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During the Easter Vigil 2021 on the night of Holy Saturday, Pope Francis invites us to go to Galilee within ourselves to experience the amazement produced by the infinite love of the Lord, to learn that faith, in order to be alive, must be put back on the way and to learn to find the risen Christ in the faces of our brothers.
Mireia Bonilla – Vatican City
On the night of April 3, Holy Saturday, the Holy Father presided over the Easter Vigil in a St. Peter’s Basilica practically empty due to coronavirus containment measures. In his homily, Francis has reflected on the Gospel of the day according to Mark, which recounts when the women thought they were going to find the body to anoint it, instead, they found an empty tomb. Francisco assures that “they had gone to mourn a dead person, but instead they heard an announcement of life.”
The women – says the Gospel – “were bewildered”, and the Pope explains that this bewilderment “is fear mixed with joy”. “It is the wonder of hearing those words: Don’t be scared! The one you are looking for, Jesus, the one from Nazareth, the crucified, has risen “and then it is an invitation:” He will go ahead of you to Galilee and there you will see him. ” Francis invites us today to go to Galilee, explaining what it means to take this inner “journey”.
It is always possible to restart our life
“Going to Galilee means, above all, starting over”. The Pontiff explains in his homily that for the disciples “it was to return to the place where the Lord sought them for the first time and called them to follow him” and from that moment, having left the nets, they followed Jesus. However – says the Pope – “many times they misinterpreted his words and before the cross they fled, leaving him alone”. Despite this failure, Francis underlines that “the risen Lord presents himself as the One who, once again, precedes them in Galilee, goes before them, calls them and invites them to follow him, never getting tired”.
That is why in this Galilee “we experience the amazement produced by the infinite love of the Lord, who traces new paths within the paths of our defeats” and this is the first Easter announcement that the Pope offers today: “it is always possible to return to begin with, because there is a new life that God is capable of restarting in us beyond all our failures ”.
Jesus is not an obsolete character
Going to Galilee, secondly, means “walking new roads.” The Pope explains that many live the “faith of memories”, as if Jesus were a character from the past, a distant friend of youth, an event that happened a long time ago, when as a child I attended catechism “that no longer moves me , which no longer questions me ”. On the other hand, going to Galilee means “learning that faith, in order to be alive, must set out again”, “it must rekindle every day the beginning of the journey, the amazement of the first encounter” and “it must trust, without presumption to know everything, but with the humility of one who lets himself be surprised by the ways of God ”.
Therefore, Pope Francis’ second Easter announcement is that “faith is not a repertoire of the past, Jesus is not an obsolete character, He is alive, here and now.” In fact – the Pope recalls – “walk with you every day, in the situation that you have to live, in the trial that you are going through, in the dreams that you carry inside. Even if everything seems lost, He will surprise you ”.
Jesus visits every situation in our life
Finally, the Pope explains that going to Galilee means “going to the ends” because Galilee “is the farthest place, from where Jesus began his mission.” “In Galilee we learn that we can find the risen Christ in the faces of our brothers, in the enthusiasm of those who dream and in the resignation of those who are discouraged, in the smiles of those who rejoice and in the tears of those who suffer , especially in the poor and the marginalized ”. “With Him – he emphasizes – life will change.”
Following this invitation, the Pope expresses his third Easter announcement: “Jesus, the Risen One, loves us without limits and visits all the situations of our life. It invites us to get closer to those who are with us every day, to rediscover the grace of everyday life ”.
