Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
The center of our faith and the heart of our hope are deeply rooted in the resurrection of Christ. Reading the Gospels attentively, we realize that this mystery is surprising not only because a man—the Son of God—rose from the dead, but also because of the way He chose to do it. In fact, Jesus’ resurrection is not a thunderous triumph, not a vengeance or revenge against His enemies. It is the wonderful testimony of how love is capable of rising after a great defeat to continue its unstoppable path.
When we recover from a trauma caused by others, our first reaction is often anger, the desire to make someone pay for what we have suffered. The Risen One does not act this way. When He emerges from the depths of death, Jesus takes no revenge. He does not return with gestures of power, but manifests with meekness the joy of a love greater than any wound and stronger than any betrayal.
The Risen One does not feel the need to reiterate or assert His own superiority. He appears to His friends—the disciples—and does so with extreme discretion, without forcing the timing of their ability to welcome Him. His only desire is to be in communion with them again, helping them overcome their feelings of guilt. We see this very clearly in the upper room, where the Lord appears to His friends imprisoned by fear. It is a moment that expresses an extraordinary strength: Jesus, after descending into the depths of death to free those who were prisoners there, enters the closed room of those paralyzed by fear, bringing them a gift that none would have dared to hope for: peace.
His greeting is simple, almost habitual: “Peace be with you!” (Jn 20:19). But it is accompanied by such a beautiful gesture that it seems almost inappropriate: Jesus shows the disciples His hands and side with the marks of the Passion. Why display His wounds precisely before those who, in those dramatic hours, denied and abandoned Him? Why not hide those signs of pain and avoid reopening the wound of shame?
And yet, the Gospel says that, upon seeing the Lord, the disciples were filled with joy (cf. Jn 20:20). The reason is profound: Jesus is already fully reconciled with everything He has suffered. He harbors no resentment. The wounds are not there to reproach, but to confirm a love stronger than any infidelity. They are the proof that, precisely in the moment when we have failed, God has not backed away. He has not given up on us.
Thus, the Lord shows Himself naked and disarmed. He does not demand, He does not blackmail. His love does not humiliate; it is the peace of one who has suffered out of love and can now finally affirm that it was worth it.
We, on the other hand, often hide our wounds out of pride or fear of appearing weak. We say “it doesn’t matter,” “it’s all over,” but we are not truly at peace with the betrayals that have hurt us. Sometimes we prefer to hide our effort to forgive so as not to seem vulnerable and risk suffering again. Jesus does not. He offers His wounds as a guarantee of forgiveness. And He shows that the resurrection is not the cancellation of the past, but its transfiguration into a hope of mercy.
Then, the Lord repeats: “Peace be with you!” And He adds: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (v. 21). With these words, He entrusts the apostles with a task that is not so much a power as a responsibility: to be instruments of reconciliation in the world. It is as if He were saying: “Who will announce the merciful Face of the Father if not you, who have experienced failure and forgiveness?”
Jesus breathes on them and gives them the Holy Spirit (v. 22). It is the same Spirit that sustained Him in obedience to the Father and in love even to the cross. From that moment on, the apostles can no longer remain silent about what they have seen and heard: that God forgives, raises up, restores trust.
The center of the Church’s mission does not consist in administering power over others, but in communicating the joy of one who has been loved precisely when he did not deserve it. It is the strength that gave birth to and grew the Christian community: men and women who have discovered the beauty of returning to life in order to give it to others.
Dear brothers and sisters, we too are sent. The Lord also shows us His wounds and says: Peace be with you. Do not be afraid to show your wounds healed by mercy. Do not fear approaching those who are locked in fear or feelings of guilt. May the breath of the Spirit make us too witnesses of this peace and this love stronger than any defeat.