it
costs. Today the Church sings "the day that the Lord has made", and she
summons people to joy. Today the Church calls in prayer upon Mary, Star
of Hope, asking her to guide humanity towards the safe haven of
salvation which is the heart of Christ, the paschal Victim, the Lamb who
has "redeemed the world", the Innocent one who has "reconciled us
sinners with the Father". To him, our victorious King, to him who is
crucified and risen, we sing out with joy our Alleluia!
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