Archbishop Piero Pioppo, Apostolic Nuncio to Spain and Andorra, reads a message from the Pope on the occasion of the fourth edition of the \u201cFestival of the Resurrection\u201d in Plaza Cibeles, Madrid. The Pontiff\u2019s greeting and blessing upon the event: \u201cHow I wish that the very lives of Christians might become a concert\u201d<\/p>\n
By Daniele Piccini<\/p>\n
Just as, immediately after the Resurrection of the Lord more than two thousand years ago, \u201cmany bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised,\u201d came out of their tombs and \u201centered\u201d Jerusalem, so too today Easter does not \u201cremain sealed in the tomb,\u201d but \u201cbreaks into the city and enters everyday life through the lives of men and women.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is a passage from a message of Pope Leo XIV, read this evening, 11 April, by Archbishop Piero Pioppo, Apostolic Nuncio to Spain and Andorra, on the occasion of the fourth edition of the \u201cFestival of the Resurrection,\u201d held in Plaza Cibeles, one of the most iconic squares in Madrid, the capital of Spain. The event, attended by over 60,000 people, featured performances by artists such as the band Hakuna, the Andalusian group Gypsy Kings, and the Jamaican singer Liz Mitchell.<\/p>\n
Christ becomes present in the saints of today <\/p>\n
In his message for the Easter celebration, the Pontiff blesses this musical form of expressing joy at Christ\u2019s Resurrection.<\/p>\n
It is therefore fitting that you have gathered to celebrate, and that you have done so now for the fourth consecutive year. It is good and necessary that Easter should also find expression in music, in encounter, and in shared joy. Faith in Jesus Christ gives meaning to human joy: it purifies it, elevates it, and brings it to fulfilment.<\/p>\n
Easter comes forth from the tomb and transforms cities and history also through the lives of the saints, \u201cmartyrs and witnesses of Jesus.\u201d They are a model from whom Christians today can also draw inspiration: by imitating them, Christ once again \u201cwalks along your streets,\u201d becoming present \u201chere and now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The world needs to hear about Christ and to see Him in the actions of Christians who live out the newness of baptism. What is needed are young people who are not ashamed of the Gospel, communities that radiate hope, witnesses capable of making the Lord present in every sphere, lives set ablaze that make the beauty of faith visible.<\/p>\n
The joy of Easter bursts forth in music and song <\/p>\n
The musical celebration in Plaza Cibeles thus becomes, in the Bishop of Rome\u2019s message of greeting and blessing, a striking expression of Easter joy\u2014an uncontainable happiness that finds outward expression in song and music, and in the coming together of so many people in harmony. It is a form of expression that Leo XIV feels he can share personally and deeply.<\/p>\n
How I wish there were celebration throughout the whole world! How I wish that everywhere Easter joy might find voices, faces, and songs! But even more: how I wish that the very lives of Christians might become a concert, a great harmony of faith, unity, communion, and charity, capable of proclaiming to the world that Christ lives! May the flame of the Easter candle go forth from your churches. May it burn away all inner lukewarmness, all resignation, all spiritual mediocrity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will see each other in June\u201d <\/p>\n
Leo XIV invites everyone to bring this music of joy into their own lives, making \u201cyour lives a new song, one that renews the Church and brings the light of the Risen One to the world.\u201d Finally, he assures the faithful in Spain of his prayers and blessing, and looks ahead to their next meeting, which will take place during his apostolic journey to the Iberian Peninsula: \u201cGod willing, we will see each other in June.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Archbishop Piero Pioppo, Apostolic Nuncio to Spain and Andorra, reads a message from the Pope on the occasion…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[20,1909,70,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-2501","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-culture","9":"tag-easter","10":"tag-pope-leo-xiv","11":"tag-spain"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}