CONVIVENCE OF THE SALMIANS, ROME 16/03/1980

Sing a new song to the Lord

THE CHARISM OF CANTORS

The service that you brothers give in the communities as psalms

is a very important thing, it is not important to have a good voice
or be a good musician to make the song strike, but I would like
you to understand that music and words express exactly what it
is in our Spirit. It is like reading, but in the ecclesiastical reading
we must have something inside, in fact all those who work for
example on the radio do not need to read in the Church; because
in the radio they can vocalize, coordinate the intonations for the
listeners and embellish when they make radio tales.
On the contrary, to read the Scriptures, one must be a reader,
one must not be able to read or be educated only from the
technical point of view. It is clear that if a person has a lot of
faith but reads without writing the words well (and makes them
incomprehensible), he does not need to be a reader.
Furthermore, to read one must be a witness of faith, no one can
read the word of God without being so.
The reader is one to whom the Church (the assembly of the
faithful) has recognized the proclamation of Scripture because he
lives it; it is not like an empty bell that says: "Gather yourselves
together, gather shameless people before being overwhelmed like
chaff that disappears in one day". (From the book of Zephaniah).
He only reads because he must read, but if all this does not go to
him, if his life is very far from faith, all this does not go because
he is the first to live iniquity.
Many times in the parishes this situation is created: the parish
priest asks for the service of the reader and says: "You read
because you have a louder voice and you can read better than the
others, etc..." No! it's not like that because it's not just about
knowing how to read. Everything that I say speaking, that is, in
the expression of the voice, is used for singing, because it is the
same thing, or rather, the one who sings best is the one who can
sing as he speaks; that is, without making too many angles.
Why is this happening? that's not easy! if the Lord has called you
to do a service you also need a spiritual preparation: the
"Neocatechumenal Way", this is the preparation for a singer,
that is a journey of conversion. It is clear that at the same time
there is a need for a minimum technique, for example, how to
put the chords on the guitar and also accompany with the notes
the conversion that the Lord is working in your soul and your
spirit, also accompany with the strings of guitar and translate it
with simple melodies, which also support the music that the Lord
has inspired us.
I've never been a musician, I do not know how to play solos, I've
never studied music and I do not even know how to put the
chords on the guitar well, I know nothing. I have been obliged to
make arrangements on the guitar and make music, this does not
mean that I do not do well even having not studied solfeggio, but
explaining better: one may have studied a lot and makes it very
bad, with this does not mean that I play perfection, but I do not
care, I do not care. I know I do a service, and you think I found
myself in the shacks with gypsies, gypsies, poor people, drug
addicts, marginalized etc ... etc ... people who had such a strong
expression of faith at the announcement of the Gospel that they
heard the need to sing, but there was no religious music between
them and perhaps, the musicians think they have privileges. At
that moment we needed an expression of our own and taken the
guitar we started and there the Lord went on. We had asked:
"Help us, you know that we do not want to make money, make
records, we do not want to go to the Hit parade, we want to give
a service. We are convinced that where there is a good intention
in our soul the Lord immediately helps and supports it.
One thing we must all learn, as a very wise father used to say:
"We must never allow ourselves to do good for fear of vanity"
because the Devil comes here to tempt you. We must never leave
to do a good thing for fear of vanity, it is there that the Demon
tempts you saying: But you who want to show yourself; and you
still see that you put yourself in the highest place? eh! how happy
you are among all these people who admire you! Or: But do not
you know that this is a joke? the devil is the SATAN ACCUSER,
the one who accuses you even when the brothers say that after
all you have taken the guitar because you like to perform, which
is nice when everyone tells you: look how you do it well, because
you are at, center you are the best etc ... Then that father was a
very wise writer and the meaning of his speech is that if you
believe good it is necessary something you have to do it and even
if you do not succeed in perfection you have to do it, even if you
criticize and you they say: "do not do it !, but what you want, etc
... etc ..".

