VATICAN CITY, APRIL 12, 2009 (Zenit.org).-
Here is a Vatican translation of Benedict XVI's Easter message delivered today
at midday before he imparted his blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city of Rome
and the world).
* * *
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!