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Pope Benedict XVI- Messages - Easter |
Pope Benedict XVI's Urbi et Orbi Easter Message
"The Resurrection Is Not a Theory, but a Historical Reality"
His Holiness Benedict XVI
April 12, 2009
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!
© Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Look at the One they
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