We truly encounter Jesus when we witness to him, noted Pope Francis today as he addressed the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square for the Regina Caeli prayer on Easter Monday, the feast of the Easter proclamation.
Commenting on the Gospel passage of the women at the tomb on Easter morning, the pontiff emphasized how the encounter with the risen Jesus takes place while they were already joyfully going to bring the disciples the announcement of the tomb being found empty.
"Jesus meets them as they go to announce him," the pope explained. "This is beautiful: when we announce the Lord, the Lord comes to us. Sometimes we think that the way to stay close to God is to hold Him tightly to us; because then, if we expose ourselves and talk about it, judgments come, criticism, maybe we don't know how to answer certain questions or provocations, and then it's better not to talk about it. Instead, the Lord comes as we proclaim Him. This is what women teach us."
This is what happens with all good news, the pope noted, giving the example of the birth of a child: "One of the first things we do is to share this happy announcement with friends. And by telling them about it, we also repeat it to ourselves and in some way make it come alive in us even more. If this happens for good news, it happens infinitely more for Jesus, who is not just good news, or even the best news in life, but life itself."
And then the women of the Gospel proclaim Jesus alive despite the fact that an entire city had seen him on the cross.
"When we encounter Jesus," Francis noted, "no obstacle can keep us from proclaiming him. If instead we keep his joy to ourselves, perhaps it is because we have not yet truly encountered him."
Hence the invitation to ask oneself, "When was the last time I witnessed to Jesus? Today, what am I doing so that the people I meet receive the joy of his proclamation? And again: can someone, thinking of me, say: this person is serene, he is happy, he is good because he met Jesus? Let us ask Our Lady," the pope concluded, "to help us be joyful proclaimers of the Gospel.
At the end of the prayer, the pope recalled the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreements for Peace in Ireland. And - renewing his Easter wish - he invited people to continue to pray for peace in the world, especially in the troubled Ukraine.