REGINA CAELI TODAY
More Easter reflections
on Divine Mercy Sunday
April 15, 2012
Pope Benedict XVI prayed the Regina caeli with the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square this Sunday – the Octave of Easter (Sunday after Easter) and Divine Mercy Sunday.
In remarks ahead of the prayer, the Holy Father focused on the continuing celebrations of the season, saying, “Each year, celebrating Easter, we relive the experience of the first disciples of Jesus, the experience of meeting him Risen.”
The Pope went on to say, “Christian worship is not just a commemoration of past events, or even a particular mystical, interior experience, but essentially an encounter with the Risen Lord,” adding that Christ is at once with God the Father, beyond time and space, and yet, really present to us all. “He speaks to us in Scripture,” he said, “and breaks for us the bread of eternal life.”
Pope Benedict said that through these signs we live what the disciples experienced, that is, seeing Jesus and at the same time not to recognize him – touching his body, a real body, yet free from earthly ties.
Christ’s greeting to the disciples in the upper room, as recorded in the Gospel according to St John: “Peace be with you,” was a special focus of the Holy Father’s remarks.
“This traditional greeting,” he said, is in that scene transformed into something new. “It becomes the gift of peace that only Jesus can give,” said Pope Benedict, “because it is the fruit of his radical victory over evil. The peace that Jesus offers to his friends is the fruit of the love of God that led him to die on the cross, to pour out all of his blood in payment, as the meek and humble Lamb, “full of grace and truth.”
The Holy Father said that in proclaiming the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday, Blessed John Paul II had the an icon in mind: that of the pierced side of Christ, from which flow blood and water. But now Christ is risen, and from the Living Christ spring the Easter Sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist: those who approach them with faith receive the gift of eternal life.
My addendum:
In his greeting to French-speaking and Slovakian pilgrims, he said something about the coming anniversary of his Pontificate. In French, he said:
On Thursday, on the occasion of the seventh anniversary of my election to the See of Peter, I ask you to pray for me so that the Lord may give me the strength to accomplish the mission that he has entrusted to me".
In Slovakian, he said:
Brothers and sisters, I thank you for the prayers with which you have accompanied by service as the Successor of Peter and I bless you and your families from the heart.
He then addressed the faithful gathered in Lagiewniki, Poland, and the Polish pilgrims present:
I cordially greet all Poles, especially those who are taking part in the liturgical celebrations of Divine Mercy Sunday in the Shrine at Łagiewniki, where, ten years ago, blessed John Paul II said, "We must transmit to the world the fire of divine mercy. In the mercy of God, the world will find peace, and man will find happiness." Faithful to this exhortation, let is announce to the word the message of the merciful Jesus, of which we are witnesses.
Here is a translation of the Holy Father's main message today:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Every year, in celebrating Easter, we relive the experience of the first disciples of Jesus, the experience of meeting with him resurrected. John's Gospel recounts that they saw him appear among them in the Cenacle on the evening of the Resurrection itself, "the first day of the week" and then "eight days later" (cfr Jn 20,19-26).
That day, which they then called 'dominica" - the Lord's Day - is the day of assembly for the Christian community which gathers for its own worship, namely, the Eucharist, which was, from the beginning, a new and distinct worship from the Jewish Sabbath.
Indeed, the celebration of the Lord's Day is one very strong proof of the Resurrection of Christ, because only an extraordinary and overwhelming event would have led the first Christians to begin a new worship that was different from the Jewish Sabbath.
Then as now, Christian worship is not just a commemoration of past events, nor is it a particular mystical and interior experience, but it is essentially a meeting with the Risen Lord, who lives in the dimension of God, beyond time and space, but nonetheless makes himself truly present amidst the community, who speaks to us in Sacred Scriptures and breaks for us the Bread of eternal life.
Through these signs, we relive what the disciples experienced, namely, the fact if seeing Jesus and at the same time, not recognizing him; of touching his body, a real body, but which was free of earthly bonds.
What the Gospel tells us is very important, namely, that Jesus in his two apparitions to the Apostles gathered in the Cenacle, repeats the greeting "Peace be with you" many times (Jn 20, 19.21.26).
The traditional greeting, with which they wished each other shalom, peace, has become a new thing: It becomes the gift of that peace that only Jesus can give, because it is the fruit of his radical victory ever evil.
The peace that Jesus offers to his friends is the fruit of God's love which brought him to die on the Cross, to shed all his blood as the gentle and humble Lamb, "full of grace and of truth" (Jn 1,14).
That is why Blessed John Paul II named this Sunday after Easter after Divine Mercy, with a specific icon in mind: that of the pierced side of Christ, from which blood and water came forth, according to the eyewitness account of the apostle John (cfr Jn 19,34-37).
Now Jesus has risen, and from the living Jesus flow the Paschal Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. Whoever comes to the Sacraments with faith receives the gift of eternal life.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us welcome the gift of peace that the Risen Jesus offers us. Let us allow our hearts to be filled with his mercy. In this way, with the strength of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit that resurrected Jesus from the dead, we too can bring to others these Paschal gifts. May the Most Holy Mary, Mother of Mercy, obtain this for us.
After the prayers, he said:
I wish first of all to greet the pilgrims who took part in the Holy Mass presided by Cardinal Vicar Agostino Vallini in the church of Santo Spirito in Sassia, a special place for the worship of Divine Mercy, where St. Faustina Kowalska and Blessed John Paul II are also specially venerated. I wish you all to be witnesses to the merciful love of Christ. Thank you for your presence.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 16/04/2012 02:48]