It's good! is it necessary what I am doing? Is this helpful for you

?, Is this helping you? Never leave a good thing for fear of vanity.
Is this clear? I am a painter, and so very vain, each of us knows
that pride, vanity take us by the use of false humbleness that in
the bottom they rub us: the false humility managed to make sure
that you do not commit yourself and do not do things good or
something.

Then returning to the song; someone would like us to do vocal

preparation or solfeggio or do other things: No! because little by
little we will see what you will need. Then, I would like to say
something, in the barracks the Lord For example there is a Psalm
that I really like: "From deep inside you I cry Lord". It is a Psalm
that the church uses to sing in the liturgy of the dead, so it is a
very strong moment, as it is a dear person who your wife, your
mother, your father, your father, etc. . . the Church sings and
says: from deep within you I cry or lord, Lord hear my prayer, do
not consider sins, if you consider sins, who will save us?
(referring to that brother who now comes out of our world and
goes to his presence).

It is important to see, to see how one sings; When you sing you
must be in the presence of the Lord, you must not sing to the
people, like the readers: you do not have to read to us, it is not
enough not only to read, but also to proclaim to the powers, to
the Spirits that as St. Paul says: air not only to us, as if we were
taught children; the Psalms go beyond catechesis, they are not
catechesis, the Psalms go beyond, they are a proclamation that
goes beyond. Maybe one day I'll have to meet the readers and
we'll see a little bit of what a reader is and how to read in the
assembly.

We have already said other times that the singer should not take
inappropriate positions in the community such as: singing or
sitting at the lectern and resting the leg on the chair or insert
times like Rock Jazz etc ... And the old woman who has a spiritual
father of the parish he does not much tolerate these communities
because he has difficulties when he listens to these svelte and
confused music, and I have difficulties too. When a brother goes
to the lectern, it is very important that it is not an idiot lectern, a
little thing that carries itself.

In fact, in the Church fixed, fixed stone statues must be placed.

First the lecterns were erected at the center of the church, even
in the synagogues themselves they were in the center and from
there the word of God was proclaimed. The lectern is a symbol of
Sinai from where God speaks to the assembled assembly. They
are somebody who have a wooden lectern Something stupid that
they put veiled in the corner and then after reading in the
community they say: word of God. But for this word of God there
is no love, soul but the word of God loves what it contains, and
what the word of God expresses. The liturgists say: do you want
to see the liturgical Biblical decadence? look at the books! the
more there is indifference in the liturgy, the more books are
ugly, the more love for the liturgy, the more beautiful the books
are. They are sure to have their hands on the wall, they could not
have been touched with their hands, people acclaimed this book -
the Gospel -. Readers can not be heard.
I hope that you psalmists whom God is calling to a service, love
the Liturgy, love these things, love the song, love the readings,
love the liturgical expression, that of this expression the greatest
the most beautiful is the song, it is the most moving, the most
religious .... one of the most religious because it is prayer; this is
the sacrifice that God wants "sacrifice laudis" that is, the
sacrifice of praise in fact, the sacrifice of the Church is a laudis
sacrifice. (Gas Christ is a living laudis sacrifice for his total
abandonment of his life and his complete adherence to the will of
the Father, through this sacrifice the salvation of humanity has
been accomplished) You are invited to do this service laudis:
these prayers, this I sing.
As I said before the reader goes to the lectern, but it is a great
and beautiful lectern or at least a lighter a little more decent and
more decorated, and you singers once you go to the lectern put
the cord and with the cord you can play standing . Why standing?
let us return to the previous speech, for the respect that must be
given to the word of the Lord who at that time you singer, you
psalmist are PROCLAMATING.

So do the Psalm that you have to do, if it is a Responsorial Psalm

you can teach it to the community before beginning the
celebration. If you see that the community is wrong, that is, the
cripple then correct it otherwise the song loses its expression, its
meaning.

I wanted to tell you that when you make a song, which I did, you
do not ultimately make my song, because my song is nothing if
you count it without your conversion.

