(Vatican Radio) Below we publish the definitive text of Pope’ Francis’ Easter Vigil
Homily, March 30th, 2013:
Dear Brothers and Sisters, In the Gospel of this
radiant night of the Easter Vigil, we first meet the women who go the tomb of Jesus
with spices to anoint his body (cf. Lk 24:1-3). They go to perform an act
of compassion, a traditional act of affection and love for a dear departed person,
just as we would. They had followed Jesus, they had listened to his words, they had
felt understood by him in their dignity and they had accompanied him to the very end,
to Calvary and to the moment when he was taken down from the cross. We can imagine
their feelings as they make their way to the tomb: a certain sadness, sorrow that
Jesus had left them, he had died, his life had come to an end. Life would now go
on as before. Yet the women continued to feel love, the love for Jesus which now
led them to his tomb. But at this point, something completely new and unexpected
happens, something which upsets their hearts and their plans, something which will
upset their whole life: they see the stone removed from before the tomb, they draw
near and they do not find the Lord’s body. It is an event which leaves them perplexed,
hesitant, full of questions: “What happened?”, “What is the meaning of all this?”
(cf. Lk 24:4). Doesn’t the same thing also happen to us when something completely
new occurs in our everyday life? We stop short, we don’t understand, we don’t know
what to do. Newness often makes us fearful, including the newness which God
brings us, the newness which God asks of us. We are like the Apostles in the Gospel:
often we would prefer to hold on to our own security, to stand in front of a tomb,
to think about someone who has died, someone who ultimately lives on only as a memory,
like the great historical figures from the past. We are afraid of God’s surprises;
we are afraid of God’s surprises! He always surprises us!
Dear brothers and
sisters, let us not be closed to the newness that God wants to bring into our lives!
Are we often weary, disheartened and sad? Do we feel weighed down by our sins? Do
we think that we won’t be able to cope? Let us not close our hearts, let us not lose
confidence, let us never give up: there are no situations which God cannot change,
there is no sin which he cannot forgive if only we open ourselves to him.
2. But
let us return to the Gospel, to the women, and take one step further. They find the
tomb empty, the body of Jesus is not there, something new has happened, but all this
still doesn’t tell them anything certain: it raises questions; it leaves them confused,
without offering an answer. And suddenly there are two men in dazzling clothes who
say: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; but has risen”
(Lk 24:5-6). What was a simple act, done surely out of love – going to the
tomb – has now turned into an event, a truly life-changing event. Nothing remains
as it was before, not only in the lives of those women, but also in our own lives
and in the history of mankind. Jesus is not dead, he has risen, he is alive!
He does not simply return to life; rather, he is life itself, because he is the Son
of God, the living God (cf. Num 14:21-28; Deut 5:26; Josh 3:10).
Jesus no longer belongs to the past, but lives in the present and is projected towards
the future; he is the everlasting “today” of God. This is how the newness of God appears
to the women, the disciples and all of us: as victory over sin, evil and death, over
everything that crushes life and makes it seem less human. And this is a message
meant for me and for you, dear sister, dear brother. How often does Love have to
tell us: Why do you look for the living among the dead? Our daily problems and worries
can wrap us up in ourselves, in sadness and bitterness... and that is where death
is. That is not the place to look for the One who is alive! Let the risen Jesus
enter your life, welcome him as a friend, with trust: he is life! If up till now
you have kept him at a distance, step forward. He will receive you with open arms.
If you have been indifferent, take a risk: you won’t be disappointed. If following
him seems difficult, don’t be afraid, trust him, be confident that he is close to
you, he is with you and he will give you the peace you are looking for and the strength
to live as he would have you do.
3. There is one last little element that I
would like to emphasize in the Gospel for this Easter Vigil. The women encounter
the newness of God. Jesus has risen, he is alive! But faced with empty tomb and
the two men in brilliant clothes, their first reaction is one of fear: “they were
terrified and bowed their faced to the ground”, Saint Luke tells us – they didn’t
even have courage to look. But when they hear the message of the Resurrection, they
accept it in faith. And the two men in dazzling clothes tell them something of crucial
importance: “Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee… And they remembered
his words” (Lk 24:6,8). They are asked to remember their encounter
with Jesus, to remember his words, his actions, his life; and it is precisely this
loving remembrance of their experience with the Master that enables the women to master
their fear and to bring the message of the Resurrection to the Apostles and all the
others (cf. Lk 24:9). To remember what God has done and continues to do for
me, for us, to remember the road we have travelled; this is what opens our hearts
to hope for the future. May we learn to remember everything that God has done in
our lives.
On this radiant night, let us invoke the intercession of the Virgin
Mary, who treasured all these events in her heart (cf. Lk 2:19,51) and ask
the Lord to give us a share in his Resurrection. May he open us to the newness that
transforms. May he make us men and women capable of remembering all that he has done
in our own lives and in the history of our world. May he help us to feel his presence
as the one who is alive and at work in our midst. And may he teach us each day not
to look among the dead for the Living One. Amen.