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VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXIII - N° 78
DATE 31-03-2013
Summary:
- POPE FRANCIS: GOD’S MERCY CAN MAKE EVEN THE DRIEST LAND FLOWER
- EASTER VIGIL: DON'T BE AFRAID OF GOD'S SURPRISES. “HE ALWAYS
SURPRISES US!”
- POPE'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR APRIL
- NOTICE
___________________________________________________________
POPE FRANCIS: GOD’S MERCY CAN MAKE EVEN THE DRIEST LAND FLOWER
Vatican City, 31 March 2013 (VIS) – At 10:15 this morning, Easter
Sunday, the Holy Father Francis celebrated the Mass of the Lord's Resurrection
in St. Peter's Square. Faithful from Rome and pilgrims from around the world
participated in the
celebration, which began with the "Resurrexit" rite—in which an icon of
the Risen Lord, placed next to the papal altar, is opened and venerated to
recall St. Peter's witness of the resurrection. The Pope did not give a homily
since immediately
after the Mass he gave his Easter message and “Urbi et Orbi”
blessing (to the city and to the world).
In honour of the feast, St. Peter's Square was decorated with splendid floral
arrangements. More than 40,000 flowers, donated by Dutch horticulturists,
transformed the area around the altar into a magnificent garden. Yellow
daffodils and white lilies
highlighted, the colours of Easter and the papal flag that represent the
purity of Jesus' sacrifice and the glory of his resurrection. The pink
flowers—delphinium and cherry blossoms—symbolized the light of the
risen Christ who destroys
darkness.
At noon, from the central loggia of the Vatican Basilica, the Holy Father
Francis addressed the over 250,000 people overflowing St. Peter's Square and
those who were following the celebration by radio or television. He delivered
his Easter
proclamation—“God’s mercy can make even the driest land
become a garden!”—and made a strong appeal for peace throughout
the world. He then imparted the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing. Following
is the full text of the
Pope's message:
“Dear brothers and sisters in Rome and throughout the world, Happy
Easter! Happy Easter!”
“What a joy it is to announce this message: Christ is risen! I would
like it to go out to every house and every family, especially where the
suffering is greatest, in hospitals, in prisons… Most of all, I would
like it to enter every heart,
for it is there that God wants to sow this Good News: Jesus is risen, there is
hope for you, you are no longer in the power of sin or of evil! Love has
triumphed! Mercy has been victorious! God's mercy always triumphs!”
“We too, like the women who were Jesus’ disciples, who went to the
tomb and found it empty, may wonder what this event means (cf. Lk 24:4). What
does it mean that Jesus is risen? It means that the love of God is stronger
than evil and death
itself; it means that the love of God can transform our lives and let those
desert places in our hearts bloom. God's love can do this.”
“This same love out of which the Son of God became man and followed the
way of humility and self-giving to the very end, down to hell—to the
abyss of separation from God—this same merciful love has flooded Jesus'
dead body with light
and transfigured it; has made it pass into eternal life. Jesus did not return
to his former life, to an earthly life, but entered into the glorious life of
God and He entered there with our humanity, opening us to a future of
hope.”
“This is what Easter is: it is the exodus, the passage of human beings
from the slavery to sin and evil to the freedom of love and goodness. Because
God is life, life alone, and we are his glory, the living person.”
“Dear brothers and sisters, Christ died and rose once for all time and
for everyone, but the power of the Resurrection, this passing from the slavery
to evil to the freedom of goodness, must be accomplished in every age, in our
concrete existence,
in our everyday lives. How many deserts, even today, do human beings need to
cross! Above all, the desert within, when are lacking love for God and
neighbour, when we fail to realize that we are guardians of all that the
Creator has given us and
continues to give us. God’s mercy can make even the driest land become a
garden, can restore life to dry bones (cf. Ez 37:1-14).”
“So this is the invitation that I address to everyone: Let us accept the
grace of Christ’s Resurrection! Let us be renewed by God’s mercy!
Let us be loved by Jesus! Let us enable the power of his love to transform our
lives too and let
us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can water the
earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish.”
“And so we ask the risen Jesus, who turns death into life, to change
hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace. Yes, Christ is
our peace, and through him we implore peace for all the world.”
“Peace for the Middle East, in particular between Israelis and
Palestinians who struggle to find the road of agreement: that they may
willingly and courageously resume negotiations to end a conflict that has
lasted all too long. Peace in Iraq:
that every act of violence may end. And above all for dear Syria, for its
people torn by conflict and for the many refugees who await help and comfort.
How much blood has been shed! And how much suffering must there still be
before a political solution
to the crisis will be found?”
