Jesus
Christ resurrected Saint Lazarus and himself from among the dead. In this way
he has revealed himself to be the Lord of Life, Him, who defeated death and
definitely opened the door to Eternity through which we shall walk.
The
resurrection of Saint Lazarus is not only the symbol of future resurrection,
but also a gift that our Lord Jesus offers to those who believe. In the
present, Jesus appears to all His believers as an indescribable eternal Life
fulfilled with the divinity which will never cease.
Sua Excelência Reverendíssima o Grão-Prior Eclesiástico da Ordem Militar e Hospitalar de São Lázaro de Jerusalém - Monsenhor Michele Pennisi – Arcebispo de Monreale
The call
that Jesus utters to Lazarus is not only an invitation to each one of us to
step out of our grave of selfishness, insensitivity, meanness and desperation,
but it is also the effective word that truly frees us and allows us to enjoy
real life.
Just as
Jesus wept for his friend Lazarus he also weeps for me: I am Lazarus, I am the
friend, sick and loved, but also protected by Jesus from breaking down. In the
tears of Jesus we discover the heart of God. The reason for our resurrection is
in the love that melts into tears. We resurrect now, we will resurrect after
death because He loved us. The love of God is stronger than death.
We are
getting ready to celebrate Easter, an event that brings all of us Christians
together despite confessional differences.
The
Russian orthodox theologian P. Florenskii, executed by firearm on December 8th
1937 said in his homily: “The beginning of life”: “In the continuous course of
events and circumstances a center point has been reached, a grasping support
point: “Christ has resurrected…!” If the Son of God had not resurrected, the
whole world would become completely absurd, and Pilate’s disdainful words:
“What is the truth?” would have become true. If Jesus Christ was not
resurrected, then the most precious treasure would definitely burn and beauty
would irreversibly die. If the Son of God had not resurrected, the bridge that
brings together Heaven and Earth would have collapsed for eternity. And we
would have been left with neither of them, because we would never have been
able to see Heaven nor fight against Earth’s destruction.
The
Evangelical Minister D. Bonhoeffer, member of the “Church of Confession”,
during Nazism in 1944 while in prison wrote a letter to a friend before being
executed, where he said: “The resurrection of Christ is the true “Archimedes’
point” from which it is possible to move the world…” If Jesus Christ was not
resurrected, the point of support that governs our life stumbles and collapses;
our life is bound to uselessness. Every speech that involves God would be an
illusion; all hope would simply fade away.
Anglican
teacher N. T. Wright says: “Allowing Jesus to take over our life today means
recognizing and loving Him, the one who defeated death with the power of love
and the new creation. All the glasses full of fresh water, all of the short
prayers and fights against the despots that oppress the poor, all the sung
praises or joyful dances, all the pieces of art and music, nothing has been
wasted. The resurrection will reaffirm it in an unimaginable way, as a part of
God’s new world. The resurrection is not only about a glorious future, but it
is also about a meaningful present.”
Pope
Francis in the Evangelii
Gaudium says: “Christ's
resurrection is not an event of the past; it contains
a vital power which has permeated this world. Where all seems to be dead, signs
of the resurrection suddenly spring up. It is an irresistible force. Often it
seems that God does not exist: all around us we see persistent injustice, evil,
indifference and cruelty. But it is also true that in the midst of darkness
something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit. On
razed land life breaks through, stubbornly yet invincibly. However dark things
are, goodness always re-emerges and spreads. Each day in our world beauty is
born anew; it rises transformed through the storms of history. Values always
tend to reappear under new guises, and human beings have arisen time after time
from situations that seemed doomed. Such is the power of
the resurrection, and all who evangelize are instruments of that power” (EG,
276).
The
Easter victory of Jesus Christ over sin and death must develop in each one of
us a profound change. Slavery and false idols, like power and money must be
relieved by the free life of the children of our Lord. Against the sadness that
dominates us due to the fear of the future there is a sense of happiness;
confronting the selfishness that only allows us to look at ourselves, we
encounter the love that is expressed in solidarity and responsible actions.
Jesus
Christ, after His resurrection, became a stone of this new building that helps
us, despite all troubles in our life, to be confident in a new future. A new society born, based on solidarity,
legality and commitment, to become in our daily life, builders of peace, open
to a faith that will never fade away.
Sua Excelência Reverendíssima o Grão-Prior Eclesiástico da Ordem Militar e Hospitalar de São Lázaro de Jerusalém - Monsenhor Michele Pennisi – Arcebispo de Monreale e Sua Eminência o Cardeal Renato Raffaele Martino - Grão Prior da Ordem Constantiniana de São Jorge
In the
same way that Jesus Christ removed the stone that sealed the Holy Sepulchre He
can also remove the stone that does not permit us to recognize the signs of the
presence of God in our time. Our stoned heart filled with selfishness and
sadness can be transformed into a heart of flesh, capable of loving in the same
compassionate way of Christ, and willing to take all mankind in a peaceful
embrace.
May the
compassionate Father strengthen us in the attention and responsibility towards
all human misery so we can become dispensers of compassion. May He also give us his Spirit of love so we
can resurrect with Christ, and sustained by Christian hope, aspire to eternal
happiness.
Monreale,
Palm Sunday, April 13th 2014
Michele
Pennisi
Archbishop
of Monreale, Sicily, Italy
Ecclesiastical
Grand Prior of The Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem
