During the General Audience on Holy Wednesday, Pope Francis gave a brief explanation about the meaning of each celebration of the Easter Triduum, underlining that those who participate in them, renew the mystery of Easter; subsequently, he offered a profound reflection about the historical event of the Resurrection and the reality we are living in the world at the present.
Once having briefly presented some fundamental aspects of each celebration, and stressed about the redemptive intervention of the Lord, in his Body and Blood gift commemorated on Holy Thursday, in his profound experience of pain represented on Good Friday and in which all human suffering is reflected, and in the hopeful silence of Holy Saturday, Pope Francis launched his message saying that in the darkness of Holy Saturday, joy and light will break through with the rites of the Easter Vigil and, in the late evening, the festive hymn of the Hallelujah. This celebration will be the encounter in faith with the Risen Christ, who will dispel all questions, uncertainties, hesitations and fears and will gives us the certainty that good always triumphs over evil, life always conquers death, and it is not our end to descend lower and lower, from sorrow to sorrow, but rather to rise up high.
As last words of his speech, the Pope said that «not even one tear, not one sigh is lost in God’s plan of salvation».
Easter evokes and makes present in the world the triumph of Life over death, of Light over darkness and renews the hope that sometimes, can be extinguished in the heart of the man, especially when he experiences his own fragility. On this feast, we cannot forget the drama we are living but we have the chance to open our hearts to the Risen One who comes to meet us on the roads of Galilee, where we walk during our daily life and says to us: “Peace be with you … it’s I, don’t be afraid …! (cf. Mt 28,9-10; Jn 20,19) and, acting as a pilgrim, he walks by our side, rekindling with his words the embers burning in our hearts (cf. Lk 24,13-33).
Christ is risen and he is the Risen One: let us strengthen our faith and, wherever we are, let us run to announce it to our brothers.