I have given you agreements because afterwards you have to put

everything yourself, that is, you have to put what the word at
that moment wants to communicate first to YOU and then to your
brothers. The same thing is for the word God read, what happens
with the word, also happens with the music; as I said before,
when the reader goes to the lectern to proclaim the word of God
and does not believe in what he reads; I ask myself: what does it
get to you? in music the same thing happens, the word of God is
salamated but he does not believe it. Here are these "anti-
witness" is clear what I mean?
Sometimes you ask yourself: does the monition of singing always
make the singer? No! because the community is forced to always
hear that singer all the time; therefore the short song monologue
must make her the equipes she has prepared. While cohabitation
is something else, the singer illustrates the new song to be
learned to the community. The important thing is that he puts
himself before God, that is, be willing to offer songs to the Lord,
as the Psalm says "In front of the angels I want to sing to you".
You know that King David was granted the charisma to sing to
the Lord and with the songs he exorcised; so the songs are an
exorcism for the people. To many people the word does not say
anything because it is still full of Demons, full of the Catechesis
of the world and therefore the word does not tell him anything, it
seems dry, does not get to penetrate their heart in any way. On
the contrary, the song manages to penetrate, in fact one goes in
celebration and after hearing the second song can perceive
something is true! Did you succeed? we can say then that singing
is very important.

You singers have a very important mission in the reconstruction

of the Church; did you read the writing? when Solomon rebuilt
the temple, he worried a lot about the singers, so the singers are
fundamental to rebuilding the Church. The Lord is calling you
through stupid circumstances such as: there is no singer and they
told you that you are the youngest: Take the guitar, and you
think: but I ... I do not understand anything about the guitar I do
not know anything but I .... The Lord has used that brother to call
you to do that service, which is fundamental in the community.

So, brothers, spend some time singing because the guitar is for
you a companion, a companion in your problems, in your
anxieties and it is also important on a physical level. If you are
people who have an intellectual type of work and do not do any
manual work, you know that all the things that engage the
fingers and the hands develop the brain; that is, they are good
for your mental health, they help you in your balance, in your
life. Drawing, painting, working with hands, playing an
instrument are very important activities; when you come home
tired, instead of watching television broadcasting filth, take the
guitar: spend a wonderful moment and at the same time learn to
play.
Regarding the attitude of the singer in the community, these
should not impose himself; it is very important that he be
humble; he cannot impose himself with his brothers or sisters
who in the community find it hard to follow him or to learn a
song. Because it is easy that the rhythm is changed with a tempo
of samba or others; and the brothers find it difficult to follow
you, while the singing times are accessible to everyone because
of their ease and similarity.

Instead we must humbly have patience and teach little by little to

the brothers, so it happens that the song can also penetrate and
everyone sings it with joy, and well.

So I invite you to this Easter vigil, prepare the songs because you
see the greatness of the party, in the commitment of preparation
for the party. Easter is a time that gathers communities so that
we can live it more intensely, the assembly is more joyful, more
beautiful; also because we invite the children to watch with us,
teach them the song: "What's different about this night" '. You
have a great job to do, to teach the chants to the presbyters: "The
blessing of the water, the preface of Pasquale". If by chance they
do not know it, try it, get the boxes. If the Presbyter finds
difficulty in the agreements, that is, they are too high or vice
versa, and you do not know how to carry the agreements, you
must look for someone among you to explain how to do it.

There are three important things in the Pasquale vigil three

songs: (Preconio Pasquale, Blessing of the water, Horse and
Knight).

