“The resurrection is not where we left him; he goes before us.”
With this affirmation, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, declared in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher that Easter does not confirm human certainties, but rather destabilizes them in order to open the believer to living faith.
from the same place where Jesus conquered death, the cardinal said: “Here, inside this tomb, we are not facing a symbol: we are facing a real emptiness. An emptiness that is not an absence but an proclamation.”
He points out that the gospel accounts show Mary Magdalene facing uncertainty, the first expression of authentic faith: “We do not know where they have laid her.”
“God does not allow himself to be captured. The risen man is not where we expected him to be. He is not limited by the limits of our certainties,” he said, emphasizing that “it is not we who protect God; it is God who sets us free.”
In its reflectionThe patriarch warned against comfortable or routine religiosity. “On the other hand, we want a kind of faith that doesn’t turn our world upside down,” he said, adding in the revival, “God does something we didn’t ask for: He steps back. Not to run away, but to protect us from misunderstanding—that faith is something that must be held.”
Reflecting on the empty tomb, the Cardinal said signs such as the folded burial clothes show that the resurrection is not a magical act, but an expression of freedom: “Death is no longer a garment that is hidden, but a garment that is carefully put aside, which is no longer needed.”
The cardinal also linked the Easter message to the current political reality in the Holy Land, which is marked by conflict. “We know very well that many stones remain sealed around us,” he lamented, referring to “hatred, violence and vengeance.”
In that context, he issued a warning: “It seems that every time we put God in the grave and assume that death has the final authority over history.”
In light of this, he affirmed that Easter “is no distant dogma, but resigned defiance. It is the only hope that can still, here and now, open the doors of peace.”
The patriarch emphasized the universal character of Christianity and reminded people that “God shows no partiality” and that “no life is ‘too lost’ to be found.”
He said that Christianity is not limited to contemplation, but actually involves following Jesus Christ: “The Resurrection is not an object of worship; He is a person who calls. He is not just to contemplate; He is to be followed.”
Similarly, he warned about the risk of taking away the meaning of the Christian life: “Even sacred places can become museums if they do not become escapades (moving forward) … The liturgy can become routinized if it does not lead to conversion.”
Finally, Pizzaballa calls for Easter to be lived concretely in daily life, saying that “coming out (of the empty tomb) means choosing forgiveness when it would be easier to harden our hearts; choosing truth when it would be more comfortable to conform; choosing hope when everything suggests the opposite.”
He affirmed, “Easter is not a phrase to be repeated; it is a door to be walked through. The stone has been removed. The way is open. But we must decide whether to stay in or go out.”
The patriarch concluded with the central proclamation of Christianity: “The Lord is risen! And precisely because he is risen, we will never find him where we left him. We will find him standing before us, calling us.”
this story was first published By ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language affiliate of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
