As usual, Cardinal Maurice Piat, the Bishop of the Diocese of Port Louis, sends a message to Catholics and Mauritians on the occasion of Easter. The message underlines the anxiety of the world in the face of the economic crisis and the fact that Christ remains the hope of a better future.
Here is the full message:
Dear Mauritian brothers and sisters,
This evening I would like to wish you all a very happy Easter. Christ, our hope, has risen! This is good news, a great gift that God, our Father, wants to give to all his children, of all cultures and religions. For we are all called to rise with Christ.
Today, more than ever, the Risen One remains a beacon of hope at a time when our lives, those of our families, our companies, our workplaces are being turned upside down by COVID-19. In addition to this pandemic, we are faced with an even more serious crisis with the war in Ukraine. We are witnessing the horror of the massacre of innocent civilians, the destruction of hospitals, schools and homes. Already, as in many countries, we are suffering the aftershocks that are impacting our economy, driving up prices and upsetting households.
In the midst of these trials, in the heart of this night, how can we discern the first signs of a rising sun that would bring us a glimmer of hope? How can we gather the joy of the Risen Christ in the midst of all these uncertainties?
First of all, let us remember: Jesus who rises on the third day after his death is the one who, the day before, was rejected by his people, mocked by the Jewish religious authorities, condemned and crucified by the Roman political authorities and even abandoned by most of his disciples.
And yet, during his life, Jesus had not sought to raise the people or to take power, he had not accumulated any wealth; he had simply paid special attention to the poor, the sick, the outcasts of society; he had been welcoming to people of every culture and religion, of every social background, Jews and Gentiles alike; rich and poor alike; he had made himself close to public sinners who were singled out like prostitutes; people of ill repute, the corrupt.
But this humble, simple, open life went against the grain and bothered the religious and political authorities of the time. That is why these authorities finally had him arrested and subjected to all sorts of humiliations, even crucifying him as a criminal.
And here he is, this poor man, persecuted and rejected by all, whom God raises from the dead on Easter Day, the first born from the dead. Is God telling us that what counts in life, what lasts forever, is not our material wealth, our social status or the power we wield.
We can live a very fulfilled human life without great wealth, without worldly success and without holding positions of power. But we cannot live without love: love is like air that we breathe without realising it; if we have no clean air to breathe, we die. Similarly, if we no longer have a minimum of love, benevolence and solidarity, our human life dries up and eventually dies.
By raising Jesus from the dead, God wanted to show us that a man rejected, humiliated, abandoned by all, like Jesus, can continue to live a dignified and fruitful human life if he clings to God’s love for him, as Jesus did, and if, like Jesus, he continues to love his human brothers and sisters, even those who persecute him. Through the resurrection of Jesus, God shows us that this way of life, in which we allow ourselves to be loved freely and in which we love freely in turn, is not only possible, but that it is this life that lasts for eternity.
Today, at a time when, with the consequences of the war in Ukraine, we are facing a major economic and social crisis, the Risen Jesus invites us to trust him and to sow free love all around us.
Paradoxically, this crisis and all the deprivation and suffering that goes with it, can be an opportunity for us because it invites us to live differently, to assume our responsibilities towards our human brothers and sisters and to deepen the meaning of our lives.
To overcome this crisis, everyone sees that we must help each other, show solidarity and work together for the common good. The survival of all of us is at stake, because we are all in the same boat, and each one of us has something to contribute so that together we can get through this bad weather.
That is why we should not hesitate to build bridges between neighbours, between NGOs, between state services and private enterprise. Let us keep our eyes on the common good. Let us pay attention to the weakest, the most vulnerable who need a special helping hand.
These initiatives will undoubtedly meet with obstacles, opposition, they may be mocked, as Jesus was. But they will also be like grains of wheat thrown into the earth, seeds that will have to disappear into the ground, go through a certain death in order to germinate, grow and bear fruit. In this way, in the wake of the risen Jesus, paths of new life will open up, paths of hope.
At Easter, Christ tells us again that he trusts us. Let us trust him too. Yes, the risen Christ is alive among us. He is the hope of a better future. It is in this sense that without hesitation today, in the midst of this crisis and all the fears and uncertainties that it brings, I can wish you all the joy of Easter. Let us trust in the Risen Jesus. He will lead us, and this passage we have to make to renounce a life centred on ourselves will lead to true fraternity, a deep joy, a shared joy, the joy of Easter.
I wish you this Easter joy with all my heart.
