Pope Francis’ Blessings to the World 2024| Stone Rolled Away

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               “Who will roll away the stone for us …?”

               __ Mark 16: 3 (New International Version)

“Peace is never made with arms
but with outstretched hands
and open hearts.”

The Vatican – Easter Sunday, 31 March 2024 | Today, heavy stones block humanity's hopes:

               the stone of war,

               the stone of humanitarian crises,
               the stone of human rights violations,
               the stone of human trafficking,
               and other rocks as well.

This is the fantastic discovery of that Easter morning: the immense stone was rolled away.

The tomb of Jesus is open and empty! From this, everything begins anew! A new path leads through that empty tomb: the path that none of us, but God alone, could open: the path of life amid death, the path of peace amid war, the path of reconciliation amid hatred, the path of fraternity amid hostility.

…

Let us not allow the current hostilities to continue to have grave repercussions on the civil population, by now at the limit of its endurance, and above all, on the children. How much suffering we see in the eyes of the children: the children in those lands at war have forgotten how to smile! With those eyes, they ask us: Why? Why all this death? Why all this destruction? War is always an absurdity. War is always a defeat! Let us not allow the strengthening winds of war to blow on Europe and the Mediterranean. Let us not yield to the logic of weapons and rearming. Peace is never made with arms but with outstretched hands and open hearts.

…

May the light of the resurrection illuminate our minds, convert our hearts, and make us aware of the value of every human life, which must be welcomed, protected, and loved.

A happy Easter to all!

Excerpted from:

URBI ET ORBI MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS, EASTER 2024, Central loggia of the Vatican Basilica, Sunday, 31 March 2024 

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/events/event.dir.html/content/vaticanevents/en/2024/3/31/urbi-et-orbi.html