Pope Francis in his Easter Blessing: “God…wants the human family to rise again!”

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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

One of Pope Francis’ last messages to the church and world is most inspiring:

“Christ is risen! These words capture the whole meaning of our existence, for we were not made for death but for life. Easter is the celebration of life! God created us for life and wants the human family to rise again!”

In this from his Easter Blessing to Rome and the World (Urbi et Orbi blessing), he focuses mostly on scourges in our modern world: violence, especially war, but also personal conflict that distances people from each other, and violations of life against the unborn and elderly. Yet, his message is one of hope, that with the Glorious Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, evil “no longer has the upper hand.”

Indeed, Easter, which marks Jesus’ resurrection from the Dead, and especially this Easter during the 2025 Jubilee year, the Jubilee of Hope, is a time to remember God’s unlimited power and the hope without end it provides Catholics and the world – God indeed wants to “raise” us with Him, and so we are reminded to find comfort in the Lord, and to seek through Him our desires and resolution to what ails and troubles us, especially our illnesses and problems.

But before continuing, we pray to God for the Eternal Repose of the Soul of Pope Francis, Pope from 2013 to 2025. His heartfelt and tender words, teaching, and guidance were invaluable for me, especially because he has maintained an online presence that made him accessible. Often times, praise God, I felt messages directly for me that have helped guide my life.

Continuing, a Jubilee year is an official declaration from the Pope that occurs every 25 years as a “special year of reconciliation, pilgrimage, and coming home” (USCCB). Feel free to read more here, but Pope Francis in his declared 2025 Jubilee of Hope particularly wanted to highlight that Hope in God never disappoints, but he also concedes that in difficult sufferings, which we may be facing today in our ever-complex world, hope sometimes “falters” (Urbi et Orbi 2025).

Of course, our principle hope born from the Resurrection is our salvation: by seeking the Lord we are given the greatest Hope, that of Eternal life. But we must not forget that, as Pope Francis says, “…we were made for life,” and God is the God of life and of the living. Jesus tells some of the Jewish authorities:

“[God is] ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’… not the God of the dead but of the living.” (Matthew chapter 22)

And in an ancient homily, beloved on Holy Saturday, the day after Good Friday, from the Liturgy of the Hours Office of Readings, which describes Jesus descending into the place of the dead and looking for the first man Adam, this truth is amazingly expressed:

“Awake…and rise from the dead…

Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place…”

A depiction of Jesus raising many from the dead, including Adam, “The Harrowing of Hell” by Fra Angelico (1395-1455)

Jesus gloriously lifts Adam out of Death into Eternal life. We too should be inspired that in conquering death, the greatest evil facing men, God shows us his omnipotence, but also shows us his dominion over all the sufferings our of life, including our illnesses and our problems.

Today, we are invited to always seek through Jesus Christ healing for our illnesses, especially those most difficult ones, and to ask heaven for help with our problems – many suffer with grave illnesses like cancer, multiple sclerosis, and HIV/AIDS, maladies like terrible joint pain, or with the inability to conceive children, and so many other afflictions. Let us continue to ask God and heaven in Hope, especially during this the Jubilee Year, for help with these deep challenges in our life.

The Lord is in His tender love and mercy sent His Mother to Lourdes, France and gave us the miraculous spring that heals; just this month, a 72^nd miracle was officially declared of a woman who was not able to move independently (Payne). Many more “cures” have been medically certified by Lourdes officials, over 7000, as shared by President of the Lourdes Medical Bureau Dr. Alessandro de Franciscis in an EWTN documentary, but the term “miracle” can only be declared by Bishops, a step that is not mandatory at Lourdes. By process, after a “cure” is declared by Lourdes medical officials, the Bishop of the cured person is notified, but it is up to the Bishop to proceed further. (EWTN, 05:45-15:45)

The Lourdes spring of miraculous water

At the Marian shrine of Knock, in Ireland, medical miracles have also been recognized, including a woman Marion Carroll with Multiple Sclerosis who visited the Shrine in a stretcher in 1989 with many challenges, including no vision in one eye, difficulty speaking, and being only able to move one arm before being fully healed. Marion shares what happened after being blessed with the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance:

