English 
Dear Sisters,
Happy Easter, Christ is Risen, Alleluia!
In many places, the Easter greeting reflects the profound meaning of Christ’s Resurrection. The faithful greet each other “Christ is risen!” followed by the response “He is truly risen!”. I find it a beautiful way to exchange greetings because it goes straight to the heart of our faith and our hope as the apostle Paul confirms: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins… But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died”. (1Cor 15:17.20).
It is the most beautiful proclamation that we can give to wounded humanity, scattered with conflicts and marked by suffering. It is the Risen One and He alone can keep our hope alive because He precedes us and we know that His Easter knows, or rather, incorporates the Thursday of the Last Supper and betrayal, the Friday of injustice that is raging against the innocent, the Saturday of desolation, silence and emptiness. Precisely because He shares our pain, we are sure of Him and of His love, of the promise and of hope. Christ is the “first fruits” of those who have died, of the many, of the too many who in every part of the world are celebrating Easter!
However, Titus does not know this truth yet! Titus is a twelve-year-old boy I met in Hong Kong last February. He was about to begin the journey of the catechumenate that will lead him to receive Baptism in a few years; in the carefree nature of his adolescence you could see something profound. Why do you want to become a Christian? – I asked him – no one in your family is Christian. With great simplicity and a bright look, he answered: “Here I have met happy people; I want to be one too”. He was referring to the Christian community, to his friend the altar boy, to Sister Hilda and to the priests who work in the parish.
His answer took me back to the experience of the Eleven and the others, gathered in the Upper Room “on the eve of that day, the first day of the week” (Jn 20:19). In my imagination, I saw the apostles intently looking at one another, fearful and apprehensive. I also saw the two returning from Emmaus, breathless, with hearts still burning and anxious to tell what had happened along the way and how they had recognized the Lord in the breaking of the bread. I like to think that in the encounter between those who were closed in the Upper Room and those who had recently arrived; a spark was lit that immediately erupted in an explosion of joy: “The Lord is truly risen!” It is the Easter greeting! Moreover, is this perhaps the reason for the joy that Titus saw circulating in the Christian community that made him to say: “I want to be happy like you?”
Dear sisters, let us feel blessed if, upon entering our communities, someone finds such joy that they desire it for themselves, for their loved ones, for those near and far, even if they have not yet learned the Creed or the commandments. Perhaps, they will never learn them. It is precisely the fraternity among us that will give credibility to the Gospel that we proclaim. It is true, the storms of life spare no one, not even our communities, but we believe that Easter joy has the strength to deal with death and emerge undefeated. It has the courage to fight against the closures that would like to knock us down and make us give up benevolence, mutual trust, open discussion, the freedom to propose changes, discernment done together and decisions taken for the good of our apostolic body.
With this certainty in our hearts, let us ensure that the Easter greeting supports our discipleship and our missionary communion: Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen!
Sr. Antonella Tovaglieri
Congregation Leader
