Pope Leo XIV was elected during the Easter season, and he began his first Urbi et Orbi address from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica with an Easter greeting.
“Peace be with you all!” the Holy Father said. “Dearest brothers and sisters, this is the first greeting of the Risen Christ, the Good Shepherd who gave his life for God’s flock.”
Not precisely. The first greeting of the Risen Jesus was to Mary Magdalene and the other women on Easter morning. That was followed on the evening of Easter Sunday, when Jesus appeared in the Upper Room and greeted the apostles, “Peace be with you!” (Luke 24:36; John 20:19).
It was a happy thing, though, that Leo directed attention to Easter Sunday evening, for Easter evening is more central to the life of the Church. And it is often overlooked liturgically.
Holy Week is rich in the Word of God, with the Passion narratives being read on Palm Sunday and Good Friday, and the nine scriptural readings plus psalms and canticles at the Easter Vigil — to say nothing of the Lamentations of Jeremiah at Tenebrae, the Seven Last Words from the Cross, or the Reproaches on
