The celebration of Holy Week has left us all somewhat exhausted. The memory of the last hours of Jesus’ life has made us relive within us the injustice of a world that is capable of killing the author of life, of rejecting the one who brings salvation. Suppression of the truth and murder of the innocents continue to be repeated every day, some happen in places far from us, while others in the vicinity.
Therefore, remembering the death of Jesus does not leave us indifferent. It touches us in the deepest part of our being. A closer look at these incidents around us would make us feel at once victim and executioner. In times of irrational criticisms, we wonder if we joined with the people of Jerusalem shouting: “Crucify him!”
But we also cried with the women for the helplessness we felt — with his death we were losing hope, the best thing we had.
But Holy Week does not end on Good Friday. The Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday bring us the good news that makes us contemplate our own experiences of trauma and frustrations with another perspective. It is not easy to understand.
Neither was it for the disciples at that time. The apostles experienced total confusion. These are the words of Mary Magdalene to Peter and the other disciple: “They have taken the Lord from the tomb and we do not know where they have put him”.
They prefer to think of the simplest hypothesis: Someone has stolen the body of Jesus! It is necessary to approach the place of the event in silence of the heart to let the surprise reach deep within. Only then our faith is illuminated. Evangelist John speaks of himself: “He saw and believed”. The disciples failed to comprehend the turn of events as they unfolded from a brutal torture and killing of the master to the disappearance of the body from the tomb. They needed time to realise that Jesus had risen, that the Father, the Abba of whom he had spoken so many times, in whom he had placed all his trust, had not let him down.
Although the people had killed his messenger, God was not resigned to lose the game. The Father resurrected Jesus and thus certified that he was indeed his Son, that his words were not in vain, that his good news was truly a promise of salvation for humankind, that death is not the end of the road. Today we are all invited to “see and believe”, to contemplate the empty tomb and God’s triumph over death. Today a great hope is opened to us: it is worth fighting for a different world because God, the God of Jesus, is with us.
For your reflection
What does the resurrection of Jesus mean to me? What do I think of my own death? If I truly believe that God is for life, how do I defend and promote life? How do I celebrate the resurrection today?
Father Fernando Torres CMF
www.ciudadredonda.org
Translated by Father Alberto Rossa CMF
