Charter of the archbishop of Seville Easter Sunday, April 24, 2011Dear brothers and sisters: "This is the day that the Lord is our rejoice and be glad "(Psalm 117). No wonder, because the Lord has risen. Breaking the bonds of death, has risen victorious from the abyss. Welcome, brothers and sisters, the central mystery of our faith. The Resurrection of the Lord, indeed, is the focus that illuminates and gives meaning to the life of the Lord. Without it, everything is reduced to nothing. Without the Resurrection, or the Incarnation would be the incarnation of the Son of God, or we would have redeemed his death or his miracles would be miracles. Without the Resurrection, Jesus would be reduced to a genius of the spirit, or perhaps simply a great adventure full of good intentions, or maybe a crazy lit. What about us? What would we Christians? What would our church? Why would prayer, our religion, our traditions and the beautiful seasons of penance with such splendor that we just celebrated? What would be the moral effort, sacrifice and rowing against the tide if Jesus had definitely been devoured by death? San Pablo does not exaggerate when he says that "if Christ be not risen, vain is our faith ... We are the most wretched of men "(1 Cor 15.14-20) because they would believe in vain, in vain to expect, we nourish dreams, vacuum we would worship, our joy and our hope would be grotesque most bitter ever committed fraud. At dawn on Easter we heard the angel's words and your ad joyful and exultant: "Be not afraid. I know that ye seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here: he is risen "(Matthew 28.5-6). This is great news that the Church proclaims to the world today in an explosion of unrestrained joy, "Jesus is risen, Alleluia! Do not look among the living dead. " This is great news, great news that the Church, to over twenty centuries, has not ceased to proclaim. With women, you see the empty tomb the Lord, and the many witnesses who contemplate the risen Lord, we know that the Resurrection of Jesus is not a made legendary or symbolic, but real. It is not the mere survival of memory and message of the Master in the minds and hearts of his disciples. For the same reason, Christianity is not just a doctrine, a formula for happiness or a code of standards of conduct, but a way and a truth that is life, because its center is a living person, who has risen and is seated at God's right hand, always lives to intercede for us. Who lives and gives us life. In the Eastern Churches are numerous icons, which in three beautiful sequences rich in theological content, describe what the Lord's resurrection means for humanity. The first represents the burial of Christ, the second, his triumphant exit from the tomb, and the third risen Christ appears bent over an old man lying in an attitude of lifting. It is difficult to interpret this, rare in Western painting, but often repeated in the East: the old man is Adam, the old man of sin that so profusely referred to St. Paul in his letters. In fact, all humanity is weakened by sin of Paradise, on which the risen Christ leans back to life. The scene is a beautiful artistic recreation of what it represents for humanity the Lord's resurrection. Remember the description of man's creation in Genesis: God created Adam, leaning on his clay figure to infuse the spirit. It was the first start, the first of the works of God. Risen Christ, for his part, leans over to recreate the old Adam, communicating his saving grace, which also gives all his descendants. Is a new beginning, as important as the first. Dear Brothers and Sisters, dive into Easter. Unite the Church's jubilant Alleluia. Renew your hope. The Resurrection is the foundation, the source and certainty of our future resurrection. It should therefore be a source of boundless joy, for by so doing the Risen opens the gates of Heaven, where, as St. Augustine says, "we will see and rejoice, rejoice and love them. This will be the end without end. " This certainty must quicken our struggle every day, our work, family life and our determination to build a more just and fraternal society. This certainty and security becomes a source of meaning in illness, pain and suffering. This certainty, finally, is a driving force in the moral life and striving to be better, with the style of those who have risen with Christ and aspire to live a new life (Col 6.1-2). Happy Easter Sunday, brothers. Happy Easter to all Christians of Seville. † Juan Jose Asenjo Pelegrina Archbishop of Seville |
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