(Easter Message-2024)
Ingeburg Psalter
“On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early in the morning; it was still darkness.” (Jn 20:1) These words of Saint John which accompany us every year on Easter morning, continue to amaze us tirelessly. It seems that he chose his words carefully, wrapping them in a white robe of simplicity to give us the impression that everything is easy and devoid of complexity. Thus, it guides us from what we see and understand to what we feel and grasp deep within.
Contemplating the moments when the Risen One reveals himself to his disciples, we feel like children impatiently awaiting the first light of dawn to collect the Easter water. On this path, silence is required not because we have nothing to say, but because we cannot say everything. In Franciscan writings, it is mentioned that our father Francis was very reluctant to recount his experience of the stigmata. His silence was beyond anything words can express. Silence is a journey into interiority.
Silence is a journey into interiority.
Historically, there have been divergent theological positions on the question: Would the incarnation have been possible without Adam's sin? The Franciscan school answers in the affirmative. Bonaventure, following his master Alexandre de Hales, affirms that God is love, the fullness of love, and that the incarnation is the overflow of this fullness of God. This Easter season invites us to let ourselves be transformed by this “Paschal silence”, which is an act of overflowing the love of God in us.
Christ is alive! Hallelujah!
He is among us! Hallelujah!
Happy Easter!
Brother Benny Vincent, OFMCap.
Provincial Minister
*(Gen.1,5)