Pope audience: Why do you seek the living among the dead
(Vatican Radio) Pilgrims thronged St. Peter’s Square, the long boulevard of Via della
Conciliazione, spilling all the way down to the banks of the Tiber this Wednesday
for Pope Francis' weekly general audience, the first of the Easter season.
The
crowd was such, that the Holy Father’s open topped jeep took even longer than usual
to tour through the square, filled with flags and banners from the parishes of the
world. Many of them bore images of two of his predecessors, Blessed John Paul II
and Blessed John XXIII, who this weekend – Divine Mercy Sunday - Pope Francis will
raise to the altars of the saints.
Emer McCarthy reports Listen:
A
light rain fell as Pope Francis reached the raised dais set up before the basilica,
from where he delivered his catechesis in Italian on the angels’ admonition of Mary
Magdalene and the disciples the morning of Christ’s Resurrection: “Why do you seek
the living one among the dead?”
Below, please find a Vatican Radio transcript
and translation of the Holy Father's catechesis:
Dear Brothers and
Sisters Good day! this week is the week of joy, we celebrate the Resurrection of
Jesus. It is a true, profound joy, based on the certainty that Christ is now risen,
He is dead no more, but is alive and active in the Church and in the world . This
certainty dwells in the hearts of believers from that Easter morning, when the women
went to the tomb of Jesus and the angels said to them, "Why do you seek the living
one among the dead" (Lk 24,5) …”Why do you seek the living one among the dead?”. These
words are a milestone in history; but also a "stumbling block" if we do not open ourselves
to the Good News , if we believe that a dead Jesus is less of a nuisance than a living
Jesus! Instead, in our daily journey, we often need to hear : Why do you seek the
living one among the dead? . How often do we look for life among dead things, things
that cannot give life, that are here today and gone tomorrow, Why do you seek the
living one among the dead?
We need [these words] when we close ourselves within
many forms of selfishness or self- complacency; when we allow ourselves to be seduced
by the earthly powers and the things of this world, forgetting God and neighbor; when
we place our trust in worldly vanities, in money, in success. Then the Word of God
tells us: "Why do you seek the living one among the dead?”'. Why are you looking there,
it can’t give you life it will give you joy for a day a week a month a year and then?
Why do you seek the living one among the dead ? This sentence needs to enter into
our heart….. Why do you seek the living one among the dead? Out loud! Why do you seek
the living one among the dead ? And today when you go home say it in your heart, in
silence ask why do I look in life among dead things for life? It will do us good!
But it is not easy, it is not obvious to accept the life of the Risen Christ
and His presence among us. The Gospel shows us the reactions of the Apostle Thomas,
Mary Magdalene and the two disciples of Emmaus: it does us good to confront them.
Thomas puts a condition on his faith, he asks to touch the evidence, the wounds ;
Mary Magdalene weeps, she sees him but does not recognize him, she only realizes that
it is Jesus when He calls her by name; the disciples of Emmaus, depressed and feeling
defeated, encounter Jesus by allowing themselves to be accompanied by the mysterious
traveler. Each by different paths ! They were looking among the dead for One who is
alive, and it was the same Lord to correct their course. And what do I do ? Which
route to do I follow to meet the risen and living Christ? He will always be close
to us to correct our course if we have gone wrong.
"Why do you seek the living
one among the dead?" (Lk 24,5 ) . This question helps us resist the temptation to
look back, to what was yesterday, and pushes us forward into the future. Jesus is
not in the tomb, he is the Risen Lord, the Living, the One who always renews his body
which is the Church and helps her walk, pulling her towards him. "Yesterday " is the
tomb of Jesus and the Church, the tomb of truth and justice. "Today " is the perennial
resurrection to which the Holy Spirit impels us, gifting us full freedom.
Today
this question is also addressed to us. You, why are you looking among the dead for
one who is alive? you who close in on yourself after a failure or you who no longer
have the strength to pray? Why are you looking among the dead for one who is alive,
you who feel alone, abandoned by friends, and perhaps even by God? Why are you looking
among the dead for one who is alive you who have lost hope or you who feel imprisoned
by your sins? Why are you looking among the dead for one who is alive you who aspire
to beauty, spiritual perfection , justice, peace?
We need to hear ourselves
repeat and remind each other of the angel’s admonition! This admonition, "Why do you
seek the living one among the dead" helps us emerge from our spaces of sadness and
opens up for us horizons of joy and hope. That hope that removes stones from graves
and encourages us to proclaim the Good News , capable of generating new life for others.
Let
us repeat the Angels question to have it in our heart and mind and let each of us
answer in silence Why do you seek the living one among the dead? Look dear brother
s and sisters let’s not look among those many tombs that promise everything and give
nothing let’s look for Him, Jesus isn't in the tomb. He is risen! He is alive and
gifts life!
Below the English language summary of the Holy Father’s
catechesis
Dear Brothers and Sisters: The joy of Easter is born of
our faith in Christ’s resurrection and his continuing presence in the Church and in
our world. With the resurrection, all has been made new and fresh hope has been poured
out upon our world. The question which the angel asked the women on the morning of
the resurrection is directed to us as well: “Why do you seek the living among the
dead”? (Lk 24:5). The Gospel shows us three examples of a life-changing encounter
with the Risen Lord and invites us to a similar encounter. Like Thomas, we need to
grasp the reality of Christ’s rising to new life. Like Mary Magdalene, we need to
hear Jesus’ voice calling our name. And like the travellers on the road to Emmaus,
we need to find renewed joy and hope by recognizing that the Lord is ever at our side.
These disciples sought the living among the dead, yet Jesus led them, by different
paths, to faith in him and the power of his resurrection. Today he challenges each
of us to seek him, the Living One, and to leave behind everything that holds us back
from encountering him and sharing in the rebirth, the freedom and the hope which he
alone can give.
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims taking part in today’s
Audience, including those from Scotland, Sweden, Finland and the United States. I
offer a special greeting to the newly-ordained deacons from the Pontifical Irish College,
as well as their families and friends. Upon all of you, and upon your families, I
invoke the joy and peace of the Risen Lord. God bless you all!
In an appeal
at the end of the audience, Pope Francis urged business leaders to apply “every “effort”
and “generosity” to help workers who have lost their jobs due to the economic crisis.
Please, he said, "open your eyes and do not stand with folded arms." He was responding
to a video appeal he received from workers at a steel plant in the town of Piombino
in Tuscany who are facing mass layoffs.