2002 Easter Message

Light of Easter dispels darkness of fear

May all people of good will feel themselves called to an active role on this day which the Lord has made, the day of his Resurrection, when the Church, filled with joy proclaims that the Lord is truly risen. This cry which burst forth from the hearts of the disciples on the first day after the Sabbath has spanned the centuries and now, at this precise moment of history, renews one more humanity's hopes with the unaltered certainty of the Resurrection of Christ, the Redeemer of mankind.

The amazed surprise of the Apostles and the women who rushed to the tomb at sunrise today becomes the shared experience of the whole People of God. We wish to hand on the younger generation the certitude that is basic to our lives: Christ is risen and in him all creation rises to new life. Christ is "the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (Rv 22:13) the pilgrim Church remains faithful "amid the world's persecutions and God's consolations" (St Augustine). She look to him and has no fear. She walks with her gaze fixed on his face, and repeats to the men and women of our day that he, the Risen One, is "the same yesterday and today and for ever" (Heb 13:8).

On this day heaven and earth sing out the ineffable and sublime "name" of the Crucified One who has risen. Everything appears as before, but in fact nothing is the same as before. He, the Life that does not die, has redeemed every human life and reopened it to hope. "The old has passed away, behold, the new has come" (2Cor 5:17). Every project and plan of this noble and frail creature that is man has a new "name" today in Christ risen from the dead, for "in him all creation rises to new life". The words of Genesis are fully fulfilled in this new creation: "then God said: let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gn 1:26). At Easter, Christ, the new Adam, having become "a life-giving spirit" (1Cor 15:45), ransoms the old Adam from the defeat of death.

My dear brother, the Easter gift of light that scatters the darkness of fear and sadness is meant for everyone; all are offered the gift of the peace of the Risen Christ, who breaks the chains of violence and hatred. Rediscover today with joy and wonder that the world is no longer a slave to the inevitable. This world of ours can change: peace is possible even where for too long there has been fighting and death, as in the Holy Land and Jerusalem. Only in Christ we will find the capacity for a development respectful of every human being. Men and women draw from his tomb, empty now for ever, the strength needed to defeat the powers of evil and death, and to place your good will at the service of a better future for all.

From the moment when your tomb, O Christ, was found empty and Cephas, the disciples, the women and "more than five hundred brethren" (1Cor 15:6) saw you risen, there began the time in which the whole of creation sings your name "which is above every other name" and awaits your final return in glory. During this time, between Easter and the coming of your everlasting kingdom, a time like the travail of giving birth (Rom 8:22), sustain us in our dedication to building the life of our families by the balm of your Love. Help us to grow in your graces and in Christian virtues. You victorious King, grant to us and to the world eternal salvation.

On this great occasion of feast, I greet every one of you, and I wish you a holy Easter. I ask the Risen to protect you and your families under the shadow of his divine graces in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

With my love and prayers,

Fr Georges Berberian