THE HEARTBEAT OF THE LORD

 

 [Notes taken from Homily of His Holiness, Pope Francis at Easter Vigil 2017]

 

 

“After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb” (Mt 28:1).

We can picture them as they went on their way.

They walked like people going to a cemetery, with uncertain and weary steps, like those who find it hard to believe that this is how it all ended.  

We can picture their faces, pale and tearful.

And their question: can Love have truly died?

 

We can see our neighbours' the faces in those women

If we try to imagine this scene, we can see in the faces of those women...

Those who bear the grievous burden of injustice and brutality, those who, walking the streets of our cities, feel the pain of dire poverty, the sorrow born of exploitation, those who are greeted with contempt, those whose eyes bespeak loneliness and abandonment, those who weep as they see the lives of their children crushed.

In their grief, those two women reflect the faces of all those who, walking the streets of our cities, behold human dignity crucified.

 

The faces of those women mirror ours too

Our faces also bear the mark of wounds, of so many acts of infidelity, our own and those of others, of efforts made and battles lost.

In our hearts, we know that things can be different but, almost without noticing it, we can grow accustomed to living with the tomb, living with frustration.

Worse, we can even convince ourselves that this is the law of life, and blunt our consciences with forms of escape that only serve to dampen the hope that God has entrusted to us. 

So often we walk as those women did, poised between the desire of God and bleak resignation.

Not only does the Master die, but our hope dies with him.

 

“And suddenly there was a great earthquake” (Mt 28:2).

Someone came to tell them: “Do not be afraid”, but now adding: “He has been raised as he said!” 

This is the message that is passed on to us: “Do not be afraid, he is risen” 

Life, which death destroyed on the cross, now reawakens and pulsates anew.

The heartbeat of the Risen Lord is granted us as a gift, a present, a new horizon. 

 

The heartbeat of the Lord

The beating heart of the Risen Lord is given to us, and we are asked to give it in turn as a transforming force, as the leaven of a new humanity.

In the resurrection, Christ rolled back the stone of the tomb.

But he wants also to break down all the walls that keep us locked in our sterile pessimism, in our carefully constructed ivory towers that isolate us from life,

Walls that keep us in our compulsive need for security and in boundless ambition that can make us compromise the dignity of others.

God once more comes to meet us, to create and consolidate a new age, the age of mercy.

This is the promise present from the beginning. This is God’s surprise for his faithful people. 

 

We are called to proclaim the heartbeat of the Lord

We are called to proclaim: the heartbeat of the Risen Lord. Christ is alive! 

That is what quickened the pace of Mary Magdalene and the other Mary.

That is what made them return in haste to tell the news (Mt 28:8). That is what made them lay aside their mournful gait and sad looks. They returned to the city to meet up with the others.

Now that, like the two women, we have visited the tomb, let us go back with them to the city.

 

Let us all retrace our steps and change the look on our faces.

Let us go back with them to tell the news In all those places where the grave seems to have the final word, where death seems the only way out.

Let us go back to proclaim, to share, to reveal that it is true: the Lord is alive!

He is living and he wants to rise again in all those faces that have buried hope, buried dreams, buried dignity. If we cannot let the Spirit lead us on this road, then we are not Christians.

Let us allow ourselves to be surprised by this new dawn and by the newness that Christ alone can give.

May we allow his tenderness and his love to guide our steps. May we allow the beating of his heart to quicken our faintness of heart.

 

Link to full text of the homily https://zenit.org/articles/popes-easter-vigil-homily-2/