The Pope’s Easter Message

Resurrexi, et adhuc tecum sum. Alleluia! I have risen, I am still with you. Alleluia! Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus, crucified and risen, repeats this joyful proclamation to us today: the Easter proclamation. Let us welcome it with deep wonder and gratitude!

Resurrexi et adhuc tecum sum — I have risen, I am still with you, for ever. These words, taken from an ancient version of Psalm 138 (v. 18b), were sung at the beginning of today’s Mass. In them, at the risi ng of the Easter sun, the Church recognizes the voice of Jesus himself who, on rising from death, turns to the Father filled with gladness and love, and exclaims: My Father, here I am! I have risen, I am still with you, and so I shall be for ever; your Spirit never abandoned me.

In this way we can also come to a new understanding of other passages from the psalm: “If I climb the heavens, you are there; if I descend into the underworld, you are there … Even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as clear as day; for you, darkness is like light” (Ps 138:8,12). It is true: in the solemn Easter vigil, darkness becomes light, night gives way to the day that knows no sunset. 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 valu e.

“I have risen and I am still with you, for ever.” These words invite us to contemplate the risen Christ, letting his voice resound in our heart. 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. We are reminded of what he once said to those who were listening: “All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Mt 11:27).

In this perspective, we note that the words addressed by the risen Jesus to the Father on this day — “I am still with you, forever” — apply indirectly to us as well, “children of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (cf. Rom 8:17). Through the death and resurrection of Christ, we too rise to new life today, and uniting our voice with his, we proclaim that we wish to remain forever with God, our infinitely good and merciful Father.

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: the Father’s love in handing over his Son for the salvation of the world; the Son’s love in abandoning himself to the Father’s will for us all; the Spirit’s love in raising Jesus from the dead in his transfigured body. And there is more: the Father’s love which “newly embraces” the Son, enfolding him in glory; the Son’s love returning to the Father in the power of the Spirit, robed in our transfigured humanity. From today’s solemnity, in which we relive the absolute, once-and-for-all experience of Jesus’s 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, to imitate the Redeemer who is “gentle and lowly in heart”, who is “rest for our souls” (cf. Mt 11:29).

Dear Christian brothers and sisters in every part of the world, 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, and he reassures us: I am with you always, all days, until the end of the world (cf. Mt 28:20). 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.

In his glorious wounds we recogn ize the indestructible signs of the infinite mercy of the God of whom the prophet says: it is he 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, a song of praise instead of a sorrowful heart (cf. Is 61:1,2,3). 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. For this reason, humanity needs Christ: in him, our hope, “we have been saved” (cf. Rom 8:24).

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 o f 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 (cf. 1 Pet 2:24-25) 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. It is hoped that these are precisely the places where gestures of moderation and forgiveness will increase!

Dear brothers and sisters! Let us allow the light that streams forth from this solemn day to enlighten us; let us open ourselves in sincere trust to the risen Christ, so that his victory over evil and death may also triumph in each one of us, in our families, in our cities and in our nations. Let it shine forth in ever y part of the world. In particular, how can we fail to remember certain African regions, such as Dafur and Somalia, the tormented Middle East, especially the Holy Land, Iraq, Lebanon, and finally Tibet, all of whom I encourage to seek solutions that will safeguard peace and the common good! 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. These are my Easter greetings, which I address to all who are present here, and to men and women of every nation and continent united with us through radio and television. Happy Easter!

[Translation distributed by the Holy See]

© Copyright 2008 — Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Easter Message from Jerusalem

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Christ is risen. Indeed He is risen!

I wish you all a Happy Easter full of God’s grace. This will be my last Easter with you as I reach the age of 75 and retire. Yet, and as I have said in my last pastoral letter, I shall remain with you in my prayers and shall continue to accompany you in your happy moments and grievances. I shall work with every seeker of justice and peace until all the inhabitants of this land will live in security and tranquility, in t he presence of God Almighty, merciful and full of love to all his creatures. For the sake of all our faithful in our Churches of Jerusalem, and all believers from all religions in this land, Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze and Baha’is, I shall pray, and extend my love to all.

