Pope Francis said: the "good news" of Easter's joy and hope means "leaving ourselves behind and encountering others, being close to those crushed by life's troubles, sharing with the needy, standing at the side of the sick, elderly and the outcast."

 Honestly, I have heard these words all of my life. I never understood them until working as a priest-chaplain in the Intensive Care ward. On Good Friday, two comatose victims of violent crime awoke and began the long, painful road to recuperation. The joy of their families was beyond description. They expressed their joy with me in sacrament and prayer. It doesn't get much better.