Cardinal Tobin: We walk with Christ toward our heavenly home
“All baptized Christians find ourselves on a journey,” writes Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, in the latest edition of his Rejoice in the Lord newsletter. “We walk together in the footsteps of the risen Christ as we travel toward our heavenly home.”
This sacred pilgrimage is not meant to be a time of drudgery and sorrow, he continues. “Although it’s true that we are called to follow Jesus on the way of the cross, we should always remember our Lord’s promise to his disciples, ‘You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy’ (Jn 16:20). For 2,000 years, the saints and martyrs have shown us how to live the Gospel—and take up our crosses—with joy. We are all invited, with St. Paul, to rejoice in our sufferings!”
In his newsletter Cardinal Tobin writes: “Alleluia! Christ is risen, and our hearts are filled with joy. If we accept the Lord’s offer of salvation, Pope Francis tells us in his apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), ‘we will be set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness’ (EG, #1).
The latest edition of Rejoice in the Lord also includes Pope Francis’ Urbi Et Orbi Easter Message. The pontiff says that “Christ is hope for all who continue to suffer from the pandemic,” and he urged, “the entire international
community, in a spirit of global responsibility, to commit to overcoming delays in the distribution of
vaccines and to facilitate their distribution, especially in the poorest countries.”
Pope Francis continues: “Amid the many hardships we are enduring, let us never forget that we have been healed by the wounds of Christ (cf. 1 Pet 2:24).”
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