After having shared with Jesus the days of His passion and death, let us welcome in our hearts and in our lives the great proclamation of the Resurrection…
In a world that seems to have lost so many certainties, the Resurrection means to live in peace as brothers. In a world that tries to take refuge in small earthly hopes, which is content with fleeting moments of happiness that leave dissatisfaction and sadness inside our hearts, it implies the certainty of a Presence that can transform our lives and make us the protagonists of a love story.
To achieve all this we must renew ourselves and undertake a path of conversion. How many examples are there in the Church of men and women who, in meeting the Risen One, managed to transform their lives: Francis of Assisi, Anthony of Padua, Ignatius of Loyola…
For this Holy Easter I hope that you too, in meeting the Risen One, will be able to renew those values that make your person and your life unique: honesty, love for the truth, loyalty, solidarity with the weak and commitment to build a social order based on justice and equality.
St. Anthony writes in his sermons: "I implore you brothers to buy with the money of good will, together with the pious women, the aromas of virtues, with which you can anoint the members of Christ with the loving-kindness of the word and with the scent of good example".
This is precisely what we desire for ourselves and for those we love: to lead a beautiful life precisely because it is full of dreams, ideals and hope. A life that cannot be limited and impoverished by the downturns of life because nothing is impossible for us if we experience, together with the Risen One, the challenges of our times that groan in the pangs of childbirth – as the Apostle Paul writes – in the expectation of a new world.
Happy Easter!
See the whole Easter wishes video [https://youtu.be/w5QjgqUAWOk].
Oh Lord, you who are alive and present in our midst,
bless our families.
Give strength to those who are frail
and prudence to those who are too sure of themselves.
Accompany the steps of our children
in their path to the future,
and soothe the feet of those who are tired.
Uphold those who are faltering in their trials
and be a fount of joy to those who overcome them.
Saint Anthony, brother in the faith,
intercede for those who turn to you.
Amen.