Pope Francis’s death on April 21st has rocked the world. It has been 20 years since a reigning pontiff has died and the Church is reeling in the midst of a “sede vacante.” (a vacant seat) Though his death was not exactly unexpected with his recent health issues, nonetheless it is a big shift as the faithful mourn his passing. What strange providence that his final day in the world and among those in the world was Easter Sunday. Though he was unable to deliver his final homily himself on Sunday his words provide ample food for meditation during the remainder of this Easter season, as we pray for the repose of his soul and pray for whomever will next occupy the Chair of St. Peter. 

His homily is centered on Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John, the central figures of the Easter morning Gospel from St. John, 

Mary Magdalene, seeing that the stone of the tomb had been rolled away, ran to tell Peter and John. After receiving the shocking news, the two disciples also went out and — as the Gospel says — “the two were running together” (Jn 20:4). The main figures of the Easter narratives all ran! On the one hand, “running” could express the concern that the Lord’s body had been taken away; but, on the other hand, the haste of Mary Magdalene, Peter and John expresses the desire, the yearning of the heart, the inner attitude of those who set out to search for Jesus. He, in fact, has risen from the dead and therefore is no longer in the tomb. We must look for him elsewhere.

This is the message of Easter: we must look for him elsewhere. Christ is risen, he is alive! He is no longer a prisoner of death, he is no longer wrapped in the shroud, and therefore we cannot confine him to a fairy tale, we cannot make him a hero of the ancient world, or think of him as a statue in a museum! On the contrary, we must look for him and this is why we cannot remain stationary.  We must take action, set out to look for him: look for him in life, look for him in the faces of our brothers and sisters, look for him in everyday business, look for him everywhere except in the tomb.

Pope Francis points out the action of Easter morning - action that should carry over into our own lives. We often get the sense that all the action happens during the Lenten season - the extra prayers, new devotions, fasting, almsgiving, taking things on or letting things go. We often forget that the Easter season (because, indeed, it is not just a day but a 50 day season) impels us to action. We must adopt the “yearning of the heart” of the disciples. We are compelled to “look for him elsewhere.” Jesus asks Mary Magdalene, “Whom do you seek?” And we have to ask the question of ourselves: after the 40 days in the desert, am I still seeking the Lord or am I just basking in the comparative ease of Easter? Have my Lenten penances just been cast aside, or have they prepared my heart to revel in the wonder and awe of the resurrected Lord by continuing to seek His face wherever I go? 

Further on, Pope Francis meditates on how the reality of living in a fallen world comingles with the joy of the resurrection in the microcosm of Mary Magdalene’s experience of Easter morning: 

Like Mary Magdalene, every day we can experience losing the Lord, but every day we can also run to look for him again, with the certainty that he will allow himself to be found and will fill us with the light of his resurrection.

Brothers and sisters, this is the greatest hope of our life: we can live this poor, fragile and wounded existence clinging to Christ, because he has conquered death, he conquers our darkness and he will conquer the shadows of the world, to make us live with him in joy, forever. This is the goal towards which we press on, as the Apostle Paul says, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead (cf. Phil 3:12-14). Like Mary Magdalene, Peter and John, we hasten to meet Christ.

Each of us is Mary Magdalene on Easter morning when we fall into sin (and lose His grace) and turn to Christ seeking forgiveness (and grace is restored through confession). We all can have hope in the promsie of Heaven. These are poignant words indeed to consider knowing that Pope Francis took his final breath the next day and had to come face to face with Our Lord. 

Let us pray for the repose of his soul and let us carry these words with us throughout the Easter season, seeking Christ wherever we go.