We do not sing this last one during the year, at least I hope that
everyone will do it, reserving it only for the Easter vigil and for
the Sunday after Easter, just because of the strength it has,
because when we baptize our children by immersion ( as we do
in Rome), the whole assembly welcomes the new creature and
strongly sings: Precipit6 in the sea Horse and Knight. Very
important is The Anaphora of Easter, which loads the party, the
Presbyter has to sing it and it is very important that you sing
well you teach it well ... .. (a singer from the assembly says :)
"My Presbyter does not want to learn" (Kiko resumes) ... does
not want to learn? ... (the singer replies :) "with the voice does
not arrive, there is no" (Kiko resumes) .... as there is no ? ..... but
No !, no time at this point I have to tell you one thing: if a person
says: I do not want to sing because I'm out of tune, you say it's
not true, here there is no one who is out of tune in the world .
The Lord has given an ear to the vocal cords that are all well
made and normal, those who have confided their timidity are out
of tune. Perhaps in the seminary with the singing teacher he took
a wrong note, not because he is out of tune, but because he does
not yet know the song well; then the professor told him: "but
you. you were wrong, who told you to do so, etc ... etc ... ". And
he thinks he does not know how to sing and from that day he is
stuck and says: "Who me! To sing! No, I'm out of tune like a bell
", it's not true at all. One thing is to be a musician, to have a
fundamental talent for singing, (there was Beetowben who
played the violin at eight) and another thing is to have a simple
ear capable of singing. To me a priest had said: who I sing!
Impossible, and I told him: maybe you have a sick ear a
malformation and he answered: No. I replied then it is not
possible you, you must sing. And in half an hour he repeated
perfectly everything we sang and now sings the Anaphora etc ...
etc ... With this I want to tell you that it is largely a matter of
internal complexes, so you have to tell him that it is a question of
learning and not be afraid because it can do it perfectly. He will
be able to say: I have no memory! All right, but you do not have
to memorize it because there is the score in the booklet.

After all, the Anaphora repeats it so many times on Saturday

until it subsequently learns it. So you can say that in 90% of
cases are complex that one has because, to sing in front of others
means to show off, because you hurt and laugh at you etc ... etc
... This is my experience, I did to sing all our priests quietly; try
once, a second, a third and you'll see later how it sings. Everyone
told me the same thing: Sing me! Impossible! I want to tell you
that when the priest shaves in the morning he hears the tape that
says: This is the night .... and quietly he repeats ... This is the
night ...., as many do while doing the beard because he already
knows that the singer (grace to God) is a nuisance who goes after
him to try the songs, so that the liturgy is as it should be. It is
clear that the presbyter tells you a dry NO! what do you do? we
must obey my brothers, even to the enemy; to love him as we
must love our priests and our Bishops, we must give our lives for
the enemy to love and love him; if you do not want to give your
life because it's unjust, it's not good with you, even if you're
right and it makes you nervous, then you did not understand
anything.
Jesus says: "What merit can you derive from loving the one who
loves you?" Christ gave his life for me when I was a sinner, an
unjust, a disgusting, not when I felt I was a just man. Today I
have the life of God thanks to Christ who gave it to me, I have a
new life and I do not care that someone says I'm here to make
the clown in front of you, I do not care where I'll go tomorrow,
where I'll sleep this night. God is supporting me, my life is all
peace; surprising but you cannot explain why it's such a big
thing. Who does not believe in these things is in Egypt, what does
it mean to be in Egypt?: Not having inner freedom, having fears
and trouble, being full of problems; because he believes more in
the Devil, in the idols of the world and does not believe in Jesus
of Nazareth, who is alive and Risen and sits at the right hand of
God interceding for you. As long as a boy, a person, a woman
invokes his name and says: help me, I do not want to hurt;
because whoever sins, brothers, destroys; for that to sin means
to deny Jesus Christ, to deny the love of God, who denies God
closes the sky. But the Catechesis of the world tells you "who is
God?" But it should be taken advantage of! eat, drink, fornicate
because then there is death; they do not believe in the other life,
you with your attitude deny eternal life and you are helping to
destroy all the poor of the earth, you are helping them in all the
abortions they are doing and all the sterilizations, with all the
admissions of the elderly and handicapped to marginalize them.
You are helping all the Demons; you contribute to kill because
you are denying that love exists, Jesus of Nazareth, God eternal
life.