“Peace for Africa, still the scene of bloody conflicts. In Mali: may
unity and stability be restored. In Nigeria, where attacks sadly continue,
gravely threatening the lives of many innocent people, and where great numbers
of persons, including
children, are held hostage by terrorist groups. Peace in the East of the
Democratic Republic of Congo and in the Central African Republic where many
have been forced to leave their homes and continue to live in fear.”
“Peace in Asia, above all on the Korean peninsula: may disagreements be
overcome and a renewed spirit of reconciliation grow.”
“Peace in the whole world, still divided by greed looking for easy gain,
wounded by the selfishness which threatens human life and the family,
selfishness that continues in human trafficking, the most extensive form of
slavery in this twenty-first
century. Human trafficking is precisely the most extensive form of slavery in
this twenty-first century! Peace to the whole world, torn apart by violence
linked to drug trafficking and by the iniquitous exploitation of natural
resources! Peace to this
our Earth! Made the risen Jesus bring comfort to the victims of natural
disasters and make us responsible guardians of creation.”
“Dear brothers and sisters, to all of you who are listening to me, from
Rome and from all over of the world, I address the invitation of the Psalm:
'Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; for his mercy endures for ever. Let
Israel say: “His
mercy endures forever”.' (Ps 118:1-2).”
“Dear brothers and sisters who have come from all over the world to this
Square, the heart of Christianity and to all of you joining us via the media,
I repeat my wishes for a happy Easter! Bring to your families and your nations
the message of
joy, of hope, and of peace that every year, on this day, is powerfully
renewed. May the Risen Lord, who defeated sin and death, sustain us all
especially the weakest and those most in need. Thank you for your presence and
the witness of your faith. A
thought and special thanks for the gift of these beautiful flowers that come
from the Netherlands. I affectionately repeat to all of you: May the Risen
Christ guide all of you and all of humanity on the paths of justice, love, and
peace!”
Then, in Latin, Pope Francis imparted the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing.
___________________________________________________________
EASTER VIGIL: DON'T BE AFRAID OF GOD'S SURPRISES. “HE ALWAYS SURPRISES
US!”
Vatican City, 31 March 2013 (VIS) – Yesterday at 8:30 in the evening,
the Holy Father presided at the Easter Vigil in St. Peter's Basilica. The
liturgy began in the church atrium with a blessing of the new fire and the
preparation of the Paschal
candle. After processing to the altar with the lit candle and the singing of
the “Exsultet”, the celebration continued with the Liturgy of the
Word, the Baptismal Liturgy, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
During the Vigil, the Pope administered the sacraments of Christian initiation
(Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist) to four catechumens: one from Italy,
one from Albania, one from Russia, and one from the United States. After the
Gospel was read, the
Holy Father dedicated his homily to discussing the holy women who went to the
tomb and found it empty. “We are afraid of God's surprises! He always
surprises us!” Following is the full text of his homily:
“Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In the Gospel of this luminous night of the Easter Vigil, we are the first to
meet the women who went to Jesus' tomb with spices to anoint his body (cf. Lk
24:1-3). They go to perform an act of compassion, of affection, of love. It is
a traditional
gesture for a beloved person who has died, just as we would do too. They had
followed Jesus, listened to him, felt themselves to be understood in their
dignity, and they had accompanied him to the end, on Calvary, an at the moment
he was taken down from
the cross.”
“We can imagine how they felt as they made their way to his tomb: a
certain sadness, sorrow because Jesus had left them and was dead, his story
was over. Now they would go back to their previous lives. But the women
continued to feel love and
their love for Jesus compelled them to go to his tomb. At this point, however,
something completely unexpected happens, something new, which upsets their
hearts and their plans and which will upset their whole lives: They see the
stone rolled away from
the tomb. They draw near and they do not find the Lord's body. It is a reality
that leaves them perplexed, doubtful, full of questions: 'What is happening?',
What does this all mean?' (cf. Lk 24:4).”
“Isn't that also what happens to us when something truly new occurs in
our everyday lives? We stop, don't understand, don't know how to handle it.
New things often frighten us, even the newness that God brings us, the newness
that God asks of us.
We are like the Apostles in the Gospel: we often prefer to hold on to our
sureties, to stop at the tomb, to stop at just thinking about the departed one
who, in the end, lives only in our memory like great persons of the past.
We're afraid of God's
surprises. Dear brothers and sisters, in our lives we are afraid of God's
surprises! He always surprises us! That is how the Lord is!”
“Brothers and sisters, let's not close ourselves to the newness that God
wants to bring to our lives! Often we are tired, disheartened, sad; We feel
the weight of our sins and think we're not going to make it. Let's not get
locked up in ourselves.
