Easter 2013 message from Bishop Kasomo Daniel to all people of goodwill in Kenya.

Jesus remember me when you come into your Kingdom.

Towards the end of his First Letter to the Corinthians Saint Paul states: “that Christ died for our sins, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3-4). This is the gospel in miniature version, short enough that it can even fit into a single Tweet! Yet in those twenty-three words, the story of Easter is perfectly captured. Christ died, he was buried and, on the first Easter Sunday, he was raised from the dead, as had been foretold in the Scriptures. This is the essence of our faith; we are an Easter people who believe that God sent his Son into the world that we might be saved.

The season of Lent is traditionally a time of fasting and abstinence in preparation for Easter. These were, and continue to be, exciting days. I am reminded of this when I read the Gospel reading from John 20:1-9, which we read on Easter Sunday morning. When he hears the news that the tomb is empty, John takes off running, so excited is he that the worst may not be true; that the Lord might be alive!

That life is key to Easter and to the story of the resurrection. It is a story that brings life. Jesus has not succumbed to the power of death, but has been raised by God to a new life; and death has no power over him. We are called to imitate Jesus in his life, so that we may with him be raised to the fullness of life.  At this time I ask again of Catholics – and of all people of goodwill across the world – to celebrate and cherish the gift of human life in all its stages from conception to its natural end.

Pope Francis, in his first Homily as Pope, has spoken of the importance keeping Christ in the centre of our lives and following him on the way of the Cross. This will not always be easy, but it is our calling as Christians.

In his Homily at the inaugural Mass of Petrine Ministry, Pope Francis said: ‘Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked Saint Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who serve with love are able to protect!’

These inspiring words have been supported by actions, which have provided iconic images beamed across the world. The joyful embrace of the man with a disability whom Pope Francis embraced as he was held in the arms of his carer; the moving scenes of the Pope washing (and kissing) the feet of twelve young people in Casal del Marmo penal institute; the throngs of people who were greeted by the Pope after his first Sunday Mass celebrated in the Church of Saint Anna, are all reminiscent of scenes in the Gospels. The example given by Pope Francis presents a challenge to each of us, the same challenge presented by Jesus in Matthew chapter 25 to reach out in service to our sisters and brothers in need.

On that first Easter morning, Mary went to the tomb while it was still dark. Yet that darkness dissipated, and the light of hope and resurrection began to shine. Today, almost 2,000 years later, there are still moments of darkness in everyone’s life: families hit by recession struggling to make ends meet; tables with an empty chair, especially following the tragic loss of a loved one; families struggling with addiction; yet as Christians we cling to the hope born in the empty tomb. Darkness will not have the last word; the journey does not end at the Cross but begins again with the Resurrection. It is my prayer that the light of Christ enter the hearts and minds of all  people this Easter.       

Bishop Kasomo Daniel is the Bishop of The Society of St.Peter and Paul (SSPP).

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, a member of the Society of Jesus, was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 17, 1936.

Serving as Archbishop of Buenos Aires before the papal election, Pope Francis was ordained a Jesuit priest on December 13, 1969. He completed his studies in theology at the Faculty of Theology of San Miguel, Argentina. He would go on to lecture in theology and act as novice master here after his graduation. From 1973-1979 he worked as Jesuit Provincial, and moved to become rector of the Philosophy and Theology Faculty of San Miguel from 1980-1986.

Pope Francis was consecrated as Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires on June 27, 1992, and later appointed Archbishop of Buenos Aires on June 3, 1997. In this capacity he acted as Ordinary for the Eastern-rite in Argentina for those lacking an Ordinary of their own rite.

He was elevated to the College of Cardinals on February 21, 2001, by Blessed John Paul II.  Pope Francis has served as President of the Bishops’ Conference of Argentina from November 8, 2005-November 8, 2011. He has been a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, the Congregation for the Clergy, the Pontifical Council for the Family, and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

THE YEAR OF FAITH AND VATICAN II COUNCIL

 During the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization for the Transformation of the Christian Faith, news came that Giovanni Battista Montini, better known as Pope Paul VI (above), could be beatified in the near future.  He was very much what we might call a “Vatican II” bishop, first in Milan and later as pope; that is, he adopted wholeheartedly one of the principle attitudes of many churchmen at the time – that the church must be open, dialogue with, and even adapt (as much as possible) to the modern world.  So, on September 15, 1965 Paul VI established the Synod of Bishops in words echoing the approach of his predecessor, John XXIII:

The Apostolic concern leading Us to carefully survey the signs of the times and to make every effort to adapt the means and methods of the holy apostolate to the changing circumstances and need of our day, impels Us to establish even closer ties with the bishops in order to strengthen Our union  with them. . . For daily experience has taught Us how helpful this kind of union will be in carrying out Our apostolic Office. . . We intend to use every means available to Us to promote and foster it. (Emphasis added)

The experience of the Second Vatican Council, especially this genuine union or “collegiality,” lit a fire in the hearts and minds of the leaders of the church at the time, so much so that new and tangible things came about, one being the creation of the Synod of bishops.  Paul VI went on to say that it was the Council in fact, that gave him the idea for a permanent Synod of bishops, “with the aim of providing for a continuance after the Council of the great abundance of benefits that We have been so happy to see flow to the Christian people during the time of the Council as a result of Our close collaboration with the bishops.” (Apostolica Sollicitudo)

That the Second Vatican Council came about under John XXIII and the permanent Synod of Bishops under Paul VI is no accident.  It was precisely the attitude of openness to the modern world that they shared which gave birth to new, exciting, tangible and life-giving realities in the Catholic Church.  To miss this point is to miss a fundamental part of our two-thousand year tradition.  Openness and adaptation have always characterized the authentic attitude which shapes the approach and actions of the Church, to the extent that when this attitude is restrained or impeded, the Church deteriorates rapidly.

Fear is often the motivating force behind such restraint and impediment, which reveals itself in the condemnation of the modern world and those Christians who offer it a hand of peace, in a selective reading and endorsement of the Church’s teachings, and in succumbing to an anachronistic nostalgia.  The response to this fear must be a call to deeper faith.  As Pope Benedict said in his homily on October 11, to mark the 50^th anniversary of Vatican II and the opening of the Year of Faith, “The [Second Vatican] Council Fathers wished to present the faith in a meaningful way; and if they opened themselves trustingly to dialogue with the modern world it is because they were certain of their faith, of the solid rock on which they stood.”

To what extent this attitude of openness and adaptation manifested itself at the recent Synod on the New Evangelization must be discussed later.  Here it is sufficient to recognize the link between this attitude of openness and adaptation (which materialized at the Council) and the birth of new, exciting, tangible and life-giving realities in the Church (i.e. The Synod of Bishops).  The Church is more itself, more catholic and more orthodox when faith trumps fear and this mentality disseminates through the People of God.

In 1965 Pope Paul VI, together with the bishops and the whole Church welcomed what was new.  Have we as individuals and a church adopted this same mentality fifty years later?  How open are we to the modern world?  To what level do we adapt the gospel to the culture and people of our time?  If the Church exists to evangelize, as Pope Benedict said at the opening Mass of the Synod on the New Evangelization, will we Catholics today acknowledge and attempt her true work: “to adapt the Gospel to the understanding of all and the requirements of the learned, insofar as this could be done.  Indeed, this kind of adaptation and preaching of the revealed word must ever be the law of all evangelization.” (Gaudium et Spes, pt. 1, ch. 4, n. 44)

By Rt.Rev.Bishop Kasomo Daniel The Prelate of the Society of St.Peter and Paul Inc.