The opposite says a nun who has been losing her life for 40 years
in a hospital next to the sick. She states: "There is another life,
there is God, etc. ..." Well brothers, I invite you to live and
prepare this Easter vigil with the singers of the communities and
if you are various singers, get along; that the songs of the First
Community carry on and since the singers create the fight, let all
the singers participate. You can also create this danger: "now I
go, then go that other one!" And he begins to sing with ingolature
and gurgling, "then I go and I do better scream even more". To
worry that he is the first singer to carry out the vigil well and
with order; make his respective songs the better he does, that is,
I want to say who more does it with the Spirit adhering to the
account and to what the song says. No what gurges very well and
pulls out the voice. To me that tells me one who screams from
the lectern? Not for nothing; Did you give something to someone?
A singer, sings in the name of the assembly, and represents
Christ; also to David God granted this gift of singing. The song
exorcises our Demons, because as I said before there are the
Demons, even the writing says so. King Saul had a Demon that
beat him a violent Demon, then he called David who played the
lyre and, singing God to the Psalms, that evil Spirit was calmed,
went away abandoning it when he heard these Psalms.

Today this continues to happen in the Church, and St Paul

constantly said: "Chant me, sing among yourselves with all sorts
of thanksgiving to God with Psalms, and inspired songs etc." You
are a novelty in the Church, for a long time there were no lay
people who were serving in the parishes like Psalms, so it is very
important because you are the first you are rising, it is very
important to do it well and with Spirit. Love the songs! Express
this love and for example, make a folder with the songs, correct
the errors in the booklets get the cassettes that are a bit the
source ... ... has a problem, so that the songs do not deviate in the
reasons, (now we can not to make a matter of time,), we will live
together for two days and here will come to sing the
representatives of all regions to address the problem of reasons,
not to judge because it is important to listen with humility as you
make the songs.

Returning to the previous speech the Preconio Pasquale can make

it the singer or who best does it, if for example the head singer
sees that a youth of the fourth or fifth community has a strong
Spirit and does it better than the first singer, has the humility of
say: "Do it because you do it better than me", is this possible or
is it impossible? our vanity and pride often take us, and it is
impossible for a singer to say this! huh. Another problem is that
some do not bear to sing in the wake of another and,
unconsciously, cripple the songs, they can not bear it; maybe it's
a bit of envy they have towards me, or towards someone else.
They persevere in their note and do not change, perhaps because
they do not know it? But I have seen that in some there is a
conflict: you teach, but he always changes it, gives him
something different, because basically he wants to do it as he
thinks better, he wants to give lessons to me, These and another
danger you may incur.
Accept humbly to do the singing, because the beauty of the song
is not in the words and in the music, which I have done, but in
the expression you give it, is this clear? The expression you give
them is a thing that is born in the soul, in the Spirit and depends
on the moment you count.

For example: the song I made earlier, De Profundis; I did it this

way, at another time I can hear it differently; and it is a
wonderful thing if you feel it with all your heart, with the same
notes, with the same music, you can make people cry; not
because you are good, here there is no skill that is worth! these
are very simple speeches, it has nothing to do with good singing
or singing, but you do not have to be good, but you have to be a
Christian. This yes! we must have spirit, believe what we do, that
is completely different, we must have something inside because
the music expresses the Spirit, there is the beauty of the
religious song, the spiritual song. The songs of television, the
songs are moralistic beautiful, but once you listen to it no longer
goes old becomes no longer bear it, the agreements FA MI are
beautiful but when you have listened fifteen times already does
not tell you anything. These, on the other hand, are songs that
never end, the strength of the song is not where RE is placed, or
FA with DO; but because there is a balance or between the word
of God and the notes that support it, so that you can proclaim the
word better; singing is better expressed. It is clear that if a
person does not believe and you are telling him what you are a
witness to, he does not understand, remains attached to those
musichette because he likes a lot more, Rock the Jazz etc ...
(respecting the Rock and the others on my part) To him the
discourse that is behind the religious song does not interest and
then he is careful only to say that he likes them or not etc ..

