Benedict XVI

Humanity Needs Christ:
in Him, Our Hope,
We Have Been Saved
Easter Vigil, Homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI, Saint Peter’s Basilica Holy Saturday, March 22, 2008 and Urbi et Orbi Message of His Holiness, Saint Peter’s Square, Easter 2008.

© Libreria Editrice Vaticana - Città del Vaticano 2008

Homily

Dear Brothers and Sisters, In His farewell discourse, Jesus announced His imminent Death and Resurrection to His disciples with these mysterious words: “I go away, and I will come to you,” He said (Jn 14:28). Dying is a “going away.” Even if the body of the deceased remains behind, he himself has gone away into the unknown, and we cannot follow him (cf. Jn 13:36). Yet in Jesus’ case, there is something utterly new, which changes the world. In the case of our own death, the “going away” is definitive; there is no return. Jesus, on the other hand, says of His death: “I go away, and I will come to you.” It is by going away that He comes. His going ushers in a completely new and greater way of being present. By dying, He enters into the love of the Father. His dying is an act of love. Love, however, is immortal. Therefore, His going away is transformed into a new coming, into a form of presence which reaches deeper and does not come to an end. During His earthly life, Jesus, like all of us, was tied to the external conditions of bodily existence: to a determined place and a determined time. Bodiliness places limits on our existence. We cannot be simultaneously in two different places. Our time is destined to come to an end. And between the “I” and the “you” there is a wall of otherness. To be sure, through love we can somehow enter the other’s existence. Nevertheless, the insurmountable barrier of being different remains in place. Yet Jesus, who is now totally transformed through the act of love, is free from such barriers and limits. He is able not only to pass through closed doors in the outside world, as the Gospels recount (cf. Jn 20:19). He can pass through the interior door separating the “I” from the “you,” the closed door between yesterday and today, between the past and the future. On the day of His solemn entry into Jerusalem, when some Greeks asked to see Him, Jesus replied with the parable of the grain of wheat which has to pass through death in order to bear much fruit. In this way, He foretold His own destiny: these words were not addressed simply to one or two Greeks in the space of a few minutes. Through His Cross, through His going away, through His dying like the grain of wheat, He would truly arrive among the Greeks, in such a way that they could see Him and touch Him through faith. His going away is transformed into a coming, in the Risen Lord’s universal manner of presence, yesterday, today, and for ever. He also comes today, and He embraces all times and all places. Now He can even surmount the wall of otherness that separates the “I” from the “you.” This happened with Paul, who describes the process of his conversion and his Baptism in these words: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20). Through the coming of the Risen One, Paul obtained a new identity. His closed “I” was opened. Now he lives in communion with Jesus Christ, in the great “I” of believers who have become–as he puts it–“one in Christ” (Gal 3:28).

Baptism as the gift of a new identity
So, dear friends, it is clear that, through Baptism, the mysterious words spoken by Jesus at the Last Supper become present for you once more. In Baptism, the Lord enters your life through the door of your heart. We no longer stand alongside or in opposition to one another. He passes through all these doors. This is the reality of Baptism: He, the Risen One, comes; He comes to you and joins His life with yours, drawing you into the open fire of His love. You become one, one with Him, and thus one among yourselves. At first, this can sound rather abstract and unrealistic. But the more you live the life of the baptized, the more you can experience the truth of these words. Believers–the baptized–are never truly cut off from one another. Continents, cultures, social structures, or even historical distances may separate us. But when we meet, we know one another on the basis of the same Lord, the same faith, the same hope, the same love, which form us. Then we experience that the foundation of our lives is the same. We experience that in our inmost depths we are anchored in the same identity, on the basis of which all our outward differences, however great they may be, become secondary. Believers are never totally cut off from one another. We are in communion because of our deepest identity: Christ within us. Thus, faith is a force for peace and reconciliation in the world: distances between people are overcome; in the Lord we have become close (cf. Eph 2:13).

