The Face of Mercy / Daniel Conway

Our Lord is truly risen. We are not alone. Run to him!

(En Espanol)

Christòs anesti!—“Christ is risen; he is truly risen!” In this traditional proclamation of the Churches of the East, the word “truly” reminds us that our hope is not an illusion, but the truth! And that, in the wake of Easter, humanity’s journey, now marked by hope, advances all the more readily (Easter Message of Pope Francis, “Urbi et Orbi,” 2023).

We think of Easter as a time of rejoicing, and it surely is. The 40 days of Lent have passed, and we have once again celebrated the Paschal Triduum which recalls the Lord’s intense suffering and cruel death.

As Pope Francis reminded us in last year’s Easter message—“Urbi et Orbi” (“to the city and to the world”)—our joy is based on the conviction that our Lord is truly risen. We sing Alleluias during the Easter season because this truly is a time of great joy.

Another word for Easter is Pasch, a word that means “passage.” In Jesus, Pope Francis tells us, “The decisive passage of humanity has been made: the passage from death to life, from sin to grace, from fear to confidence, from desolation to communion.”

We Christians believe that our life’s journey is now “marked by hope.” While there are many reasons to be anxious, fearful or lonely, none of these are decisive for us. “Our hope is not an illusion, but the truth!” the Holy Father insists.

Why, then, is there still so much suffering? So much poverty, disease, warfare and inhumanity? Sin and evil remain powerful forces, but we are confident that the Lord’s resurrection has had the last word over sin and death.

Easter is not simply a remembrance of a past event. It is an ongoing passage, an experience of redemption that must be kept alive and current despite the sin and evil that surround us today.

This is why Pope Francis exclaims:

[May] Easter be for each of you, dear brothers and sisters, and in particular for the sick and the poor, the elderly and those experiencing moments of trial and weariness, a passage from affliction to consolation. We are not alone: Jesus, the Living One, is with us, forever. Let the Church and the world rejoice, for today our hopes no longer come up against the wall of death, for the Lord has built us a bridge to life.

The effects of sin and death remain in our world, and each of us must face them in our daily lives. But we are not alone. And we are not stymied by the “wall of death.” Pope Francis tells us that Jesus “has built us a bridge to life.” What’s more, our Lord journeys with us—as do our Blessed Mother and all the saints—as we pass over the chasm of death and destruction into the better world that Christ’s resurrection has won for us.

At Easter, the Holy Father says, “the journey quickens and becomes a race, since humanity now sees the goal of its journey, the meaning of its destiny, Jesus Christ, and is called to make haste to meet him, who is the hope of the world.” Like the women who discovered the empty tomb on Easter morning, our hearts are racing as we rush to announce the good news of our salvation.

May we too make haste to progress on a journey of reciprocal trust: trust among individuals, peoples and nations. May we allow ourselves to experience amazement at the joyful proclamation of Easter, at the light that illumines the darkness and the gloom in which, all too often, our world finds itself enveloped.

Along this journey, we encounter many stumbling blocks, the pope teaches, which make it more difficult and demanding to hasten toward the risen Lord. As a result, the Holy Father urges us to make this simple prayer: “Lord, help us to run to meet you! Help us to open our hearts!”

Christ is truly risen. Let us run to him—crossing over the bridge that is Christ himself and opening our minds and hearts to him. “May we rediscover the enjoyment of the journey, quicken the heartbeat of hope, and experience a foretaste of the beauty of heaven!”

The fact that we must encounter the effects of sin and death in our world, and in ourselves, should not discourage us. Christ is with us. He has overcome “the wall of death” and shown us the passageway from death to life. Alleluia!
 

(Daniel Conway is a member of The Criterion’s editorial committee.) †