Rome, 4 April (LaPresse) – “The doors are still closed. The silence is almost absolute, broken perhaps by the distant sound of what war continues to sow in this Holy and torn Land. Yet, right here, in this place where death was inhabited by God, the Word of God resounds louder than any silence. And I say this simply: we too, today, celebrate with a faith that has been tested, fragile, perhaps weary… yet still standing. Not because we are strong, but because someone sustains us here.” So said the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, in his homily at the Easter Vigil Mass at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Drawing parallels with the Gospel account of Jesus’ Resurrection, the cardinal emphasised: “This vigil challenges us: are we still trying to roll away the stones that oppress us on our own? Or do we let Him, the Living One, go before us? Because Easter is not the result of our efforts for peace, however necessary they may be. It is the foundation that makes every effort possible. If the tomb is empty, then nothing is truly closed. No land is forever contested, no wound is forever incurable, no memory is forever captive to hatred. Not because it is easy – we know how difficult it is – but because the course of history has changed. We are no longer walking towards death: from this tomb, death is behind us. And even when war seems to tell us otherwise, we are the ones who have seen the stone rolled away.”
Easter, Pizzaballa: ‘War continues to tear us apart, but no land remains disputed forever’
Rome, 4 April (LaPresse) – “The doors are still closed. The silence is almost absolute, broken perhaps by the distant sound of what war continues to sow in this Holy and torn Land. Yet, right here, in this place where death was inhabited by God, the Word of God resounds louder than any silence. And I say this simply: we too, today, celebrate with a faith that has been tested, fragile, perhaps weary… yet still standing. Not because we are strong, but because someone sustains us here.” So said the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, in his homily at the Easter Vigil Mass at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Drawing parallels with the Gospel account of Jesus’ Resurrection, the cardinal emphasised: “This vigil challenges us: are we still trying to roll away the stones that oppress us on our own? Or do we let Him, the Living One, go before us? Because Easter is not the result of our efforts for peace, however necessary they may be. It is the foundation that makes every effort possible. If the tomb is empty, then nothing is truly closed. No land is forever contested, no wound is forever incurable, no memory is forever captive to hatred. Not because it is easy – we know how difficult it is – but because the course of history has changed. We are no longer walking towards death: from this tomb, death is behind us. And even when war seems to tell us otherwise, we are the ones who have seen the stone rolled away.”
