WelCom May 2022
In his Urbi et Orbi [‘to everyone’] blessing at Easter, Pope Francis lamented an ‘Easter of War’ as he prayed for peace in Ukraine and around the world. He gave the blessing following Easter Sunday Mass. Around 100,000 people were present at the Vatican and in the surrounding area for the blessing
‘Today, [Jesus] alone has the right to speak to us of peace,’ said the Pope. ‘Jesus alone, for he bears wounds…our wounds. His wounds are indeed ours, for two reasons. They are ours because we inflicted them upon him by our sins, by our hardness of heart, by our fratricidal hatred. They are also ours because he bore them for our sake; he did not cancel them from his glorified body; he chose to keep them, to bear them forever.’
The pope went on to say: ‘Our eyes, too, are incredulous on this Easter of war. We have seen all too much blood, all too much violence. Our hearts, too, have been filled with fear and anguish, as so many of our brothers and sisters have had to lock themselves away in order to be safe from bombing. We struggle to believe that Jesus is truly risen, that he has truly triumphed over death. Could it be an illusion? A figment of our imagination?’
‘No, it is not an illusion! Today, more than ever, we hear echoing the Easter proclamation so dear to the Christian East: “Christ is risen! He is truly risen!”
‘Faced with the continuing signs of war, as well as the many painful setbacks to life, Jesus Christ, the victor over sin, fear and death, exhorts us not to surrender to evil and violence,’ Pope Francis urged. ‘May we be won over by the peace of Christ. Peace is possible; peace is a duty; peace is everyone’s primary responsibility.’
Source: Catholic News Agency
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