An invitation not to be overcome by indifference towards what surrounds us and an appeal to participate in the prayer for peace in St. Peter’s Square. «Let us convert to the peace of Christ! Let us hear the cry of peace that comes from the heart! For this reason, I invite everyone to join me in the prayer vigil for peace that we will celebrate here in St. Peter’s Square next Saturday, April 11th”, says Pope Leo.
«In the light of Easter» the Pontiff invites us to be «amazed by Christ! Let us allow our hearts to be changed by his immense love for us! Whoever has weapons in their hands should put them down! Whoever has the power to start wars, choose peace! Not a peace pursued with force, but with dialogue! Not with the desire to dominate the other, but to meet him! ». Because the strength with which Jesus conquered death, the power with which he was resurrected is love. The urbi et orbi message center that Pope Leo has prepared for his first Easter as Pontiff is an invitation to seek dialogue and harmony and to recognize that “Easter is a victory: of life over death, of light over darkness, of love over hate”. A victory, underlines the Pontiff, which was obtained at a very high price: that of the life of Christ. He, who shed his blood after suffering an unjust condemnation, thus “freed us all, and with us also creation, from the dominion of evil”. And he did it with the power of “Love that creates and generates, Love that is faithful to the end, Love that forgives and redeems”.
The strength with which Christ was resurrected, Leone underlines, «is totally non-violent. It is similar to that of a grain of wheat which, rotted in the earth, grows, opens a gap between the clods, sprouts and becomes a golden ear. It is even more similar to that of a human heart which, wounded by an offence, rejects the instinct of revenge and, full of pity, prays for the one who has offended it.”
The strength of forgiveness, oflove, is «the true force that brings peace to humanity, because it generates respectful relationships at all levels: between people, families, social groups, nations. It does not aim at particular interest, but at the common good; he doesn’t want to impose his own plan, but rather contribute to planning it and implementing it together with others.”
There resurrection, which «is the beginning of the new humanity, and the entrance into the true promised land, where justice, freedom, peace reignwhere everyone recognizes themselves as brothers and sisters, children of the same Father who is Love, Life, Light”, puts us face to face with the “drama of our freedom”. Indeed, “before the empty tomb we can fill ourselves with hope and amazement, like the disciples, or of fear like the guards and the Pharisees, forced to resort to lies and subterfuge rather than recognizing that the one who had been condemned was truly resurrected.”
The Pontiff notes that «we are getting used to violence, we resign ourselves to it and become indifferent. Indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people. Indifferent to the consequences of hatred and division that conflicts sow. Indifferent to the economic and social consequences that they produce and which we all feel.” And he remembers, not without some emotion, his predecessor. «There is an increasingly marked “globalization of indifference”, to recall an expression dear to Pope Francis, who a year ago addressed his last words to the world from this lodge, reminding us: “How much will to death we see every day in the many conflicts that affect different parts of the world!””, says Leone.
Adding that «the cross of Christ always reminds us of the suffering and pain that surround death and the torment that it entails. We are all afraid of death and out of fear we turn away, we prefer not to look». But, adds Pope Leo, «we cannot continue to be indifferent! And we cannot resign ourselves to evil! The antidote? He teaches us Saint Augustine: «If you are afraid of death, love the resurrection!». And so, Leone concludes: «We too love the resurrection, which reminds us that evil is not the last word, because he was defeated by the Risen One”, who “went through death to give us life and peace”. And it’s about a peace, the one that Jesus gives us, which is not limited to “silencing weapons, but the one that touches and changes the hearts of each of us!
Inviting prayer for peace next Saturday, the Pontiff also asks us to abandon “every desire for contention, domination and power, and we implore the Lord to give his peace to the world ravaged by wars and marked by hatred and indifference that make us feel helpless in the face of evil. We recommend to the Lord all the hearts that suffer and await the true peace that only He can give. Let’s trust Him and open our hearts to Him! Only He makes all things new.”
