Pope warns against placing hope in "dead things" such as vanity, money and success
Vatican City ( AsiaNews) - Vanity, money and success are "dead things" , they cannot give life, so we should not place our hope in them, but in the Resurrection , "a milestone in history , but also a 'stumbling block': this was Pope Francis reflection on the Angel's words at the tomb "Why look among the dead for someone who is alive?" at the general audience .
An audience divided into two phases - the first in the Paul VI for the sick and elderly to avoid the rain in St Peter's Square. However the greetings for the Pope on his saint's name day were choral, today being the day on which the Church remembers St. George. The Pope toured among the 50 thousand people present in the square, as usual, greeting, blessing and kissing babies. At one point he even stopped and alighted to greet a group of kids with Argentinean flags and took a sip of "mate", offered by one of the faithful.
"This week - he said - is the week of joy, we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. It is a true, profound joy, based on the certainty that Christ is now risen, He is dead no more, but is alive and active in the Church and in the world . This certainty dwells in the hearts of believers from that Easter morning, when the women went to the tomb of Jesus and the angels said to them, "Why do you seek the living one among the dead" (Lk 24,5) ..."Why do you seek the living one among the dead?". These words are a milestone in history; but also a "stumbling block" if we do not open ourselves to the Good News , if we believe that a dead Jesus is less of a nuisance than a living Jesus! Instead, in our daily journey, we often need to hear : Why do you seek the living one among the dead? . How often do we look for life among dead things, things that cannot give life, that are here today and gone tomorrow, Why do you seek the living one among the dead?".
"We need [these words] when we close ourselves within many forms of selfishness
or self- complacency; when we allow ourselves to be seduced by the earthly
powers and the things of this world, forgetting God and neighbor; when we place
our trust in worldly vanities, in money, in success. Then the Word of God tells
us: "Why do you seek the living one among the dead?"'. Why are you looking
there, it can't give you life it will give you joy for a day a week a month a
year and then? Why do you seek the living one among the dead ? This sentence
needs to enter into our heart..... Why do you seek the living one among the dead?
Out loud! Why do you seek the living one among the dead ?"
"And today - he continued - when you go home say it in your heart, in silence ask why do I look in life among dead things for life? It will do us good! But it is not easy, it is not obvious to accept the life of the Risen Christ and His presence among us. The Gospel shows us the reactions of the Apostle Thomas, Mary Magdalene and the two disciples of Emmaus: it does us good to confront them. Thomas puts a condition on his faith, he asks to touch the evidence, the wounds ; Mary Magdalene weeps, she sees him but does not recognize him, she only realizes that it is Jesus when He calls her by name; the disciples of Emmaus, depressed and feeling defeated, encounter Jesus by allowing themselves to be accompanied by the mysterious traveler. Each by different paths ! They were looking among the dead for One who is alive, and it was the same Lord to correct their course. And what do I do ? Which route to do I follow to meet the risen and living Christ? He will always be close to us to correct our course if we have gone wrong.
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