The Face of Mercy / Daniel Conway

Christ’s resurrection, ‘good news par excellence’

When the angel said to the women who had gathered at the empty tomb, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised. … Come, see the place where he lay” (Mt 28:5–6), he was proclaiming the Good News. Pope Francis calls this moment “the culmination of the Gospel.” It is in this moment that we see clearly the fulfillment of God’s plan for us and for our world.

“This event is the basis of our faith and our hope,” the pope tells us. “If Christ were not raised, Christianity would lose its very meaning; the whole mission of the Church would lose its impulse, for this is the point from which it first set out and continues to set out ever anew.”

The whole meaning of Christianity is bound up in two great mysteries—the incarnation (God becoming man) and the resurrection (Jesus’ triumph over sin and death). Without the incarnation, we remain separated from God. Without the resurrection, we remain the slaves of sin. Both mysteries frame the story of Christianity, the basis for our hope and our joy.

Pope Francis tells us that “the message which Christians bring to the world is this: Jesus, Love incarnate, died on the cross for our sins, but God the Father raised him and made him the Lord of life and death. In Jesus, love has triumphed over hatred, mercy over sinfulness, goodness over evil, truth over falsehood, life over death.”

This truly is good news. It is the announcement of our liberation from a cold and cruel fate. It is the transformation of a world dominated by hopelessness into a world that is permeated by the saving grace of God.

That is why the pope invites everyone: “Come and see!” It’s why he insists that “in every human situation, marked by frailty, sin and death, the Good News is no mere matter of words, but a testimony to unconditional and faithful love.”

God’s unconditional and faithful love is not just a pious sentiment. It is a dramatic statement about who God is and who we are called to become. Pope Francis is convinced that Jesus’ resurrection compels us to live and act differently. The mystery of the Lord’s resurrection has consequences. It challenges us to leave ourselves behind and encounter others, to be close to those crushed by life’s troubles, to share with the needy, and to stand at the side of the sick, elderly and the outcast.

“Come and see!” the pope proclaims. “Love is more powerful, love gives life, love makes hope blossom in the wilderness.”

The “wilderness” that Pope Francis speaks about is our world deprived of compassion, hope or joy. It is the barren wasteland of sin and death that enslaves us and drains us of all that is good and life-giving in our lives. Thanks be to God, love is more powerful—making hope blossom and grow in our hearts.

“With this joyful certainty in our hearts, we turn to you, risen Lord! Help us to seek you and to find you, to realize that we have a Father and are not orphans; that we can love and adore you.”

This is Easter joy, the love that gives life. It is a joy that is not self-centered, but that looks outward to our sisters and brothers everywhere.

“Help us to overcome the scourge of hunger, aggravated by conflicts and by the immense wastefulness for which we are often responsible,” the pope prays.

“Enable us to protect the vulnerable, especially children, women and the elderly, who are at times exploited and abandoned.”

Pope Francis continues with a plea to “comfort all those who cannot celebrate this Easter with their loved ones because they have been unjustly torn from their affections. Comfort those who have left their own lands to migrate to places offering hope for a better future and the possibility of living their lives in dignity and, not infrequently, of freely professing their faith.”

Christ’s resurrection is “good news par excellence,” the pope says. It is hope and joy for all—despite this weary, war‑torn world.

“We ask you, Lord Jesus, to put an end to all war and every conflict, whether great or small, ancient or recent,” the pope prays. Let the good news of the resurrection spread throughout the world and take root in every human heart!
 

(Daniel Conway is a member of The Criterion’s editorial committee.) †