The mystery of water and its symbolic meaning
The Church expresses the inner reality of Baptism as the gift of a new identity through the tangible elements used in the administration of the sacrament. The fundamental element in Baptism is water; next, in second place, is light, which is used to great effect in the Liturgy of the Easter Vigil. Let us take a brief look at these two elements. In the final chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews, there is a statement about Christ which does not speak directly of water, but the Old Testament allusions nevertheless point clearly to the mystery of water and its symbolic meaning. Here we read: “The God of peace … brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant” (cf. 13:20). In this sentence, there is an echo of the prophecy of Isaiah, in which Moses is described as the shepherd whom the Lord brought up from the water, from the sea (cf. 63:11). And Jesus now appears as the new, definitive Shepherd who brings to fulfillment what Moses had done: He leads us out of the deadly waters of the sea, out of the waters of death. In this context we may recall that Moses’ mother placed him in a basket in the Nile. Then, through God’s providence, he was taken out of the water, carried from death to life, and thus–having himself been saved from the waters of death–he was able to lead others through the sea of death. Jesus descended for us into the dark waters of death. But through His blood, so the Letter to the Hebrews tells us, He was brought back from death: His love united itself to the Father’s love, and thus from the abyss of death He was able to rise to life. Now He raises us from the waters of death to true life. This is exactly what happens in Baptism: He draws us toward Himself; He draws us into true life. He leads us through the often murky sea of history, where we are frequently in danger of sinking amid all the confusion and perils. In Baptism, He takes us, as it were, by the hand; He leads us along the path that passes through the Red Sea of this life and introduces us to everlasting life, the true and upright life. Let us grasp His hand firmly! Whatever may happen, whatever may befall us, let us not lose hold of His hand! Let us walk along the path that leads to life.
In the second place, there is the symbol of light and fire. Gregory of Tours (4th century) recounts a practice that in some places was preserved for a long time, of lighting the new fire for the celebration of the Easter Vigil directly from the sun, using a crystal. Light and fire, so to speak, were received anew from heaven, so that all the lights and fires of the year could be kindled from them. This is a symbol of what we are celebrating in the Easter Vigil. Through His radical love for us, in which the heart of God and the heart of man touched, Jesus Christ truly took light from heaven and brought it to the earth–the light of truth and the fire of love that transform man’s being. He brought the light, and now we know who God is and what God is like. Thus, we also know what our human situation is: what we are, and for what purpose we exist. When we are baptized, the fire of this light is brought down deep within ourselves. Thus, in the early Church, Baptism was also called the Sacrament of Illumination: God’s light enters into us; thus, we ourselves become children of light. We must not allow this light of truth, that shows us the path, to be extinguished. We must protect it from all the forces that seek to eliminate it so as to cast us back into darkness regarding God and ourselves. Darkness, at times, can seem comfortable. I can hide, and spend my life asleep. Yet we are not called to darkness, but to light. In our baptismal promises, we rekindle this light, so to speak, year by year. Yes, I believe that the world and my life are not the product of chance, but of eternal Reason and eternal Love; they are created by Almighty God. Yes, I believe that in Jesus Christ, in His Incarnation, in His Cross and Resurrection, the face of God has been revealed; that in Him, God is present in our midst; He unites us and leads us toward our goal, toward eternal Love. Yes, I believe that the Holy Spirit gives us the word of truth and enlightens our hearts; I believe that in the communion of the Church we all become one Body with the Lord, and thus we encounter His Resurrection and eternal life. The Lord has granted us the light of truth. This light is also fire, a powerful force coming from God, a force that does not destroy, but seeks to transform our hearts, so that we truly become men of God, and so that His peace can become active in this world.

Conversi ad Dominum
In the early Church, there was a custom whereby the bishop or the priest, after the homily, would cry out to the faithful: “Conversi ad Dominum”–turn now toward the Lord. This meant in the first place that they would turn toward the East, toward the rising sun, the sign of Christ returning, whom we go to meet when we celebrate the Eucharist. Where this was not possible, for some reason, they would at least turn toward the image of Christ in the apse, or toward the Cross, so as to orient themselves inwardly toward the Lord. Fundamentally, this involved an interior event; conversion, the turning of our soul toward Jesus Christ and thus toward the living God, toward the true light. Linked with this, then, was the other exclamation that still today, before the Eucharistic Prayer, is addressed to the community of the faithful: “Sursum corda”–“Lift up your hearts,” high above all our misguided concerns, desires, anxieties, and thoughtlessness–“Lift up your hearts, your inner selves!” In both exclamations we are summoned, as it were, to a renewal of our Baptism: Conversi ad Dominum–we must always turn away from false paths, onto which we stray so often in our thoughts and actions. We must turn ever anew toward Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We must be converted ever anew, turning with our whole life toward the Lord. And ever anew we must withdraw our hearts from the force of gravity, which pulls them down, and inwardly we must raise them high: in truth and love. At this hour, let us thank the Lord, because through the power of His word and of the holy Sacraments, He points us in the right direction and draws our heart upwards. Let us pray to Him in these words: Yes, Lord, make us Easter people, men and women of light, filled with the fire of Your love.
Amen.

