The Pope at the Easter Vigil: “Jesus is not an obsolete character”

Mireia Bonilla – Vatican City

On the night of April 3, Holy Saturday, the Holy Father presided over the Easter Vigil in a practically empty St. Peter’s Basilica due to coronavirus containment measures. In his homily, Francis reflected on the Gospel of the day according to Mark, which recounts when the women thought they were going to find the body to anoint him, instead they found an empty tomb. Francisco assures us that “they had gone to mourn a dead man, but instead they heard an announcement of life.”

The women – says the Gospel – “were perplexed”, and the Pope explains that this perplexity “is fear mixed with joy”. “It is the wonder to hear these words: do not be afraid! The one you are looking for, Jesus, that of Nazareth, the crucified, is risen “and then it is an invitation:” He will precede you into Galilee and you will see him there. Francis invites us today to go to Galilee, explaining what it means to make this interior “journey”.

It is always possible to start our life over again

“Going to Galilee means first of all to start all over again”. The Pontiff explains in his homily that for the disciples “it was to return to the place where the Lord first sought them and called them to follow him” and from that moment, having left the nets, they followed Jesus. However – says the Pope – “several times they misinterpreted his words and before the cross they fled, leaving him alone”. Despite this failure, Francis underlines that “the Risen Lord presents himself as the One who, once again, precedes them in Galilee, precedes them, calls them and invites them to follow him, without ever tiring himself”.

This is why in this Galilee “we experience the amazement produced by the infinite love of the Lord, which traces new paths in the paths of our defeats” and it is the first paschal announcement that the Pope offers today: ” it is always possible to return first, because there is a new life that God is able to revive in us beyond all our failures ”.

Jesus is not an obsolete character

To go to Galilee, in the second place, means “to travel new roads”. The Pope explains that many live the “faith of memories”, as if Jesus were a character from the past, a distant friend of youth, an event that happened a long time ago, when I was a child, I attended to the catechism “which no longer moves me, which no longer questions me”. On the other hand, going to Galilee means “to learn that faith, to be alive, must set out again”, “it must revive each day the beginning of the journey, the wonder of the first meeting” and “it must trust, without presumption of to know everything, but with the humility of one who lets himself be surprised by the ways of God ”.

Therefore, Pope Francis’ second Easter announcement is that “faith is not a repertoire of the past, Jesus is not an obsolete character, he is alive, here and now”. In fact – the Pope recalls – “walk with you every day, in the situation you have to live, in the ordeal you are going through, in the dreams you carry inside. Even if all seems lost, He will surprise you ”.

Jesus visits all situations in our life

Finally, the Pope explains that going to Galilee means “to go to the end” because Galilee “is the furthest place, from where Jesus began his mission”. “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 tears. of those who suffer, especially among the poor and marginalized ”. “With Him – he emphasizes – life will change.”

Following this invitation, the Pope expresses his third paschal announcement: “Jesus, the Risen One, loves us without limits and visits all the situations of our life. He invites us to come closer to those who are with us every day, to rediscover the grace of everyday life ”.