Papal Easter Vigil homily: 'The risen Christ is the definitive turning point in human history' (Vatican Press Office)

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, presided at the Easter Vigil Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on April 19 (video). The 91-year-old prelate read aloud the Pope’s homily.

Pope Francis emphasized that “the risen Christ is the definitive turning point in human history,” but that “the Lord’s passage from death to life is not a spectacular event by which God shows his power and compels us to believe in him.”

“For Jesus, it was not the end of an easy journey that bypassed Calvary,” the Pontiff explained. “Nor should we experience it as such, casually and unthinkingly. On the contrary, the Resurrection is like little seeds of light that slowly and silently come to take root in our hearts, at times still prey to darkness and unbelief.”