Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Boutros Al-Rahi, presided this morning over Easter Mass at the altar of the “Chapel of the Resurrection” in Bkirki. In his religious sermon marking the holy occasion, entitled “Christ is Risen – Truly Risen!”, the Patriarch said: “This greeting from the Christian tradition is the word and rock of faith. The belief that Christ, who died to redeem the sins of all mankind, rose from the dead to infuse in every believer, male and female, divine life in order to sanctify him. As for the rock, it is that we have become ‘sons of the resurrection’ – as we die with Him for our sins and we rise with His strength to a state of grace. We, thus, experience the ‘resurrection of the heart’, and we become ‘sons of hope’ that banishes all despair and loss…” Al-Rahi considered that the “resurrection of Christ” calls us to the “‘resurrection of our hearts’ with a new life, in which we imitate Jesus-the Man. “The resurrection of Christ is not exclusively for Christians, but for all people. Being the basis of the Christian faith does not mean that it is restricted to Christians, as it is for all human beings,” the Patiarch went on, adding, “Jesus is the Savior of the world and the Redeemer of man. As for Christians, they are witnesses and proclaimers of the resurrection, and at the same time they are committed to its fruits, and they will be condemned for neglecting it.” He stressed that every official in the church, state, society, and family who does not live in the “resurrection of the heart” rather drowns himself in selfishness and petty interests, and closes his heart to love, devotion, giving, and forgiveness, and remains a prisoner of his pride and whims, digging a deep wedge between him and those under his responsibility, and hence loses the trust of those within his circle of responsibility. The Patriarch, thus, urged all members of parliament to rise up to their call of duty, take off the label of minors and failures and immediately elect a president of the republic who is a trustworthy figure, capable of leading the process of the country’s recovery from collapse on every level. Al-Rahi said to the deputies, “Search for such a person and elect him quickly, and get out of the confusion and waiting for the password, and stop destroying the state institutionally, economically and financially, and impoverishing and humiliating the people, and leaving the homeland open to threats and tampering with its security and sovereignty…Remove off of you the labels of minors and losers!” Al-Rahi concluded: “Easter invites us all to resurrection to a new, responsible life. In fact, it invites each one of us according to his condition and responsibility. We hope for a resurrection: for the poor to a state of decent living, for the ill to a state of complete recovery, for the desperate to a state of hope, for the oppressed to the joy of justice, for the disputants to a state of reconciliation, and for the closed prospects of our rising generations to witness openness and self-realization within the homeland…When we experience this passage through the grace of the resurrection, we can fully proclaim with a believing heart that Christ has risen! Truly risen!”

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon