Pbro. José Juan Sánchez Jácome / ACN.– We tend to be visceral and impulsive when speaking. That’s why we make mistakes and hurt others. In childhood, we start speaking this way when we don’t get what we want or when things don’t happen as we desire. And we say: “I don’t love you anymore,” “you’re bad.” Thank goodness children later change their stance and everything is left as a mere outburst.
But we grow up and don’t always mature, so sometimes we continue to be visceral and impulsive in expressions and attitudes. Referring to Christian life, many say: “I no longer have faith,” “my faith is gone.” They express themselves this way because they no longer feel as before, because they have lost the illusion, or because they have even lost the emotion that faith provokes.
They struggle to understand that faith is not always light; the cross also appears; faith is not always feeling good; sometimes nothing is seen or understood. In truth, authentic faith manifests itself in the darkness, in the face of life’s failures. That is, when there are no securities, when there are no emotions, when everything is complicated, that is when faith is truly activated, leading us to believe and abandon ourselves in the Lord.
When they reach a situation like this, many brothers and sisters come to say: “I don’t understand anything, I don’t accept what’s happening, but I believe in You, Lord.” “I will not stop seeking You. I will defend the place You occupy in my life.”
I have been strengthened by the testimonies of women like Edith Stein and Etty Hillesum, who in the concentration camps defended the place of God in their hearts, not allowing evil to break their faith. Etty Hillesum, for example, came to express this profound prayer:
“Bad times are running, my God. Tonight something happened to me for the first time: I was sleepless, with burning eyes in the darkness, and I saw images of human suffering. God, I promise You one thing: I will not let my worries about the future weigh like a burden on today, even if it takes some practice… I will help You, my God, so that You do not abandon me, but I cannot assure You of anything in advance. Only one thing is becoming increasingly clear to me: that You cannot help us, that we must help You, and in that way we will help ourselves. That is the only thing that matters in these times, God: to save a fragment of You in us. Perhaps that way we can do something to resurrect You in the desolate hearts of people. Yes, my Lord, it seems that You too cannot change the circumstances much; after all, they belong to this life… And with every heartbeat, I am more convinced that You cannot help us, but that we must help You, and that we must defend to the end the place You occupy within us… In the near future, I will have many more conversations with You, and in this way, I will prevent You from fleeing from me. You too will live poor times in me, Lord, times when You will not be nourished by my trust. But believe me, I will continue working for You and be faithful to You and not cast You out of my interior.”
In a tragic situation like this, others would say: “where is God”; “God has abandoned us”; “if God existed, these things wouldn’t happen.” This is how we frame things in relation to faith.
But the same happens with love; we speak in a visceral way. There are people who no longer feel as they once did, no longer feel the same as when they were in love, and hastily they come to say: “the love is over.” No, the love is not over; it enters a stage of maturity, of foundation where one no longer depends on emotion, but on conviction; where not everything is warmth, but pain also appears.
But that is a topic for another day. Let’s return better to faith. There you have the example of those women of Easter. Blessed women. Tragedy does not stop them, not even the dangers of going at dawn to the tomb in a militarized area. They have faith, not because they are happy, not because they feel good, as if they had already forgotten the tragedy of the previous days. They have faith because they love, and love is forever, unconditionally.
Faith and love drive them, even though on the way they notice the issue of the colossal stone of the tomb. But when faith lifts us and makes us move forward, when we do not stay lamenting what happens to us, then God removes the stones from the path. Here again appears the essential of faith: faith is to believe and trust, not so much to see and feel. That is why the women believe in the words of the angel.
Through faith, God lights a bonfire in the heart that does not go out completely. Sometimes it may have less intensity, but it does not go out completely and can be reignited at any moment, especially when we do not let ourselves be defeated and place all our trust in God, despite the events wanting to extinguish it.
For Peter and John, faith is also to believe. The women reignite that bonfire in the hearts of the apostles when they communicate the news to them. Faith is to believe in the testimony of the brothers and sisters. Do not wait for a special revelation or an appearance. God regularly uses people to ignite faith, and what a beautiful testimony the women and the apostles give us who believe in the word, believe the brothers and sisters, before seeing the risen Lord.
The women did not let themselves be defeated by the tragedy, Peter did not let himself be sunk by his remorse, by his cowardice in having denied the Lord and left Him alone. They believed and were reached by the risen Christ. We must not let the weight of sins sink us further, but rather rise and let ourselves be infected by the faith of the Easter women to recognize that there is also hope for us.
There are many things that discourage us and can be as tragic as what happened to Jesus. But in the worst tragedies, the light of Easter will illuminate our lives so that we do not let ourselves be defeated and know that God will remove the colossal stones and lift us from our discouragements so that we may go announce this message to so many brothers and sisters who need it.
Easter is a time to renew and recharge with faith. Do not worry if you have failed, if you have made so many mistakes. There is always hope to rise, to start anew, to go ask for forgiveness, to start a new life. To renew oneself is a way to overcome oneself, to overcome adversities.
Let us take into account the words that Benedict XVI puts in the mouth of Jesus: “I have risen and now I am always with you,” He says to each one of us. My hand sustains you. Wherever you fall, you will fall into my hands. I am present even at the gates of death. Where no one can accompany you anymore and where you cannot take anything, there I await you, and for you I transform the darkness into light.
In Christmas, you arrive at Bethlehem and find the Child Jesus. In Easter, you arrive at the tomb and find nothing. But in Christmas as in Easter, you contemplate the mystery, because there are silences that scream and lead you to exclaim: He is not here, He has risen! Χριστός ἀνέστη. Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη.