WASHINGTON, D.C. –His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, USA, has issued an Easter video message for Catholics under his pastoral care worldwide, including U.S. Military personnel and their families as well as patients at VA Medical Centers around the country.
In the message, Archbishop Broglio calls on the faithful to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ by renewing their commitment to be “instruments of divine mercy” during this, the Holy Year of Mercy.
The video is accessible in two (2) ways:
- Go to http://resources.milarch.org and click on the Archbishop’s Easter Message image (the first of the scrolling banners). This will take you to the video on the Digital Media Center for the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, where the video can be viewed directly or downloaded to a computer or flash drive and viewed later; or:
- Go to the AMS YouTube page at https://youtu.be/1NhxpozgPhs. The video cannot be downloaded from this site; it can only be viewed directly.
Here follows the complete text of Archbishop Broglio’s message:
“Dear Sisters and Brothers in the Risen Lord,
“The beautiful paschal narrative from the Gospel according to St. John begins while it is still dark and thus recalls creation when new life began. The author uses three different verbs, which the English version translates as “see”. Mary Magdalene, full of love and of sorrow as she heads to the tomb, takes in the stone rolled away. Peter, whose position and role are clearly the object of respect, contemplates the scene and notices that the burial shroud is left where it was. How grateful we are to Peter’s Successor who has given us this extraordinary Holy Year in which to contemplate the abundant mercy of Almighty God. Finally, John sees and believes. He has a clear idea that Jesus is no longer dead, but lives.
“We have been preparing throughout the forty days of Lent by our sacrifices, self-denial, fasting, increased prayer, and special acts of charity in order to clear our hearts and minds of everything that distracts us from the centrality of Jesus Christ. In a world that is so filled with things and noise, it is important to pause and to acknowledge the Lord of the Universe. We thank Him for His victory over sin and death and His generosity in extending that to us.
“It is my joy to greet you at this significant time of rejoicing and to spend some time thinking about how precious we are and how much we are loved. Alone, weakened by sin, expelled from paradise we had serious need of a Savior. Almighty God sent His Son, born of a Virgin to offer us the real reason for our hope, the Messiah and Savior of the world.
“Divine Mercy has its most profound expression in the Father’s love who saw our human sinful condition and, moved with pity, determined that He would save us. However, no ordinary instrument of clemency could achieve the results. Salvation is not within our grasp. It is not a prize to be earned or a promotion to be received. Rather it is a completely gratuitous gift showered upon us by a merciful Father. There is no greater love than this: that one give up his life for his friends.
“That is the precious gift of mercy. Almighty God loved us, sent His Son to take on our human condition, to suffer, die, and rise again. Each one of us experiences that divine love and rejoices in being precious in the sight of the loving Father. Each one of us feels His embrace, the robe of restoration, the sandals of a free person, and the ring of belonging. Those are elements from the welcome accorded by the loving father to the prodigal son, but, through the waters of baptism, each of us has been welcomed by Almighty God into new life.
“We can rejoice in that new life. We can sing the Alleluia of victory. However, there is more.
“Pope Francis wrote in the Papal Bull proclaiming this Holy Year: “I have proclaimed an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy as a special time for the Church, a time when the witness of believers might grow stronger and more effective…We want to live this Jubilee Year in light of the Lord’s words: ‘Merciful like the Father’…I present, therefore, this Extraordinary Jubilee Year dedicated to living out in our daily lives the mercy which the Father constantly extends to all of us….In this Jubilee Year, may the Church echo the Word of God that resounds strong and clear as a message and a sign of pardon, strength, aid, and love. (Pope Francis, Misericordiae Vultus 3, 13, 25.)
“As we celebrate Easter, then, we renew our commitment to make manifest this victory over sin and death in our lives and to be instruments of divine mercy for the benefit of our sisters and brothers. The time of jubilee in the Old Testament always had a social effect. Lands lease were returned, debts cancelled, the poor cared for, and a renewal of commitment.
“As you walk through a local Holy Door and receive the plenary indulgence, couple that pious action with an extension or an invitation to others to experience divine mercy. That will make the Jubilee a wider experience and it will fill our hearts with the lasting serenity of the Easter victory.
“Peter and John ran to the empty tomb on Easter morn. The world has never been the same. We have also been changed by the Paschal mystery and so we give thanks and share what we have experienced.
“On behalf of my Auxiliary Bishops, the priests, and staff of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, I wish you every good blessing in the Easter Season whether you are deployed or not, in a medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs, or a retiree frequenting an installation chapel. May the Risen Lord fill your hearts with serenity and the peace which only He can give.”