Christ is risen. Indeed he is risen! I pray and ask God to fill your hearts with the joy and hope of the Resurrection. We all live in a holy Land, the land of Revelation, Redemption and reconciliation between the peoples and reconciliation with God, the compassionate and forgiving. Unfortunately, this land remains a land of bloodshed, ignoring its own vocation and incapable of accepting it.

We have witnessed in the past few weeks the tragedy of over one million people in Gaza Strip and over one hundred martyrs who fell there; we also witnessed the victims of the Jewish religious school in Jerusalem; and we still witness every day Israeli incursions in the Palestinian cities and the killing of many Palestinians despite agreements with the Palestinian Authority. We can still hear the voices of anger following the killing of the four young men in their homes in Bethlehem a few days ago. All of these incidents form a chain of inhumane and futile violence, regardless of the party behind it. Facts on the ground prove that violence has failed to achieve the desired security. It remains an inhumane violence and an aggression against the human dignity of the one who is killed and the one who kills.

Of course, this is not the new life that we celebrate with every Easter. The states, the individuals, Israelis and Palestinians, after more than one century of conflict must understand that armies don’t protect their peoples anymore, but expose them to more violence, fear and insecurity, because the weak and the oppressed have also their power that challenges the strong of this world. It is high time to learn the lessons of history and engage in the p ath of God; it is high time for every people and individual to accept the vocation entrusted by God to them, which is to build societies and not demolish them. Violence destroys and never builds. We are all capable of building because God granted us part of his goodness and power so we can uphold human societies that respect individuals and in which they must vi3ew each other as brothers and as God’s creatures, equal in dignity, rights and duties. Violence can never be a way towards this. God created us and urged us to be perfect and holy as He is perfect and Holy. (cf Mt 5:48).

Despite this, there are hundreds of thousands in both the Palestinian and Israeli societies who send an outcry: peace… peace. And they are ready to make ‘peace now’. But we see also extremists on both sides who are prisoners of their own ideologies and call in the name of God to kill their brothers, while God tells them all: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. We are in need of leaders who can make peace because this is the sole path to put an end to extremism and to start the true way towards security and tranquility. To say that peace is a risk that we cannot take means to keep all of us in the cycle of death and violence. The leaders have to choose between two paths: either peace or increasing extremism and insecurity. We need leaders who are ready to offer their lives for the sake of peace not leaders who issue orders to kill and assassinate and send others to kill or to get killed.

Christ is risen. Indeed he is risen! Amidst the difficult conditions which are worsening every day in our land and in the region, – we remember the death of the Archbishop of Mosul in Iraq and the lives of all Iraqis who have been living a daily tragedy since the declaration of war on Iraq. Amidst these difficult times, we celebrate Easter in Jerusalem and we tell you, brothers and sisters and all of you, men and women of good will: don’t fee l weak in front of the death forces working within our ranks. Saint Paul said: “You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear” (Romans 15:8), but you received the spirit of God to be strong, with the same strength of God and His love.

We celebrate the feast of the glorious Resurrection, which is the triumph of Jesus Christ over death and sin. God grants this power to every human being so that he can prevail over evil within his soul and the evil surrounding him. He grants us all the power to transform hatred and death into trust and love and life that was gifted to us through the Resurrection.

We believe in God and we believe that God is good and His goodness will one day defeat the evil of people who claim that they want to build and maintain security, while their actions transform security into a mirage. It is high time to take new security measures that respect the human being and bring him closer to peace rather than death.

Dear brothers and sisters, this is my last Easter Message as a Patriarch of the Holy Land. I have said earlier and I repeat: I shall continue to pray and walk with you on the difficult path of peace and justice, and on the path of sanctity that God requires from anyone who wants to live and rule this land. I wish everyone a Happy and Holy Easter and a new life full of the spirit and grace of God.

Christ is risen. Indeed He is risen!

+ Michel Sabbah, Patriarch

Jerusalem – March 17, 2008

Parish Group profiles

There is a new section on our site under the Get Involved area called Parish Groups. Here we profile each parish group and give information about what they do, when they meet, how to join etc. The first profile is on the CWG – Catholic Women’s Group

If you are involved in a group and would like to be included please email the office@johnthebaptistpurley.org.uk