Let's not lose our confidence. Let us never give up. There are no situations
that God cannot change; There is no sin that He won't forgive if we open
ourselves to him.”
“But let's go back to the Gospel, to the women, and take a step forward.
They find the tomb empty. Jesus' body is not there. Something new has happened
but this still doesn't tell them anything certain. It raises questions and
leaves them
perplexed without offering an answer. And then, two men in dazzling garments
who say: 'Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but
He has been raised.' (Lk 24:5-6). What had been a simple gesture, an act
certainly undertaken in
love—going to the tomb—now transforms into an occurrence, a truly
life-changing event.”
“Nothing remains as it was before, not only in the lives of those women,
but also in our lives and in our story of humanity. Jesus isn't someone who
has died. He is risen. He is the Living One! He has not simply come back to
life but is life
itself because He is the Son of God who is the Living God. Jesus is no longer
in the past but lives in the present and is projected toward the future. Jesus
is God's eternal 'today'.This is how God's newness presents itself to the eyes
of the women, of
the disciples, of all of us: victory over sin, over evil, over death, over
everything that oppresses our lives and gives them a less human face.”
“This is a message that is addressed to me, to you, dear sister, to you,
dear brother. How many times do we need Love to tell us: Why do you seek the
living one among the dead? Our problems and our everyday worries tend to wrap
us up in ourselves,
in sadness and bitterness... and that is where death lies. Let's not look
there for He who is alive!”
“Accept the Risen Jesus into your life, then. Welcome him as a friend,
with confidence. He is life! If up to now you have been distant from him, take
a small step: He will welcome you with open arms. If you are indifferent, take
the risk: You will
not be disappointed. If following him seems difficult to you, don't be afraid:
entrust yourself to him and rest assured that He is close to you. He is with
you and will give you the peace you are seeking and the strength to live as He
wants you
to.”
“There is one last, simple element that I would like to emphasize in the
Gospel of this luminous Easter Vigil. The women encounter the newness of God.
Jesus is risen, He is the Living One. But, faced with the empty tomb and the
two men in dazzling
garments, their first reaction is one of fear: They 'bowed their faces to the
ground', St. Luke notes. They didn't even have the courage to look. But, when
they hear the announcement of the Resurrection, they accept it with faith. And
the two men in
dazzling garments introduce a fundamental word: remember. 'Remember what He
said to you while He was still in Galilee … And they remembered his
words.' (Lk 24:6,8).”
“This is a call to remember their encounter with Jesus, with his words,
his deeds, his life. It is precisely this loving remembrance of their
experience with the Master that leads the women to overcome every fear and to
take the announcement of
the Resurrection to the Apostles and to all the others (cf. Lk 24:9).
Remembering what God has done and continues to do for me, for us; remembering
the path we have travelled—this opens wide our hearts to hope for the
future. Let's learn to
remember what God has done in our lives!”
“On this radiant night, calling upon the intercession of the Virgin Mary
who keeps all things in her heart (Lk 2:19,51), let us ask the Lord to give us
a share in his Resurrection. May He open us to the newness that transforms, to
God's surprises
that are so beautiful. May He make us men and women who are capable of
remembering what He does in our personal lives and in the history of the
world. May He make us capable of hearing him as the Living One, who lives and
is at work amongst us. May He
teach us every day, dear brothers and sisters, to not seek among the dead for
He who is living. Amen.”
___________________________________________________________
POPE'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR APRIL
Vatican City, 30 March 2013 (VIS) – The Pope's general prayer intention
for April is: "That the public, prayerful celebration of faith may give life
to the faithful."
His mission intention is: "That mission churches may be signs and instruments
of hope and resurrection.”
___________________________________________________________
NOTICE
Vatican City, 31 March 2013 (VIS) – Although there is usually no VIS
bulletin during the Easter holidays, this year the Vatican Information Service
has transmitted all the acts of the new Pope during the Easter Triduum. With
the conclusion of
those holy days, however, tomorrow and the following day—Monday 1 April
and Tuesday 2 April, which are still holidays in the Vatican—there will
be no VIS bulletin. The service will resume on Wednesday, 3 April.
___________________________________________________________
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VISnews130331
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE YEAR XXIII - N° 78 DATE 31-03-2013
Summary: - POPE FRANCIS: GOD’S MERCY
CAN MAKE EVEN THE DRIEST LAND
FLOWER - EASTER VIGIL: DON'T BE AFRAID OF GOD'S SURPRISES. “HE
ALWAYS SURPRISES US!” - POPE'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR APRIL -
NOTICE
POPE FRANCIS: GOD’S MERCY CAN MAKE EVEN THE DRIEST LAND FLOWER
Vatican City, 31 March 2013 (VIS) – At 10:15 this morning, Easter
Sunday, the Holy Father Francis celebrated the Mass of the Lord's Resurrection
in St. Peter's Square. Faithful from Rome and pilgrims from around the world
participated in the
celebration, which began with the "Resurrexit" rite—in which an icon of
the Risen Lord, placed next to the papal altar, is opened and venerated to
recall St. Peter's witness of the resurrection. The Pope did not give a homily
since immediately
after the Mass he gave his Easter message and “Urbi et Orbi”
blessing (to the city and to the world).