Today we are opening a trail, creating, doing a new activity and

there are no books on these things.

The Lord is giving us a charism for a marvelous service,

something great and so that the Church is rebuilt, the Christian
assembly is rebuilt; you are brothers who must help Jesus Christ
to rebuild the Christian assembly; where is the assembly that
sings? Do people sing in church? where do you sing? It's a
terrible thing, people are there that dozing, and when sometimes
the assembly is sung like a cart pulled by oxen, there's no
expression, there's no joy, there's nothing.
The Preconio says: to express with the song the exultation of the
Spirit, then if the song expresses the exultation of the Spirit I
have understood all of these people who are in these Churches,
you can say. Is it clear what I mean? If the song expresses the
exultation of the Spirit (that is, what is in our soul at that
moment, the expression of our faith); You understand that Spirit
has these people.

We wanted to make a pamphlet of Paul VI and give it to you

called: "RECONSTRUCTING THE CHURCH" in which it says: - TO
US OLD OPERATORS LAUNCH THE APPEAL, WE SHORE THE NEW
OPERATORS, COME! WHERE NEW OPERATORS ARE! - because we
need to rebuild the Church, said Paul VI, we start all over again,
and those incessant prayers, which were in the Temple through
the singers we must make them today in our Temple, that is, in
our body that is the TEMPLE of the Holy Spirit , the new Temple
which is the body of Christ the Christian is the body of Christ,
one flesh with him. In this Temple, that is, the Lord lives in our
body, the LORD dwells in our hearts! As in a Tabernacle, and then
you must make a cult in Your Temple, with prayers, with songs
etc ... this is Christian theology, where there are also victims,
such is a wonderful spiritual worship, for this there is it is a
priesthood that has been given to us with baptism. There are
priests with Christ, we are kings with Christ and prophets; there
is also a mission that the Christian has, but we will see this along
the way and we will discover that with baptism you are prophets,
you must go to prophesy, that is, to preach the case Gospel at
home as poor without anything, because to preach the Gospel
requires three signs: first BEING WITNESS, according to BEING
SENT because if not you do not have power over people's
Demons, third GO LOST LIFE, as someone who does not lose the
vine can not preach the Gospel.
How did Jesus Christ send the disciples to preach? without a bag,
without money, without a bag, barefoot; What an exaggeration
you can think, you can be barefoot there in Palestine with a heat
to die, where you burn your feet, you can go to a city without a
penny? Jesus Christ was told "you must lose your life, whoever
does not lose his life can not preach Jesus Christ", so you must go
all, this is baptism! we are sent, we are all invited through our
baptism; but people, do not know, people, as John Paul II said to
the communities, have their own baptism dead.

