“Et resurrexit tertia die secundum Scripturas” — “On the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures.”
Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, March 26, 2008, Easter Week (Excerpts)
Holy Saturday, March 22, 2008, in St. Peter’s Basilica. Easter Vigil in the Holy Night presided over by Pope Benedict XVI. The Holy Father blesses the Easter candle (Grzegorz Galazka)
Dear brothers and sisters, we must constantly renew our adherence to Christ who died and rose for us: his Passover is also our Passover because in the Risen Christ we are given the certainty of our own resurrection. The news of his being raised from the dead never ages and Jesus is alive for ever; and his Gospel is alive. “The faith of Christians,” St Augustine observed, “is the Resurrection of Christ.”
Detail of the sculpture of The Risen Christ by Pericle Fazzini in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican.
The Acts of the Apostles explain it clearly: “God has given assurance to all men by raising him [Jesus] from the dead” (17:31). Indeed, his death did not suffice to demonstrate that Jesus is truly the Son of God, the awaited Messiah. How many people in the course of history devoted their lives to a cause they deemed right and died for it! And dead they remained. The Lord’s death reveals the immense love with which he loved us, to the point of sacrificing himself for us; but his Resurrection alone is our “assurance,” the certainty that what he said is the truth which also applies for us, for all times.
Resurrection panel from the Colmar Polyptych by Matthias Grünewald (c. 1512-1516), painted for the monastery of St. Anthony in Isenheim, near Colmar, in Alsace in eastern France. The monastery specialized in hospital work and the monks were noted for their care for plague victims. Christ is represented as a radiant and blond star, which pulsates and flies in the starry universe.
It is important to reaffirm this fundamental truth of our faith whose historical veracity is amply documented even if today, as in the past, there are many who in various ways cast doubt on it or even deny it. The enfeeblement of faith in the Resurrection of Jesus results in weakening the witness of believers. In fact, should the Church’s faith in the Resurrection weaken, everything will come to a halt, everything will disintegrate.
On the contrary, the adherence of heart and mind to the dead and Risen Christ changes the life and brightens the entire existence of people and peoples. Is it not the certainty that Christ is risen which instills courage, prophetic daring and perseverance in martyrs of every epoch? Is it not the encounter with the living Jesus that converts and fascinates so many men and women who from the beginnings of Christianity have continued to leave all things to follow him and put their own lives at the service of the Gospel? “If Christ has not been raised”, the Apostle Paul said, “then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (I Cor 15: 14). But he was raised!
The Disciples Peter and John Run to the Tomb on the Morning of the Resurrection, a work painted in 1898 by the Swiss painter Eugène Burnand
The proclamation we listen to constantly in these days is exactly this: Jesus is risen, he is the Living One and we can encounter him; just as the women who had gone to the tomb met him on the third day, the day after the Sabbath; just as the disciples encountered him, surprised and dismayed by what the women had told them; just as so many other witnesses met him during the days following his Resurrection. And after his Ascension, Jesus also continued to be present among his friends as he had promised: “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28: 20). The Lord is with us, with his Church, until the end of time. Illumined by the Holy Spirit, the members of the early Church began to proclaim the announcement of Easter openly and fearlessly. And this announcement, passed on from one generation to the next, has come down to us and every year at Easter rings out with ever new power.
Throughout the liturgical year, particularly in Holy Week and Easter Week, the Lord walks beside us and explains the Scriptures to us, and makes us understand this mystery: everything speaks of him. And this should also make our hearts burn within us, so that our eyes too may be opened.
Dear brothers and sisters, may the joy of these days strengthen our faithful attachment to the Crucified and Risen Christ. Above all, may we let ourselves be won over by the fascination of his Resurrection. May Mary help us to be messengers of the light and joy of Easter for all our brethren. Once again, I wish you all a Happy Easter.
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