The Valley Catholic
Pope Francis/Holy Week
‘Have the courage
to open your hearts
to the Lord’s love.’
and carrying a candle of his own, Pope
Francis entered the darkened basilica.
In his homily Pope Francis, who
often tells people to look up the date
of their baptism and commemorate it
each year, urged people to remember
and reflect on the first moment they
really recall having encountered Jesus.
Referring to the Easter account from
the Gospel of St. Matthew, Pope Francis
noted how the women who went to
Jesus’ tomb were told first by the angel
and then by the risen Lord to await
him in Galilee and tell the disciples to
go as well.
“After the death of the Master, the
disciples had scattered; their faith
had been utterly shaken, everything
seemed over,” the pope said. Yet they
were told to go back to Galilee, the place
they first met Jesus.
Returning to Galilee, he said, means
re-reading everything -- “Jesus’ preaching, his miracles, the new community,
the excitement and the defections, even
the betrayal -- to re-read everything
starting from the end, which is a new
beginning,” one that begins with Jesus’
“supreme act of love” in dying for humanity’s sin.
Departing repeatedly from his prepared text, Pope Francis kept telling
people: “Have no fear. Do not be afraid.
Have the courage to open your hearts”
to the Lord’s love.
11
‘Evil will not have last word,’
Easter proclaims that love gives life share it with others
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis
urged Christians to remember how
they first encountered Christ and to
share his love and mercy with others,
especially through acts of caring and
sharing.
Proclaiming the good news of Jesus’
resurrection means giving concrete
witness “to unconditional and faithful
love,” he said April 20 before solemnly
giving his blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the
city and the world).
The pope told at least 150,000 people
gathered in St. Pet