During the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday, Pope Leo XIV appealed to believers to commit themselves to ensuring that the Paschal gifts of harmony and peace flourish everywhere and always in the world. In his homily in St. Peter's Basilica, he called not to be paralyzed by war and injustice.
Leo XIV began his homily during the most important and longest mass in the liturgical year with the words: – The sanctifying power of this night dispels hatred, inclines to harmony and bends powers.
— It is a Christmas Eve full of light, the oldest in the Christian tradition, called the “mother of all Christmas Eves”. In it we relive the memory of the victory of the Lord of life over death and abyss. We do this after experiencing in recent days, as in one great celebration, the mysteries of the Passion of God, who became for us a man of sorrows, despised and rejected by people, tortured and crucified – said the pope.
Then he asked, “Is there any greater love?” Is there any more complete selflessness? “Man can kill the body, but the life of the God of love is eternal life that transcends death and which no grave can imprison,” he added.
Leo XIV explained: – This, dear ones, is also our message to the world today, an encounter to which we want to testify with words of faith and deeds of mercy, singing “Alleluia” with our lives.
– Just like the women who ran to announce this news to their brothers, we also want to set out from this basilica this night to bring everyone the good news that Jesus has risen and that by his power, by rising with him, we too can give birth to a new world, a world of peace and unity – he noted.
Leo XIV: these are not some unattainable heroes
The Pope said: – Even in our times, there is no shortage of tombs that need to be opened, and often the stones that close them are so heavy and so carefully guarded that they seem immovable. Some of them overwhelm a person's heart, such as distrust, fear, selfishness, resentment; others, being a consequence of these internal ones, break the bonds between us, such as war, injustice, isolation between nations and states.
“Let's not let them paralyze us,” he urged.
— Many men and women over the centuries, with God's help, have rolled away these stones, sometimes with great difficulty, sometimes at the cost of their lives, but with good fruits that we enjoy to this day. These are not some unattainable heroes, but people like us who, strengthened by the grace of the Risen One, in love and truth, had the courage to speak, as the Apostle Peter says, with the words of God – added Leo XIV.
He appealed: – Let us allow ourselves to be inspired by their example and on this holy night let us accept their commitment as our own, so that everywhere and always in the world the Paschal gifts of harmony and peace may grow and flourish.
