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In the resurrection love is shown to be stronger than death, Pope says at Easter Vigil

Vatican City, Apr 7, 2007 / 06:47 pm (CNA).- Preaching to a group of pilgrims and prelates, who filled the entirety of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the readings and liturgy of the Easter Vigil and reminded those present that in Christ’s victorious Resurrection the power of love is shown to be a force more powerful than death.

The Holy Father considered the Apostle’s Creed, which is professed on the Easter Vigil, and pointed out that Christ is said to have descended into hell, from where he rose again. In this descent, the Pope said, Christ is made victorious over the gates of hell and the power of death.

“There is no key for those iron doors,” Benedict said. “But Christ has the key. His Cross opens wide the gates of death, the stern doors. They are barred no longer. His Cross, his radical love, is the key that opens them. The love of the One who, though God, became man in order to die – this love has the power to open those doors. This love is stronger than death.”

The joy of the Easter Vigil, the Holy Father declared, is that, “we are free.”

“In the resurrection of Jesus, love has been shown to be stronger than death, stronger than evil. Love made Christ descend, and love is also the power by which he ascends; the power by which he brings us with him.”

Though mankind was created with an immortal soul, Pope Benedict recalled, “his own powers are insufficient to lift him up to God.”

Therefore, he concluded, “In union with his love, borne aloft on the wings of love, as persons of love, let us descend with him into the world’s darkness, knowing that in this way we will also rise up with him.”


Below is the entire text of the Holy Father’s Homily:


Dear Brothers and Sisters!

From ancient times the liturgy of Easter day has begun with the words: Resurrexi et adhuc tecum sum – I arose, and am still with you; you have set your hand upon me. The liturgy sees these as the first words spoken by the Son to the Father after his resurrection, after his return from the night of death into the world of the living. The hand of the Father upheld him even on that night, and thus he could rise again.
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 7:40 AM