The Easter message of Monsignor Angelo Massafra

2024-03-30 12:14:00, Aktualitet CNA

On the eve of the Catholic Easter, the Archbishop of Shkodra, Monsignor Angelo Massafra, gave his congratulations and meanwhile gave a message for peace in the world, at this time when there is no shortage of wars.

"We are experiencing, today as never before, how true it is that, after we have removed God from our world, from our thoughts and from the choices that must be made every day in the personal, political and social sphere, everything we tend to see black How bad the news tells us every day!", he said, among other things.

He added that: "We must humbly accept that our world is so far from such an example of perfection and the cause of every great evil lies precisely in not imitating our Teacher and God".

MASSAFRA'S MESSAGE

Monsignor Angelo Massafra OFM/ Archbishop of Shkoder-Pult

Dear brothers and sisters, I bring you my heartfelt message on the occasion of the Easter of this year 2024.
It is a message of peace and hope that I wish to reach all of you, your families, as well as your loved ones. who are far away, who are in painful and sad situations: sick, imprisoned, poor and needy.

A message of peace in a world torn apart by war and haunted by the specter of potential full-scale conflict. A message of hope that helps us read the present with the eyes of religion and removes any fear for the future.
We are experiencing, today as never before, how true it is that, after we have removed God from our world, from our thoughts and from the choices that must be made every day in the personal, political and social spheres, we tend to see everything as black. . How bad the news shows us every day! For them it is a source of profit (because evil makes news and sells a lot), but for those who feed on this evil it is deadly poison. Yet the evil is there, it is real; that's how it's always been and we don't have to be surprised.
Religion helps us to have before our eyes the experience of Christ's Passover; an experience which, like ours, consists of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Religion does not make us close our eyes to evil, but it makes us understand it better and orient ourselves towards the good.
Christ faced evil; but as St. Peter teaches us: "Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example" (1 Pt 2, 21-24). What example? It is always St. Peter who explains it to us: "He who committed no sin and no lie was found on his lips; He who insulted them did not retaliate with insults and, saved, did not threaten, but left his case to the One who judges justly".
We must humbly admit that our world is so far from such an example of perfection, and the cause of every great evil lies precisely in the failure to imitate our Teacher and God. With his meekness, Christ defeated the arrogance of the strong: he did not curse Judas the traitor, but gave him that piece of bread of which he had said "this is my corpse/body..." and that "eucharistic" morsel became poison for evil that had conquered him.
Jesus died on the cross to raise us to new life. He who welcomes Jesus into his life is a new person, capable of doing what is good and what is right. Isn't that what our world needs: what is good and what is right?
We, brothers and sisters, as St. Peter concludes, "with his graves we have been healed". That is, He took our evil to transform it into good, to save and heal us. Thus, the Risen Christ illuminates our interpretation of the reality in which we live and encourages us to understand the good even where there is evil.
And then the next step: to be "healed" who look with tenderness and hope at the wounds of this world or our wounds to anoint them with the oil of consolation and the wine of hope (Roman Mass); without discouragement and unbelief, but with the courage of religion that goes through "Friday and Saturday" (ie the sufferings of the day!) to finally reach the morning of resurrection.
I wish you all to experience the shining light of Christ's Easter, His joy and the ability to be a "mirror", that you reflect it in the world you live in, in your family, in your dearest people, in your friendships, in your workplaces and in those where physical or moral suffering and pain is experienced.
Happy Easter, Catholic and Christian brothers and sisters. I bless you with all my heart. Christ is Risen, Hallelujah, Truly He is Risen Hallelujah! Cheers!/ CNA