Pope stresses humility, calls for peace in Easter message

Pope Francis delivers his Urbi et Orbi message on Easter Sunday. (Photo from Vatican Radio's Facebook Page)

HUMILIATION is the path to glory. Pope Francis in his Easter message for 2015 emphasized as much. Without exercising humility we cannot claim to be followers of Christ, because humility is the path to life and holiness. Jesus himself has shown this to us, through his suffering, death and resurrection, the pope said.  Paul’s letter to the Philippians tells us so.  “Though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.  Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave ...” (Phil. 2:6-9)

It is only by experiencing humiliation that we will understand the true meaning of the resurrection and thus enable us to follow Jesus on the path that he traced for us. What Jesus teaches us by his examples are starkly different from what the world proposes to us, said the Holy Father.

In a society such as ours where being atop the economic ladder is considered the epitome of success, to consciously choose the path of humility and place the needs of others ahead of our own is something alien and unthinkable.

And yet that is what to be an authentic Christian is all about - "the seeds of another humanity, in which we seek to live in service to one another, not to be arrogant, but rather respectful and ready to help," the pope said.

We have to learn how to bend down, like the apostles who “bent down” in order to enter into the mystery of the resurrection. It is only by bending down on our knees in humility, according to Pope Francis, that we “can go towards the ‘things that are above’, towards God (cf. Col 3:1-4). He said, “the proud look ‘down from above’; [while] the humble look ‘up from below’.”

The pope emphasized that to choose the path of humility and service "is not weakness, but true strength" because "those who bear within them God’s power, his love and his justice, do not need to employ violence; they speak and act with the power of truth, beauty and love."

History tells us how a person's arrogance and pride can spawn violence and destruction. And no one at present can profess ignorance on the plight of Christians and other minorities in various parts of the world who are being persecuted because of their beliefs.

So, on Easter morning before hundreds of thousands of pilgrims gathered at St. Peter’s Square, the pope urged us to pray with him as he implored God for peace for various countries in the world that are in conflict and trapped in violence, especially Iraq and Syria. He called on the international community (and that include us, too) not to be indifferent "before the immense humanitarian tragedy unfolding in these countries and the drama of the numerous refugees."

Certainly, the persecution and various forms of violence directed at Christians and other minorities, as well as other vulnerable sectors of society is a “humanitarian tragedy” gigantic in proportions.

“In you, Divine Love, we see again today our persecuted brethren: beheaded, crucified, for their faith in you, beneath our eyes, or often with our complicit silence,” the pope said in a brief reflection after the Way of the Cross on Good Friday.

The magnitude of persecution and violence happening in the world could numb our senses because of the extent of brutalities the victims are subjected to, but this should not lead us to indifference.

As Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, the papal household preacher, said during his Good Friday homily, the evils happening in our society today should not be spoken of collectively but should be taken as realities because they involve real people with “specific identities”.

"Let us think instead of the suffering of individuals, people with names and specific identities; of the tortures that are decided upon in cold blood and voluntarily inflicted at this very moment by human beings on other human beings, even on babies," he said.

Amid the ongoing violent persecution of Christians and minorities in various parts of the globe, our commemoration of the Lord’s Passion and the celebration of Christ’s resurrection have given each one of us a much profound and intense meaning on how it is to be a true follower of Jesus.