Aftenposten skriver i dag litt om pavens påsketale på Petersplassen i går, men de nevner faktisk ikke et eneste ord om det paven sa om påsken.
«Kjære brødre og søstre over hele verden
Menn og kvinner av god vilje!
Kristus er oppstått! Fred være med dere! I dag feirer vi det store mysteriet, fundamentet for kristen tro og håp: Jesus fra Nasaret, den korsfestede, har stått opp fra de døde på den tredje dag som Skriften forutsa.»
Slik åpnet paven sin hilsen, men det eneste Aftenposten har med er: «Ingenting positivt skjer i Irak. Paven slo ikke bare fast at det ikke skjer noe som helst i positiv retning i Irak. Han uttrykte også bekymring for at situasjonen i Afghanistan er i ferd med å bli mer blodig og ustabil.»
Paven sa riktignok 10 ord om Irak og like mange om Afganistan, men det blir mer interessant å lese dem i sammenheng. Pave Benedikt valgte seg apostelen Tomas som en sentral person i sin preken, fordi han illusterer både vår tvil og vår tro.
“My Lord and my God!” We too renew that profession of faith of Thomas. I have chosen these words for my Easter greetings this year, because humanity today expects from Christians a renewed witness to the resurrection of Christ; it needs to encounter him and to know him as true God and true man. If we can recognize in this Apostle the doubts and uncertainties of so many Christians today, the fears and disappointments of many of our contemporaries, with him we can also rediscover with renewed conviction, faith in Christ dead and risen for us. This faith, handed down through the centuries by the successors of the Apostles, continues on because the Risen Lord dies no more. He lives in the Church and guides it firmly towards the fulfilment of his eternal design of salvation.
We may all be tempted by the disbelief of Thomas. Suffering, evil, injustice, death, especially when it strikes the innocent such as children who are victims of war and terrorism, of sickness and hunger, does not all of this put our faith to the test? ….
… Dear Brothers and sisters, through the wounds of the Risen Christ we can see the evils which afflict humanity with the eyes of hope. In fact, by his rising the Lord has not taken away suffering and evil from the world but has vanquished them at their roots by the superabundance of his grace. He has countered the arrogance of evil with the supremacy of his love. He has left us the love that does not fear death, as the way to peace and joy. “Even as I have loved you – he said to his disciples before his death – so you must also love one another” (cf. Jn 13:34).