Urbi et Orbi Message
Resurrexi, et adhuc tecum sum. Alleluia!–I have risen, I am still with you. Alleluia! Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus, crucified and risen, repeats this joyful proclamation to us today: the Easter proclamation. Let us welcome it with deep wonder and gratitude!
Resurrexi et adhuc tecum sum–I have risen, I am still with you, for ever. These words, taken from an ancient version of Psalm 138 (v. 18b), were sung at the beginning of today’s Mass. In them, at the rising of the Easter sun, the Church recognizes the voice of Jesus Himself who, on rising from death, turns to the Father filled with gladness and love, and exclaims: My Father, here I am! I have risen, I am still with You, and so I shall be for ever; Your Spirit never abandoned Me. In this way, we can also come to a new understanding of other passages from the psalm: “If I climb the heavens, You are there; if I descend into the underworld, You are there… Even darkness is not dark for You, and the night is as clear as day; for You, darkness is like light” (Ps 138:8,12). It is true: in the solemn Easter Vigil, darkness becomes light; night gives way to the day that knows no sunset. The Death and Resurrection of the Word of God Incarnate is an event of invincible love; it is the victory of that Love which has delivered us from the slavery of sin and death. It has changed the course of history, giving to human life an indestructible and renewed meaning and value.
“I have risen and I am still with you, for ever.” These words invite us to contemplate the risen Christ, letting His voice resound in our heart. With His redeeming sacrifice, Jesus of Nazareth has made us adopted children of God, so that we too can now take our place in the mysterious dialogue between Him and the Father. We are reminded of what He once said to those who were listening: “All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him” (Mt 11:27). In this perspective, we note that the words addressed by the risen Jesus to the Father on this day–“I am still with You, for ever”–apply indirectly to us as well, “children of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him” (cf. Rom 8:17). Through the Death and Resurrection of Christ, we too rise to new life today, and, uniting our voice with His, we proclaim that we wish to remain for ever with God, our infinitely good and merciful Father.

He is our hope
In this way, we enter the depths of the Paschal mystery. The astonishing event of the Resurrection of Jesus is essentially an event of love: the Father’s love in handing over His Son for the salvation of the world; the Son’s love in abandoning Himself to the Father’s will for us all; the Spirit’s love in raising Jesus from the dead in His transfigured body. And there is more: the Father’s love which “newly embraces” the Son, enfolding Him in glory; the Son’s love returning to the Father in the power of the Spirit, robed in our transfigured humanity. From today’s solemnity, in which we relive the absolute, once-and-for-all experience of Jesus’ Resurrection, we receive an appeal to be converted to Love; we receive an invitation to live by rejecting hatred and selfishness, and to follow with docility in the footsteps of the Lamb that was slain for our salvation, to imitate the Redeemer who is “gentle and lowly in heart,” who is “rest for our souls” (cf. Mt 11:29).
Dear Christian brothers and sisters in every part of the world, dear men and women whose spirit is sincerely open to the truth, let no heart be closed to the omnipotence of this redeeming love! Jesus Christ died and rose for all; He is our hope–true hope for every human being. Today, just as He did with His disciples in Galilee before returning to the Father, the risen Jesus now sends us everywhere as witnesses of His hope, and He reassures us: I am with you always, all days, until the end of the world (cf. Mt 28:20). Fixing the gaze of our spirit on the glorious wounds of His transfigured body, we can understand the meaning and value of suffering; we can tend the many wounds that continue to disfigure humanity in our own day. In His glorious wounds, we recognize the indestructible signs of the infinite mercy of the God of whom the prophet says: it is He who heals the wounds of broken hearts, who defends the weak and proclaims the freedom of slaves, who consoles all the afflicted and bestows upon them the oil of gladness instead of a mourning robe, a song of praise instead of a sorrowful heart (cf. Is 61:1,2,3). If, with humble trust, we draw near to Him, we encounter in His gaze the response to the deepest longings of our heart: to know God and to establish with Him a living relationship in an authentic communion of love, which can fill our lives, our interpersonal and social relations, with that same love. For this reason, humanity needs Christ: in Him, our hope, “we have been saved” (cf. Rom 8:24).
How often relations between individuals, between groups, and between peoples are marked not by love but by selfishness, injustice, hatred, and violence! These are the scourges of humanity, open and festering in every corner of the planet, although they are often ignored and sometimes deliberately concealed; wounds that torture the souls and bodies of countless of our brothers and sisters. They are waiting to be tended and healed by the glorious wounds of our Risen Lord (cf. 1 Pet 2:24-25) and by the solidarity of people who, following in His footsteps, perform deeds of charity in His name, make an active commitment to justice, and spread luminous signs of hope in areas bloodied by conflict and wherever the dignity of the human person continues to be scorned and trampled. It is hoped that these are precisely the places where gestures of moderation and forgiveness will increase! 

Let us open to the risen Christ
Dear brothers and sisters! Let us allow the light that streams forth from this solemn day to enlighten us; let us open ourselves in sincere trust to the risen Christ, so that His victory over evil and death may also triumph in each one of us, in our families, in our cities, and in our nations. Let it shine forth in every part of the world. In particular, let us not fail to remember certain African regions, such as Darfur and Somalia, the tormented Middle East, especially the Holy Land, Iraq, Lebanon, and finally Tibet, all of whom I encourage to seek solutions that will safeguard peace and the common good! Let us invoke the fullness of His Paschal gifts, through the intercession of Mary who, after sharing the sufferings of the Passion and Crucifixion of her innocent Son, also experienced the inexpressible joy of His Resurrection. Sharing in the glory of Christ, may she be the one to protect us and guide us along the path of fraternal solidarity and peace. These are my Easter greetings, which I address to all who are present here, and to men and women of every nation and continent united with us through radio and television.
Happy Easter!