Easter brings hope amid suffering, says pope

Pope Benedict XVI

THE resurrection of Jesus brings renewed hope in the hearts of every Christian believer in the midst of suffering and trials, Pope Benedict XVI told millions of Catholic faithful on Easter Sunday.

In his Urbi et Orbi message on Easter Sunday, Pope Benedict urged Catholics to put their trust and hope in the Risen Jesus amidst situations of human suffering and injustice in the world.

The pontiff said every Christian believer relives the experience of Mary Magdalene whose life-changing encounter with Jesus transformed a seemingly hopeless situation into “a life of goodness and freedom from evil.”

Mary Magdalene’s encounter with Christ has completely changed her life and restored her dignity as a human being, the pope said.

He said the very reason why Mary Magdalene calls Jesus ‘my hope’ was because he was the one “who allowed her to be reborn, who gave her a new future, a life of goodness and freedom from evil.”

“It involves an encounter which changes our lives: the encounter with a unique Man who lets us experience all God’s goodness and truth, who frees us from evil not in a superficial and fleeting way, but sets us free radically, heals us completely and restores our dignity,” the Holy Father said.

“Christ my hope’ means that all my yearnings for goodness find in him a real possibility of fulfillment: with him I can hope for a life that is good, full and eternal, for God himself has drawn near to us, even sharing our humanity,” the pope furthered.

Hope finds meaning in the Risen Jesus

The pontiff, however, acknowledged that at times hope may appear devoid of meaning when one is confronted with the harshness of evil in the world.

But he also said that Jesus, by rising from the dead, has transformed the world and the whole of humanity.

“Jesus is someone in whom we can put absolute trust;” the pontiff stressed, “we can put our trust not only in his message but in Jesus himself, for the Risen One does not belong in the past, but is present today, alive.”

He said Jesus is “present as a “force of hope through his Church, which is close to all human situations of suffering and injustice.”

“Christ is hope and comfort in a particular way for those Christian communities suffering most for their faith on account of discrimination and persecution,” the pope said.

Hoping for end to conflicts, bloodshed

Remembering several countries that are enmeshed in various types of conflicts, the pope offered prayers, pleading that hope in the risen Christ may sustain the faith of the Christian communities in those regions.

“May the risen Christ grant hope to the Middle East and enable all the ethnic, cultural and religious groups in that region to work together to advance the common good and respect for human rights,” the pope said.

He also prayed for Syria, and urged an end to bloodshed and “an immediate commitment to the path of respect, dialogue and reconciliation, as called for by the international community.”

“May the many refugees from that country who are in need of humanitarian assistance find the acceptance and solidarity capable of relieving their dreadful sufferings.”

The pope also prayed that Christ’s resurrection may “encourage the Iraqi people to spare no effort in pursuing the path of stability and development,” and that the Israelis and Palestinians in the Holy Land, may “courageously take up anew the peace process.”

He remembered too, the various Christian communities in the African continent and prayed for peace, development, stability and religious freedom among the people of the Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes Region, Sudan and South Sudan, Mali and Nigeria.

Easter should bring conversion

As the joy of Easter grips the whole of Christendom, a Catholic prelate at the home front, urged the faithful to let their “rejoicing bring about conversion.”

Just as Jesus “has died to sin and risen to life in God,” so every believer should also “die to sin and live for God,” Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle said in an Easter message.

He said the joy of the resurrection should lead us to “an examination of our individual and communal lives.”

“From the tombs of hunger, ignorance, discrimination, insensitivity, selfishness, greed, and pride, let us allow God’s love to rise and be our life. Let it not be said that we chose death over God who is life,” he stressed.

The Manila prelate pointed out that the celebration of Easter only shows human beings are destined to a life in God.

The resurrection of Jesus is a victory of good over evil, Tagle said.

“In His resurrection, we now know where human history finds its culmination—in sharing the very life of God. The resurrection is not a return to human earthly life, a life still subject to evil and destruction. The life that the Risen Christ now possesses is God’s very life. That is why He will not die again. Sin has no more power over Him,” he said.

“In Jesus the Risen One, we are assured that God was, is, and will be victorious over sinfulness, viciousness, wickedness, corruption and violence. The Resurrection exposes and shatters the illusion of evildoers,” the Manila archbishop stressed.