Word: easter
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...first, their song went almost unheard. The tumult of voices and laughter and a steady stream of worshippers spilling out of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, a crowd happy at the end of the Easter Vigil and the resurrection of their Lord, at first obscured the crowd of joyful singers. As they sang and danced in celebration, they offered hands and made spaces for the growing throng of onlookers. My friends and I were soon drawn into the circle. Those baptized and received into the Church by Pope John Paul II himself that night, were of every race...
...Easter Vigil Mass is traditionally the longest celebration of the year in which Catholics remember the highlights of thousands of years of Jewish and Christian tradition, sacramentally welcome newcomers to the faith, and celebrate the night upon which all Christians believe that sinful humankind was forever redeemed. When I began to dance with these newly baptized converts in St. Peter's Square, the "real" world of conflict and anguish fell away for a few moments. I was amazed, once again, at the universality of the Roman Catholic Church...
Every year many pilgrims continue the tradition. When I went to Rome during Holy Week to join the Easter celebrations, my happiness extended beyond my dreams of the Yankees winning the World Series. To those who make the journey, this Holy City offers reasons for faith. Pilgrims can visit the Basilica of St. John Lateran and climb (on their knees) the "Holy Steps" of Pontius Pilate's palace which Jesus traversed several times on the day he was condemned and crucified. Less dominating, but more profound, in the Church of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, large pieces of the crosses...
...course, many reading this will not share the faith of faith of those dancers in St. Peter's Square. The simple faith I found in those dancers and in a unity of belief and love exemplified by the Pope's Easter greeting in 61 languages the next day were reason enough...
Milosevic, meanwhile, is still maneuvering to settle the crisis on his terms. His unilateral cease-fire offer last week was followed by hints that the three U.S. Army pows he had would be freed if NATO agreed to an Easter bombing halt. NATO ruled out any suspension, and former Cypriot President Spyros Kyprianou, who flew to Belgrade to win the G.I.s' release, came home empty handed. In a classic example of wartime double-talk, Yugoslav government officials declared that "peace has been restored in Kosovo." Milosevic claimed to be "negotiating" for the Kosovars' safe return to their homes with ethnic...