My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Alleluia! He is Risen!
Today, the Church throughout the world cries out in exultation. The Lenten journey, with its ashes, its fasting, and its sorrowful walk to Calvary, has reached its glorious destination. The stone is rolled away. The tomb is empty. Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, has conquered death, and in His victory, He has bestowed upon all humanity a gift that the world cannot give and the powers of darkness cannot steal: the gift of true peace and abiding joy.
In these days of Easter, we are invited to fix our gaze upon the Paschal Mystery—the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of our Lord. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He took upon Himself the weight of our anxiety. In His scourging and crowning with thorns, He bore the wounds of our pride and cruelty. On the wood of the Cross, He endured the ultimate consequence of sin—death itself—so that sin might die and we might live. But the Cross was not the final word. The Resurrection is God’s definitive reply. It is the victory of love over hatred, mercy over vengeance, and life over every form of death that afflicts our world.
It is precisely from this Risen Lord that we receive the peace and joy promised to all mankind. These are not fleeting emotions dependent on favorable circumstances. They are the fruits of grace, planted in the soul when we open our hearts to the One who has overcome the world.
A Time of Global Turmoil
Yet, my dear faithful, as we gather in the light of the Resurrection, we cannot ignore the shadows that linger over the human family. We live in a time of profound unrest. The specter of war has once again cast its dark pall over entire regions. We hear the deafening roar of weapons, and we witness the tragic folly of nations placing their trust in arsenals of nuclear deterrence and ever-escalating military competition. How many mothers weep for children lost to conflict? How many lands, once fertile with hope, are now scorched by hatred and violence?
Our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, has reminded the world that the proliferation of nuclear arsenals and the unchecked competition in advanced weaponry are not merely failures of policy; they are sins against the future that God desires for humanity. He called upon the faithful—indeed, all people of goodwill—to recognize that the arms race is not merely a political issue but a profound moral crisis. It diverts resources meant for the poor, it breeds suspicion among nations, and it treats human life as expendable. The Holy Father implored world leaders to turn back from the brink, to choose diplomacy over destruction, and to understand that true security cannot be built on the foundation of fear.
His voice echoes the teaching of Christ: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). To be a peacemaker in our time requires courage. It requires us to resist the cynicism that says war is inevitable, and to reject the despair that says our individual efforts make no difference.
Peace Begins in the Heart
But if we are to be instruments of peace in a world torn by violence, we must first allow the Risen Lord to establish His peace in the very depths of our own hearts. This is the starting point—the non-negotiable foundation. For how can we bring reconciliation to others if we ourselves remain captive to anger, resentment, or a spirit of vengeance?
Pope Leo XIV quoted in his World Day of Peace 2026 that John XXIII was the first pope to advocate “integral disarmament,” which can only be achieved through renewal of the heart and mind. In Pacem in Terris, he wrote: “Everyone must realize that, unless this process of disarmament be thoroughgoing and complete, and reach people’s very souls, it is impossible to stop the arms race, or to reduce armaments, or — and this is the main thing — ultimately to abolish them entirely. Everyone must sincerely co-operate in the effort to banish fear and the anxious expectation of war from our minds. But this requires that the fundamental principles upon which peace is based in today’s world be replaced by an altogether different one, namely, the realization that true and lasting peace among nations cannot consist in the possession of an equal supply of armaments but only in mutual trust. And we are confident that this can be achieved, for it is a thing which not only is dictated by common sense but is in itself most desirable and most fruitful of good.”
The peace of the Risen Christ begins when we surrender our own hardened hearts to His mercy. It is born in the silence of prayer, in the humility of the confessional, and in the honest recognition of our own need for conversion. When we allow the grace of Christ’s Passion to penetrate our souls, we discover the strength to forgive those who have wounded us. We find the capacity to show kindness where there has been indifference, and love where there has been hatred. This is what Pope Leo XIV calls a disarming peace.
