It is a childhood memory that I am sure is shared by many Catholics around the world. Gathering around the Television on Easter Sunday to listen to the Holy Father’s Urbi Et Orbi. As a child, the highlight was hearing the Pope, the Vicar of Christ, share his blessings and Easter greetings in my language. The universality of the Church is never as evident as in days such as these.
This year, addressing the people of North Africa and the Middle East, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI said:
“In the countries of northern Africa and the Middle East, may all citizens, especially young people, work to promote the common good and to build a society where poverty is defeated and every political choice is inspired by respect for the human person. “ (emphasis mine)
Let us heed this call to authentic Christian discipleship and proclaim the Easter message boldly, loudly, and filled with Christian love.
Now that I am older, it is not only the Pope’s greetings delivered in Kiswahili that inspire me, but as they have done in years past, hearing again this year, as if for the first time “Heri na baraka zangu kwa sikukuu ya Pasaka kwenu wote, “ I was left smiling from ear to ear!
Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? 1 Corinthians 15:55