Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Easter
27 April 2025
Acts 5:12-16; Psalm 117; Revelation 1:9-13,17-19; John 20:19-31
Listen to the full homily on Soundcloud
Last Sunday Pope Francis appeared on the balcony at St Peter’s one last time. Weak and breathless, he greeted the crowd: ‘Brothers and sisters, Happy Easter!’ His last ever Urbi et Orbi message was then read to the crowd by Bishop Diego Ravelli. To the end, Francis was urging us to go out and to work for peace and justice.
I have spent much of the past week writing articles[1] and giving media interviews about the legacy of the Francis papacy.[2] Today rather than contemplating his legacy and his likely successor, we should prayerfully consider some of the things said by Francis in his last message to us. Let’s remember he had spent 38 days in hospital with double pneumonia. He then spent a month at home in seclusion trying to rally his strength and giving thought to what he might say on Easter Sunday. So this was a last will and testament delivered to Rome and the world with plenty of foresight. Francis knew that it could well be his last, and it was.
He declared:
‘Love has triumphed over hatred, light over darkness and truth over falsehood. Forgiveness has triumphed over revenge. Evil has not disappeared from history; it will remain until the end, but it no longer has the upper hand; it no longer has power over those who accept the grace of this day. Sisters and brothers, especially those of you experiencing pain and sorrow, your silent cry has been heard and your tears have been counted; not one of them has been lost! In the passion and death of Jesus, God has taken upon himself all the evil in this world and in his infinite mercy has defeated it. He has uprooted the diabolical pride that poisons the human heart and wreaks violence and corruption on every side. The Lamb of God is victorious!’[3]
Francis then presented a catalogue of the world’s trouble spots including Gaza and Ukraine, of course, but he also turned his attention to Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, the South Caucasus, the western Balkans, the Congo, Sudan, Sahel, the Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes region, and Myanmar.
He summed up the sorry state of our world, observing:
‘What a great thirst for death, for killing, we witness each day in the many conflicts raging in different parts of our world! How much violence we see, often even within families, directed at women and children! How much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized, and migrants! On this day, I would like all of us to hope anew and to revive our trust in others, including those who are different than ourselves, or who come from distant lands, bringing unfamiliar customs, ways of life and ideas! For all of us are children of God!’
These then were his very last words to us: ‘In the Lord’s Paschal Mystery, death and life contended in a stupendous struggle, but the Lord now lives forever. He fills us with the certainty that we too are called to share in the life that knows no end, when the clash of arms and the rumble of death will be heard no more. Let us entrust ourselves to him, for he alone can make all things new! Happy Easter to everyone!’
After the message was read, he wanted to make one last trip around the square in the popemobile. He asked his nurse: ‘Do you think I can do it?’ He did it. Returning indoors, he said to his nurse: ‘Thank you for bringing me back to the square’.[4] Retiring to bed, he was troubled early next morning suffering a stroke, followed by a coma and irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse. All was accomplished.
Let’s treasure these last words of Francis and his last gesture – giving himself completely to the crowd in the piazza on Easter Day. May Francis rest in peace, and may we become what he described as ‘pilgrims of hope, witnesses of the victory of love and of the disarmed power of Life’. Francis was commissioning us in the same way as Jesus in today’s gospel when he said to the overjoyed disciples: ‘Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.’
Give thanks to the Lord who is good; the mercy of the Lord endures for ever.
Let Israel now proclaim,
‘The mercy of the Lord endures for ever.’
Let the house of Aaron now proclaim,
‘The mercy of the Lord endures for ever.’
Let those who fear the Lord now proclaim,
‘The mercy of the Lord endures for ever.’
Give thanks to the Lord who is good; the mercy of the Lord endures for ever.
The same stone which the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvellous in our eyes.
On this day the Lord has acted;
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Give thanks to the Lord who is good; the mercy of the Lord endures for ever.
Hosanna, Lord, hosanna!
Lord, send us now success.
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord;
we bless you from the house of the Lord.
God is the Lord and has shined upon us.
Give thanks to the Lord who is good; the mercy of the Lord endures for ever.
Fr Frank Brennan SJ is serving as part of a Jesuit team of priests working within a new configuration of the Toowong, St Lucia and Indooroopilly parishes in the Archdiocese of Brisbane. Frank Brennan SJ is Adjunct Professor of the Thomas More Law School at ACU and is a former CEO of Catholic Social Services Australia (CSSA). Fr Frank’s latest book is An Indigenous Voice to Parliament: Considering a Constitutional Bridge, Garratt Publishing, 2023 and his new book is ‘Lessons from Our Failure to Build a Constitutional Bridge in the 2023 Referendum’ (Connor Court, 2024).
[1] For example, see https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/the-legacy-of-a-jesuit-pope
[2] For example, see https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/pope-francis-to-be-remembered-as-a-pope-with-a-pastoral-touch/video/920359d12446ccf6bd08d757b65d85c9
[3] See https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/urbi/documents/20250420-urbi-et-orbi-pasqua.pdf
[4] See https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/04/22/pope-francis-last-words-death-250453
