Surrexit Christus spes mea

The risen Jesus and Mary Magdalene, Giotto, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua

The language of the One who is truly a child

“The disciples, whom Jesus wanted to have close to Him as an element of human support in that hour of extreme distress, quickly fell asleep. Yet they heard some fragments of the words of Jesus’ prayer and they observed His attitude. Both were deeply impressed on their hearts and they transmitted them to Christians for all time. Jesus called God ‘Abba’. The word means – as they add – ‘Father’. Yet it is not the usual form of the word ‘father’, but rather a children’s word – an affectionate name which one would not have dared to use in speaking to God. It is the language of the One who is truly a ‘child’, the Son of the Father, the One who is conscious of being in communion with God, in deepest union with Him”.

Homily of Holy Thursday, Mass in Coena Domini, 5 April

Christians, in kneeling, enter into Jesus’ prayer

“Luke, on the other hand, tells us that Jesus prayed on his knees. In the Acts of the Apostles, he speaks of the saints praying on their knees: Stephen during his stoning, Peter at the raising of someone who had died, Paul on his way to martyrdom. In this way Luke has sketched a brief history of prayer on one’s knees in the early Church. Christians, in kneeling, enter into Jesus’ prayer on the Mount of Olives. When menaced by the power of evil, as they kneel, they are upright before the world, while as sons and daughters, they kneel before

the Father. Before God’s glory we Christians kneel and acknowledge His divinity; by this posture we also express our confidence that He will prevail”.

Homily of Holy Thursday, Mass in Coena Domini, 5 April

Prime matter is fundamentally good, being itself is good. And evil does not come from God-made being

“What is the creation account saying here? Light makes life possible. It makes encounter possible. It makes communication possible. It makes knowledge, access to reality and to truth, possible. And insofar as it makes knowledge possible, it makes freedom and progress possible. Evil hides. Light, then, is also an expression of the good that both is and creates brightness. It is daylight, which makes it possible for us to act. To say that God created light means that God created the world as a space for knowledge and truth, as a space for encounter and freedom, as a space for good and for love. Prime matter is fundamentally good, being itself is good. And evil does not come from God-made being, rather, it comes into existence only through denial. It is a ‘no’”.

Homily of the Easter Vigil, Holy Saturday, 7 April

Benedict XVI [© Osservatore Romano]

“Every Christian relives the experience of Mary Magdalene. It involves an encounter which changes our lives: the encounter with a unique Man who lets us experience all God’s goodness and truth, who frees us from evil not in a superficial and fleeting way, but sets us free radically, heals us completely and restores our dignity. This is why Mary Magdalene calls Jesus ‘my hope’: He was the one who allowed her to be reborn, who gave her a new future, a life of goodness and freedom from evil. ‘Christ my hope’ means that all my yearnings for goodness find in Him a real possibility of fulfillment: with Him I can hope for a life that is good, full and eternal, for God himself has drawn near to us, even sharing our humanity”.

Urbi et orbi Message, Holy Easter, 8 April

Surrexit Christus, spes mea

“ ‘Surrexit Christus, spes mea’ / Christ, my hope, has risen’ (Easter Sequence). May the jubilant voice of the Church reach all of you with the words which the ancient hymn puts on the lips of Mary Magdalene, the first to encounter the risen Jesus on Easter morning. She ran to the other disciples and breathlessly announced: ‘I have seen the Lord!’ (Jn 20, 18). We too, who have journeyed through the desert of Lent and the sorrowful days of the Passion, today raise the cry of victory: ‘He has risen! He has truly risen!’”.

Urbi et orbi Message, Holy Easter, 8 April

In the heart of the Virgin Mary, Jesus’ Mother, the flame burned even in the dark of night

“With Jesus’ death, the hope of all those who had put their trust in Him seemed doomed. But that faith never completely failed: especially in the heart of the Virgin Mary, Jesus’ Mother, its flame burned even in the dark of night”.

Urbi et orbi Message, Holy Easter, 8 April

Then He, Jesus, is someone in whom we can put absolute trust; we can put our trust not only in His message but in Jesus Himself

“Dear brothers and sisters! If Jesus is risen, then – and only then – has something truly new happened, something that changes the state of humanity and the world. Then He, Jesus, is someone in whom we can put absolute trust; we can put our trust not only in His message but in Jesus Himself, for the Risen One does not belong to the past, but is present today, alive”.

Urbi et orbi Message, Holy Easter, 8 April

If Christ has not been raised, then your faith is also in vain

“Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Good morning to you all! In many countries Easter Monday is a holiday on which to take a stroll in natural surroundings or to visit relatives who live far away in order to gather as a family. However, I would like that the reason for this holiday, namely, the Resurrection of Jesus, the crucial mystery of our faith, be ever present in the minds and hearts of Christians. Indeed, as St Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1Cor 15, 14). Therefore on these days it is important to reread the narratives of Christ’s Resurrection which we find in the four Gospels and to read them with our heart. They are accounts which present in different ways the meetings of the disciples with the Risen Jesus and thereby permit us to meditate on this wonderful event which has transformed history and gives meaning to the existence of every person”.

Easter Monday, after the Regina Coeli, 9 April