All the people in your neighborhood, all baptized! all the people
of Regina Coeli in jail, all have been baptized: and they steal. So,
brothers, we have a mission, and in this mission we propose a
RETURN PATH so that we can return from the atheist world and
we can really find a home that welcomes them. it is necessary to
rebuild this house, like a hospital: it takes the doctors, it takes
the beds, the medicines, the reanimation room, with these things
a hospital begins to form, if the reanimation room is missing it is
not complete, where you bring it the patient who urgently needs
that room? So here we are slowly beginning to rebuild this
Church, so that when it comes back the brother who is far away
can find the appropriate reception a rebuilt Church and, without
doing anything, just have to listen there, as In the Hospital and
slowly take care, penetrate or heal from the Word of the Lord,
find a rebuilt assembly of brothers. In this reconstruction you
psalmists singers are fundamental, absolutely fundamental; I am
very happy with this gathering to realize together that if the Lord
does not help us we do nothing, I am glad that the Lord will give
you the opportunity to make songs, and, a moment will come
when we will make other gatherings, where we can see if the
Lord begins to inspire you to sing and hear these songs. For the
moment, we must avoid the abuses because we are all vain, the
singer is in danger of making his own songs1 and this is a
terrible damage for the brothers; you must respect the chants of
the Neocatechumenal path which the Lord has inspired as
catechesis. Some say: why do not we make other songs? other
songs have another purpose, because we have seen that many
other songs have a moralistic content, that is: having said that
moment to that person who is still very young is a moralism and
brings more harm than good. We hope that the next time we can
have a more incisive meeting, so that I can not criticize but, hear
you sing to us. An important thing is that you must sing with
humility, once you learn the song well, the Lord will then give
you your expression; accentuating the growth of your
conversion. Easter is an eschatological expectation awaiting the
second coming of Christ, we await every waking vigil; and we do
not know if - perhaps Christ comes, and if the end of the world
comes in this Easter vigil - then there are three nights: the first
night is the creation of the first reading, of writing; the second
night is that of faith the sacrifice of Isaac the son of Abraham,
the third night is the exit from Egypt; and the fourth night what
is it? It is the same night that Israel was celebrating the exit
from Egypt, that is, Easter, and Christ was RAISED from death. In
fact you know that the Lord could not stand on the wood (the
cross) because that was the solemn hour, it was Easter Saturday
and that night the Jews celebrated the victory of Christ s
on death; and today it was accomplished, humanity was released
from the grave, a dead man came from the cemetery.
The fifth night we await is the one in which CHRIST WILL
RETURN GLORIOUS.

Many people, laugh at us, communists, non-communists, atheists

laugh at our Christianity, laugh when we talk about the SERVANT
OF JAHVE ?, and say DO NOT RESIST IN EVIL, love the enemy,
because true justice means TO FORGIVE, to die for the others
laugh at us; but one day they will come upon the clouds of
heaven who mock, and all will confess that he is the KIRIOS the
LORD, here is the Truth! This is why this Easter brothers is full
of expectation, we await the dawn, we wait for the morning star
as the Preconio Pasquale says, announcing our LIBERATION.
Many say that the world is very bad, this is what the pagans say,
where does the world march? to the Resurrection, because Christ
overcame evil, death, we know then that we are liberated and in
the world we are messengers of hope, of joy, and we must
profess this: THAT DEATH HAS BEEN DEFEATED and everyone
must begin to participate in this joy, I first could not accept the
death of my wife: today I accept! I could not accept the mother-
in-law at home: today I accept! I have five children the sixth is
coming, today I accept! and how is this possible? because Christ
really exists and he has given me to participate in his victory
over death.
Jesus of Nazareth did not die for me when I felt I was a just man
and I did not need this salvation, but when I ninth became sin,
Christ died for me when I put him on the cross, I disowned him, I
was a loathing here love of the Father! this is the work that Jesus
accomplished for my life for yours, and for all mankind; it is
something wonderful, indescribable! Jesus came and made an
Easter, he made a passover in my flesh; Jesus came as a man had
eyes like mine, hands like yours, a body like ours, Jesus took this
body of flesh, this body of sin, and he went through death
purifying it, making it glorious, he did an Easter with our flesh,
and today we participate in this Passover, to this joy in this
victory which we have obtained against death and sin through
Christ who is alive, sits at the right hand of the Father and
intercedes for all mankind.

So, brothers, I wish you to live this Easter as an expectation, to

live it in joy, in communion your brothers, the parish priest and
the whole Church. Pray for me I pray for you Psalmists: may the
Lord give you the Spirit of David, the Spirit of the Virgin Mary. I
wish you happy Easter to all! Now brothers, please:
Lord, we thank you for this day, we thank you for the consolation
you give us to be together, and to sing to you. We thank you for
the words that the Pope told us, words of courage, he invited us
to continue to build the body of Christ, to go to teach all nations.
He compared us to the primitive Church, the most glorious epoch
of the Church. We thank you for all these things, we implore you
to help us in this Easter vigil, to help us prepare it according to
your will, waiting for you with joy, singing and listening to your
Word.

We ask all this for you

Jesus Christ our Lord.