Christ was resurrected from the dead and we too are resurrected with Him, even if “death is always lurking». Pope Leo speaks of hope and peace even if we see death «present in injustices, in partisan selfishness, in the oppression of the poor, in the lack of attention towards the most fragile. We see it in the violence, in the wounds of the world, in the cry of pain that rises from every side for the abuses that crush the weakest, for the idolatry of profit that plunders the earth’s resources, for the violence of war that kills and destroys”.
Yet “the Lord’s Easter invites us to raise our gaze and broaden our hearts”.
The Easter announcement, underlines the Pontiff, “embraces the mystery of our life and the destiny of history and reaches us into the depths of death, from which we feel threatened and sometimes overwhelmed. It opens us to the hope that never fades, to the light that never sets, to that fullness of joy that nothing can erase: death has been defeated forever, death no longer has power over us!
A message that is not easy to accept «because the power of death always threatens usinside and out. Inside us, when the ballast of our sins prevents us from taking flight; when the disappointments or loneliness we experience dry up our hopes; when worries or resentments suffocate the joy of living; when we feel sadness or tiredness, when we feel betrayed or rejectedwhen we have to deal with our weakness, with suffering, with the fatigue of every day, then we seem to have ended up in a tunnel from which we cannot see the exit.”
Nevertheless hope always puts us back on the path. «It sets us in motion like Mary Magdalene and like the Apostles, to make us discover that the tomb of Jesus is emptyand therefore in every death we experience there is also space for new life to arise. The Lord is alive and remains with us. Through cracks of resurrection that make room in the darkness, He delivers our heart to the hope that sustains us: the power of death is not the ultimate destiny of our life. We are oriented once and for all towards fullness, because in the risen Christ we too are risen.”
Remember the words of Pope Francis, in his first Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii gaudium, when he stated that the resurrection of Christ «is not a thing of the past; it contains a life force that has penetrated the world. Where it seems that everything is dead, the shoots of resurrection appear again on every side. It is a force without equal. It is true that many times it seems that God does not exist: we see injustices, wickedness, indifferences and cruelties that do not diminish. But it is equally certain that in the midst of darkness something new always begins to blossom, which sooner or later produces fruit.”
And he reiterates the hope that comes from Easter because «in the risen Christ a new creation is possible every day”. Easter, the Pontiff reiterates, «is the new creation brought about by the Risen Lord, it is a new beginning, it is life finally made eternal by God’s victory over the ancient Adversary. We need this song of hope today.” AND invites all believers, “resurrected with Christ” to bring the announcement to the streets of the world. Let us then run like Mary Magdalene, let us announce it to everyone, let us bring with our lives the joy of the resurrection, so that wherever the specter of death still hovers, the light of life may shine. Christ, our Easter, bless us and give his peace to the whole world!”.