“When [the Bishop O’Reilly] blessed me, I got this beautiful feeling — it was a magnificent feeling — and then the whispering breeze telling me that if the stretcher was opened that I could get up and walk.” (MacDonald)

She indeed tried, and stood up straight, recovered her voice and was able to use her arms. (MacDonald)

In terms of conceiving children, the shrine of Our Lady of Milk in Bethlehem, Israel called the Milk Grotto has been known to help couples conceive children, with thousands of letters being exhibited in the Shrine thanking Heaven for graces, children, received through her intercession. (Bandini)

There is also a Shrine of Our Lady of Milk (La Leche) in St. Augustine, FL, USA and my parish in Miami, FL has a statue of her that has anecdotally helped families conceive (I’ve written more about Our Lady of Milk here). One of the main practices related to Our Lady of Milk is diluting minute amounts of stone from the Bethlehem Shrine, on which breastmilk from The Blessed Virgin Mary is believed to have fallen and turned all the stones white, and drinking it for a time (Bandini). I have a website here where you can request prayer before the statue at my parish.

And last, we should absolutely be sure to take our heart’s desires and problems to God in prayer: a good job, financial difficulties, a desire to marry a good person, relationship/family issues, difficulty finding vocation, doubts about the faith, struggles with sin. May our Glorious, kind, and gracious God hear us and answer us!

I’ve been inspired recently by a song about Christmas “Shepherd Boy” by popular Christian Praise and Worship artist Phil Wickham where he proclaims about Jesus’ birth: “He brings joy to the world!” Isn’t God’s work in our life indeed a occasion for deep joy?

Friends, we are reminded this Easter of God’s omnipotence, shown starkly on Holy Saturday with Jesus raising souls from the Dead to Eternal life, and His Resurrection on Easter Sunday. But this reminder of God defeating the greatest evil facing men, death, also serves to remind us that our God, the God of life, also wishes to raise us in this life from other evils and sufferings, especially from illness and practical difficulties.

Before ending, I renew my prayer for Pope Francis, His eternal rest, our consolation, and extend a prayer for the well-being of the Church, and especially for the upcoming process to elect our next pope.

Abundant blessings to you and yours,

Juan B

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Citations

Bandini, Marinella, “Bethlehem’s ‘Milk Grotto’: A pilgrimage site of hope for families seeking miracles,” Catholic News Agency, https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/260975/bethlehem-s-milk-grotto-a-pilgrimage-site-of-hope-for-families-seeking-miracles . Accessed 28 April 2025

EWTN, July 16, 2020. “Miracles at Lourdes” from series “Lourdes, with the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word“. EWTN.

MacDonald, Sarah, “Irish church confirms 1989 miraculous cure of woman at Knock shrine,” Chicago Catholic, https://www.chicagocatholic.com/international/-/article/2019/09/18/rish-church-confirms-1989-miraculous-cure-of-woman-at-knock-shrine . Accessed 28 April 2025

Payne, Daniel, “Lourdes announces 72nd miracle: Italian pilgrim cured of degenerative disease, “Catholic News Agency, https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/263431/lourdes-announces-72nd-miracle-italian-pilgrim-cured-of-degenerative-disease. Accessed 28 April 2025

USCCB, “Jubilee 2025 – Pilgrims of Hope”, https://www.usccb.org/jubilee2025. Accessed 28 April 2025

Image credits

1 – Vatican News, “Pope to recite Angelus from residence as health improves,” https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-12/pope-francis-health-update-sunday-angelus-santa-marta.html. Accessed 28 Apr 2025
2 – Public domain, from Notre Dame https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/fra-angelicos-raising-of-hell-adam-and-abel/. Accessed 30 Apr 2025
3 – Lourdes Sanctuary, “The Water,” https://www.lourdes-france.com/en/day-pilgrims/the-water/. Accessed 28 Apr 2025
4 – Catholic News Agency, “Bethlehem’s ‘Milk Grotto’: A pilgrimage site of hope for families seeking miracles,” https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/260975/bethlehem-s-milk-grotto-a-pilgrimage-site-of-hope-for-families-seeking-miracles .
5 – Personal photo from Good Shepherd Catholic Church