Homily of Pope Francis at the Easter Vigil

This April 3, Holy Saturday, Pope Francis presided over the celebration of the paschal vigil, and assured that “it is always possible to start over, because there is a new life that God is able to revive in us beyond. of all our failures “.

The celebration, held at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica, began at 7:30 p.m. (Rome time).

Here is the full text of the homily delivered by Pope Francis during this 2021 Easter Vigil:

The women thought they were going to find the body to anoint him, instead they found an empty grave. They had gone to mourn a dead man, but instead heard an announcement of life. For this reason, the Gospel says that these women were “afraid and bewildered” (Mk 16,8). Puzzlement: in this case, it is fear mingled with joy that surprises their hearts when they see the large stone from the tomb removed and inside a young man in a white robe. It is the wonder to hear these words: “Do not be afraid! He whom you seek, Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified, is risen ”(v. 6). And then this invitation: “He will go before you into Galilee and you will see him there” (v. 7). Let us also accept this invitation, the paschal invitation: let us go to Galilee, where the Risen Lord precedes us. But what does “go to Galilee” mean?

To go to Galilee is first of all to start over. For the disciples, he would return to the place where the Lord was looking for them and called them to follow him. It is the place of the first meeting and of the first love. From that moment, having left the nets, they followed Jesus, listening to his preaching and witnessing to the wonders he was doing. However, although they were always with him, they did not understand him at all, many times they misinterpreted his words and before the cross they fled, leaving him alone. Despite this setback, the Risen Lord presents himself as the One who, once again, precedes them in Galilee; it precedes them, that is to say, it precedes them. He calls them and invites them to follow him, without ever getting tired. The Risen One told them: “Let’s start where we started. Let’s start over. I want them to come back with me, despite and beyond all the failures. In this Galilee, we experience the astonishment produced by the infinite love of the Lord, which traces new paths in the paths of our defeats. It is like that, the Lord, he traces new paths of our defeats. He is like that, and he invites us to go to Galilee to do this.

This is the first Easter announcement that I would like to offer you: it is always possible to start over, because there is always a new life that God is able to revive in us beyond all our failures. Even from the rubble of our heart, and everyone knows the miseries of our heart, God can build a work of art, even from the ruined remains of our humanity God is preparing a new story. He always precedes us: on the cross of suffering, desolation and death, as well as in the glory of a life that resurfaces, of a history that changes, of a hope that is reborn. And in these dark months of the pandemic, we hear the Risen Lord calling us to start over, never to lose hope.

To go to Galilee, in the second place, is to take new paths. It moves in the opposite direction to the grave. The women were looking for Jesus in the tomb, that is, they would remember what they had lived with him and what they had lost forever. They will take refuge in their sadness. It is the image of a faith which has become the commemoration of a magnificent event but finished, just to remember. Many and we too, many times, live the “faith of memories”, as if Jesus were a character from the past, a friend of distant youth, an event that happened long ago, when he was a child as a child. catechism. A faith made up of customs, things from the past, beautiful memories of childhood, which no longer moves me, which no longer calls out to me. Going to Galilee, on the other hand, means learning that faith, in order to be alive, must take to the road again. Each day, he must revive the beginning of the journey, the wonder of the first meeting. And then confidence, without the presumption of already knowing everything, but with the humility of one who lets himself be surprised by the ways of God. We are afraid of surprises from God. We are generally afraid that God will surprise us. Today the Lord invites us to be surprised. Let’s go to Galilee to find out that God cannot be deposited among childhood memories, but is alive, always surprising. Risen, he never ceases to amaze us.

Then the second Easter announcement: faith is not a repertoire of the past, Jesus is not an obsolete character. He is alive, here and now. Walk with you every day, in the situation you have to go through, in the ordeal you are going through, in the dreams that you carry inside. It opens up new avenues where you feel there aren’t any, it pushes you to go against the grain of remorse and “déjà vu”. Even if all seems lost, let yourself be surprised by its novelty: it will surprise you.

Going to Galilee also means going to the borders. Because Galilee is the most remote place, in this complex and diverse region live those who are furthest from the ritual purity of Jerusalem. And yet, it is from there that Jesus began his mission, directing his proclamation towards those who struggle for daily life, towards the excluded, the fragile, the poor, to be the face and the presence of God, who relentlessly searches for those who are discouraged or lost, who travel to the very limits of existence because in their eyes no one is the last, no one is excluded. This is where the Risen One asks his disciples to go there, even today. It is the place of daily life, these are the streets that we walk every day, the corners of our cities where the Lord precedes us and is present, precisely in the lives of those who pass by us and share with us. the weather, the house, work, difficulties and hopes. In Galilee we learn that we can find the Risen Christ in the faces of our brethren, in the enthusiasm of those who dream and in the resignation of those who are discouraged, in the smiles of those who rejoice and in the tears of those who suffer. , especially among the poor and marginalized. We will be amazed to see how the greatness of God is revealed in littleness, how his beauty shines in the simple and in the poor.

Finally, the third paschal announcement: Jesus, the Risen One, loves us without limits and visits all the situations of our life. He has established his presence in the heart of the world and also invites us to overcome barriers, to overcome prejudices, to come closer to those who are close to us every day, to rediscover the grace of everyday life. Let us recognize him present in our Galilees, in everyday life. With him, life will change. Because beyond all defeat, evil and violence, beyond all suffering and beyond death, the Risen One lives and governs history.

Brother, sister, if your heart is going through a dark hour tonight, a day that has not yet risen, a buried light, a broken dream, open your heart in amazement at the announcement of Easter: fear, he is risen! He is waiting for you in Galilee ”. Your expectations will not be met, your tears will be wiped away, your fears will be overcome by hope. Because the Lord goes before you, he walks in front of you. And, with Him, life begins again.