Easter message of the Apostolic Visitor with a special role for the parish of Medjugorje, Archbishop Aldo Cavalli

Many times I am told: "Did the apostles physically see the risen Jesus? Did they encounter his person? Did they eat with Him? Did they see Him? Did they hear Him? Did they touch Him? They saw him risen with the wounds of passion, but no longer in the suffering of passion. They saw Him, they saw Him with their own eyes. And we? We do not see Jesus physically. We do not touch His person. We do not eat with Him. How do we see Him?

We and the apostles have only one great principle for seeing and understanding Jesus - the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit the apostles would not have written what they wrote about Jesus - alive and risen. Without the Holy Spirit the apostles would not have preached what they preached about Jesus, about what He did and what He said. Without the Holy Spirit we would not have understood that God the Father, at a certain hour, in the fullness of time, sent his Son among us: born of the Virgin Mary. The Holy Spirit completely changed them – Pentecost – the Church was born there. And Pentecost means: the Holy Spirit in them, the Holy Spirit in us. This is how Saint Paul is understood when he writes: no one can say “Jesus is Lord”, “Jesus is Christ”, “Jesus is the Son of God”, unless the Holy Spirit in him says “He is Lord”. Like when the apostles, while fishing, saw that man on the shore of the lake, and John said “It is the Lord” – without the Holy Spirit he could not have said that.

In the Holy Spirit we see. We see the risen Lord in the Eucharist. That bread and that wine, transformed by the Holy Spirit and by the words of the living Jesus, are a sign of His presence, the reality of His presence. Indeed, when I consecrate the bread and wine and look – what do I see? Bread. What do I eat? Bread. What do I see? Wine. What do I drink? Wine. What do I say? My Lord and my God – in the Holy Spirit. Then I come before you, offer you that consecrated particle and say “Body of Christ”, and you say “Amen” in the Holy Spirit, which means “Lord, I believe and I cling to you”. In the Holy Spirit we understand His presence in the Eucharist. In the Holy Spirit we understand His presence in the Bible. In the Holy Spirit we understand His presence in baptism. The Holy Spirit is the one who incarnates the Lord Jesus Christ with that sign and those words and we see. In the Holy Spirit you are married and become a visible sign of the invisible unity of Jesus Christ and the Church. In the Holy Spirit, when I was young, the bishop called upon the Holy Spirit, laid his hands on me and said a prayer – in the Holy Spirit he transformed me. In the Holy Spirit we will see Him in heaven as He is. But in the Holy Spirit we live and relive his presence here. We live and relive the Eucharist: celebrating the memorial of the death and resurrection of Jesus. But He died only once. He rose only once. The commemoration means making His death and resurrection present here. I see Him, I make Him present and then I say: “My Lord and my God”. Here is the real and true presence of the Lord Jesus among us.

Happy Easter! Happy Easter to all! And may the Holy Spirit, especially on the Easter Vigil, grant us to see the risen Lord. Happy Easter to all!