Chàirete
The risen Jesus meets his friends and first of all he meets the women of his group and greets them. Actually the Greek text uses the verb chàire in the imperative form chàirete, "Rejoice, be joyful", more precisely, "enter and stay in joy, grace, and love." The very first word of the risen Jesus to humanity is an imperative, the sweet, solemn imperative to enter and remain in joy, in peace, grace and love. To Jesus, all is in the name of joy, and for joy. Jesus' very message is collected in a text called the gospel, a word that derives from the Greek euanghèlion, "happy announcement, good news." The heart of the gospel, the Beatitudes, the commandments of those who believe in Jesus, are a celebration of joy and happiness, are procedures to be happy and live in well-being and peace. Every Jesus' word and inspiration, every insight that Jesus gave us, every Jesus' gesture and miracle are meant for our joy, happiness, well-being. All in the gospel is deeply immersed in joy: angel Gabriel's greeting to Mary, when he announces that she will become the mother of the Lord, the angels singing with the shepherds before the cave of Bethlehem. The purpose of Jesus' incarnation and visit onto the earth is our joy and our happiness. He expresses it clearly when in John 15.11 He reveals the purpose of his message to humanity: I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.
Thus translating chàirete into “He greeted” is not only etymologically incorrect but also a sign of superficiality and misleading inaccuracy with which we can treat Jesus' words Jesus, his instructions, his inspirations and processes.
How is it that the risen Jesus, the Son of the Most High God, dazzling of light, meets his friends after the bloody days of death and separation and concentrates all his love and message in a pathetic , incoherent, disproportionate “he greeted them”? How is it possible that the risen Jesus meets his daughter humanity - a humanity for which, in view of the Father's project of boundless love, He crossed the heavens and incarnated flesh in Mary's womb, underwent processes, torture, humiliation, spitting, scourge, the cross, bloody and terrible death – and greets it with a generic and conventional greeting?
Chàirete is not a greeting, it is an imperative. The imperative which the free humanity, the community of believers, must take the first steps. The imperative which reveals, expresses, inspires, proclaims, announces: immerse joy, abide in joy, stay in joy. Be joyful is the message, the imperative proposal, the saving inspiration of the risen Jesus to his friends and sons. Jesus' command announces our destiny and our essence, even our nature and energy of which we are made and created: joy, God's joy. We are made of God's joy. Evangelism is based on this requirement: be happy and joyful. Catechesis should bring to joy, knowledge should lead to joy, the Word and prayer should. If proclaiming and preaching Jesus is without joy and does not lead to joy, it has nothing to do with God the Father's Jesus and the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, but with someone else. Jesus is joy, always joy, full joy. Man himself is made of God's joy. The human DNA is made of joy and its spiral rises like a stairway to God, to praise his Holy Name. Man is electrochemically made of joy, and when his mind and spirit are not in joy, the DNA and all the electrochemical processes of the body do not sing the music of God, but they mumble the distorted melodies of the prince of the dark kingdoms, Satan. Those who say they believe in Jesus and want to follow his word and are not always deeply joyful inside, but allow themselves to be taken by anger, persuaded by bitterness, driven by revenge, subdued by resentment, they are not following Jesus but an evil devotion, a dark religion, an obscure confession.
The sign of the cross, Jesus' friends' blessing is: chàirete in the name of the Father, chàirete in the name of the Son, chàirete in the name of the Holy Paraclete. Amen, chàirete.