President Obama yesterday spoke of the importance of faith in a world filled with fear at his final Easter Prayer Breakfast.
Speaking to Christian leaders gathered at the White House, Obama said the meeting took on greater meaning in light of the recent terror attacks in Brussels and Pakistan, and offered prayers for the victims, survivors and their families.
Nail bombings at Brussels' Zaventem airport and Maalbeek metro station killed 32 people on 22 March. On Easter Sunday, more than 70, including dozens of women and children, were killed in a blast at a park in Lahore, Pakistan.
"These attacks can foment fear and division," Obama said on Wednesday morning. "They can tempt us to cast out the stranger, strike out against those who don't look like us, or pray exactly as we do. And they can lead us to turn our backs on those who are most in need of help and refuge. That's the intent of the terrorists, is to weaken our faith, to weaken our best impulses, our better angels."
Easter, however, reminds Christians that "you don't have to be afraid," the President continued.
"We drown out darkness with light, and we heal hatred with love, and we hold on to hope. And we think about all that Jesus suffered and sacrificed on our behalf – scorned, abandoned, shunned, nail-scarred hands bearing the injustice of his death and carrying the sins of the world.
"And it's difficult to fathom the full meaning of that act. Scripture tells us, 'For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.' Because of God's love, we can proclaim 'Christ is risen!' Because of God's love, we have been given this gift of salvation. Because of Him, our hope is not misplaced, and we don't have to be afraid.
"And as Christians have said through the years, 'We are Easter people, and Alleluia is our song!' We are Easter people, people of hope and not fear."
This is a "living and breathing hope," Obama said, which must be passed on to other people. He recalled Pope Francis washing the feet of refugees on Maundy Thursday, and said it was "a powerful reminder of our obligations" as Christians. He went on to praise the work that Christian leaders do in feeding the hungry, healing the sick and housing the homeless.
"To do justice, to love kindness – that's what all of you collectively are involved in in your own ways each and every day," Obama said. "And in that way, you are teaching all of us what it means when it comes to true discipleship. It's not just words. It's not just getting dressed and looking good on Sunday. But it's service, particularly for the least of these."
They had been "on the front lines of delivering God's message of love and compassion and mercy for His children," he added, noting that he "could not have been prouder" to work with those in the room.
"And our faith changes us," he concluded. "I know it's changed me. It renews in us a sense of possibility. It allows us to believe that although we are all sinners, and that at time we will falter, there's always the possibility of redemption.
"Every once in a while, we might get something right, we might do some good; that there's the presence of grace, and that we, in some small way, can be worthy of this magnificent love that God has bestowed on us."