In honour of the feast, St. Peter's Square was decorated with splendid
floral arrangements. More than 40,000 flowers, donated by Dutch
orticulturists, transformed the area around the altar into a magnificent
garden. Yellow daffodils and white lilies
highlighted, the colours of Easter and the papal flag that represent the
purity of Jesus' sacrifice and the glory of his resurrection. The pink
flowers—delphinium and cherry blossoms—symbolized the light of the
risen Christ who destroys
darkness.
At noon, from the central loggia of the Vatican Basilica, the Holy Father
Francis addressed the over 250,000 people overflowing St. Peter's Square and
those who were following the celebration by radio or television. He delivered
his Easter
proclamation—“God’s mercy can make even the driest land
become a garden!”—and made a strong appeal for peace throughout
the world. He then imparted the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing. Following
is the full text of the
Pope's message:
“Dear brothers and sisters in Rome and throughout the world, Happy
Easter! Happy Easter!”
“What a joy it is to announce this message: Christ is risen! I would
like it to go out to every house and every family, especially where the
suffering is greatest, in hospitals, in prisons… Most of all, I would
like it to enter every
heart, for it is there that God wants to sow this Good News: Jesus is risen,
there is hope for you, you are no longer in the power of sin or of evil! Love
has triumphed! Mercy has been victorious! God's mercy always tri
mphs!”
“We too, like the women who were Jesus’ disciples, who went to
the tomb and found it empty, may wonder what this event means (cf. Lk 24:4).
What does it mean that Jesus is risen? It means that the love of God is
stronger than evil and
death itself; it means that the love of God can transform our lives and let
those desert places in our hearts bloom. God's love can do this.”
“This same love out of which the Son of God became man and followed
the way of humility and self-giving to the very end, down to hell—to the
abyss of separation from God—this same merciful love has flooded Jesus'
dead body with
light and transfigured it; has made it pass into eternal life. Jesus did not
return to his former life, to an earthly life, but entered into the glorious
life of God and He entered there with our humanity, opening us to a future of
hope.”
“This is what Easter is: it is the exodus, the passage of human
beings from the slavery to sin and evil to the freedom of love and goodness.
Because God is life, life alone, and we are his glory, the living
person.”
“Dear brothers and sisters, Christ died and rose once for all time
and for everyone, but the power of the Resurrection, this passing from the
slavery to evil to the freedom of goodness, must be accomplished in every age,
in our concrete
existence, in our everyday lives. How many deserts, even today, do human
beings need to cross! Above all, the desert within, when are lacking love for
God and neighbour, when we fail to realize that we are guardians of all that
the Creator has given us
and continues to give us. God’s mercy can make even the driest land
become a garden, can restore life to dry bones (cf. Ez 37:1-14).”
“So this is the invitation that I address to everyone: Let us accept
the grace of Christ’s Resurrection! Let us be renewed by God’s
mercy! Let us be loved by Jesus! Let us enable the power of his love to
transform our lives too and
let us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can water the
earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish.”
“And so we ask the risen Jesus, who turns death into life, to change
hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace. Yes, Christ is
our peace, and through him we implore peace for all the world.”
“Peace for the Middle East, in particular between Israelis and
Palestinians who struggle to find the road of agreement: that they may
willingly and courageously resume negotiations to end a conflict that has
lasted all too long. Peace in Iraq:
that every act of violence may end. And above all for dear Syria, for its
people torn by conflict and for the many refugees who await help and comfort.
How much blood has been shed! And how much suffering must there still be
before a political solution
to the crisis will be found?”
“Peace for Africa, still the scene of bloody conflicts. In Mali: may
unity and stability be restored. In Nigeria, where attacks sadly continue,
gravely threatening the lives of many innocent people, and where great numbers
of persons, including
children, are held hostage by terrorist groups. Peace in the East of the
Democratic Republic of Congo and in the Central African Republic where many
have been forced to leave their homes and continue to live in fear.”
“Peace in Asia, above all on the Korean peninsula: may disagreements
be overcome and a renewed spirit of reconciliation grow.”
--- NetMgr/2 1.0y+
* Origin: NetMgr+ @ Sursum Corda! BBS Meridian MS USA (1:396/45)