Peace in the heart leads to peace in the family. In our homes, we are called to be witnesses of patience and reconciliation. Let husbands and wives forgive one another as Christ forgave the Church. Let parents teach their children, not by words alone, but by the example of a household where mercy reigns. Let families be domestic churches, radiating the joy of the Resurrection to all who enter.
When families are at peace, they become the leaven that transforms societies. In our neighborhoods, our workplaces, and our communities, we are called to be artisans of fraternity. This means rejecting the divisive rhetoric that pits one group against another. It means reaching out to the lonely, the marginalized, and the stranger in our midst. It means building a culture where human dignity is honored from conception to natural death.
The Path to World Peace
As peace spreads from hearts to families to societies, it can then take root in countries and among nations. Here, the task is demanding. We are called to pray and work for leaders who govern with justice and compassion. We are called to advocate for policies that lift up the poor and protect the vulnerable. We are called to be voices of reason in an age of ideological extremes.
Pope Leo XIV reminded us that the pursuit of peace among nations requires a conversion of our collective imagination. We must cease to see other nations as potential enemies and begin to see them as members of one human family. The arms race, the stockpiling of nuclear weapons, the proliferation of advanced military technologies—these are not the path to security. They are a burden on the poor, a threat to creation, and an offense against God, who desires life, not death, for His children.
The Holy Father has called for a renewed commitment to dialogue, to disarmament, and to the building of international structures that serve the common good. He has asked us to fast and pray for peace, especially in regions where conflict seems intractable. He has urged us to remember that every act of violence is a wound in the Mystical Body of Christ.
Christ Our Only Hope
Pope Francis’s Encyclical Fratelli Tutti n. 4 presents Saint Francis of Assisi as a model of such awakening: “In the world of that time, bristling with watchtowers and defensive walls, cities were a theater of brutal wars between powerful families, even as poverty was spreading through the countryside. Yet there Francis was able to welcome true peace into his heart and free himself of the desire to wield power over others. He became one of the poor and sought to live in harmony with all.” This is a narrative that we are called to continue today, and that means joining forces to contribute to a disarming peace, as Pope Leo XIV always like to call. a peace born of openness and evangelical humility.
Brothers and sisters, let us be clear: we cannot achieve this peace by our own strength alone. Human efforts, however noble, will falter if they are not sustained by grace. This is why we turn, again and again, to Christ and His teaching. It is His Word that guides us. It is His example that inspires us. It is His Passion that shows us the depth of God’s love. It is His suffering that unites Him to every person who endures violence and oppression. It is His death that destroys the power of sin. And it is His Resurrection that assures us that love has the final word.
Through His Paschal Mystery, Christ pours out upon us the grace we need to become peacemakers. This grace is not a distant promise; it is offered to us here, in the Sacraments. In the Eucharist, we receive the Bread of Life, the Risen Lord Himself, who strengthens us for the journey. In Confession, we are cleansed of the sins that divide us from God and from one another. In these sacred gifts, we find the power to live as children of the Resurrection.
A Call to Joyful Witness
Therefore, my dear faithful, I urge you: let this Easter be a turning point. Do not let the joy of the Resurrection be confined to these fifty days alone. Carry it into the world. Be witnesses of peace in a culture of conflict. Be heralds of mercy in a society often marked by harshness. Be signs of hope in a world that sometimes seems to have lost its way.
Let us pray daily for our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, that the Lord may sustain him in his tireless work for peace. Let us pray for the leaders of nations, that they may choose the path of dialogue and disarmament. Let us pray for those who suffer from war and violence, that they may know the consolation of the Risen Christ.
And let us ask Our Lady, the Mother of the Prince of Peace, the Queen of peace, to intercede for us. She who stood at the foot of the Cross knows the depths of human suffering. She who rejoiced at the empty tomb knows the fullness of divine victory. May she guide us, protect us, and lead us always to her Son.
He is Risen! Truly, He is Risen!
May the peace and joy of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, now and forever.
† Bishop Stephen Lee Bun Sang
Catholic Diocese of Macau
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