It seems that for us today it should be much easier to believe in the Resurrection of Jesus, not only because we find in the New Testament several passages about this event that was revealed, first of all by Himself and then by His disciples who narrated his appearances, but because we have evidence that the Church has been announcing this truth for more than two thousand years, which is the foundation of our Christian faith. However, like the disciples of yesterday, we who follow the Lord also have to experience the paschal mystery in our own lives, and it is here that we must check whether we are attached to Jesus by a belief that is enough for us to accommodate ourselves to a life according to our convenience and criteria, or are we on the side of those who make their faith an experience of encounter with that compassionate God who suffers and dies for love, but who rises gloriously to destroy all the enemies of the human person, especially, sin and death. Surely, and thanks be to God, although many of us fall into this second group, in the face of our own reality and that of the world, the confrontation with the Risen One is a daily, vigilant and urgent task because while we are on our way to the promised heaven and with the certainty that His Spirit goes with us, our flesh is weak and the traces of sin can be seen everywhere, giving rise to the incredulous or indifferent to continue thinking that for Christians, Jesus is not a Person but a fantastic account recorded in the Bible.
In this sense and in the face of what we are experiencing today within ourselves, our families, the Church and the world, very often a hopeless view of the present and future of humanity stands out, the images that go viral daily only expose the various faces of injustice, illness and death, caused by sin that is embodied in the abuse of power, the lack of love and respect for life in all its forms. Many of our dialogues and meetings focus on how bad we are and how bad we live because that is the reality, but it is not the whole truth.
It is exactly what happened to the apostles who accompanied Jesus during his ministry and who after His death, were shocked and confused to see their leader die cruelly, after also verifying that in approximately three days the dream of the «Master” that spoke of a new kingdom, full of justice and peace was shattered. Faced with this unexpected outcome, they were filled with doubts, fear, frustration and a terrible disillusionment with life, but in the midst of this panorama of death, trapped by the darkest night, the victorious presence of the Risen Jesus emerges, who is forever the God of Life and the truth is unleashed that also makes us free.
This is the good and great news that spread among them when Jesus appeared to them in those scenarios of sadness, disappointment and failure in which they had taken refuge. Now there was joy, their eyes, minds and hearts were opened, they understood that without death there is no resurrection, they celebrated with Jesus His victory over death manifested in His presence filled with the gestures that they already knew, but that now they perceived more consciously. The death of Jesus had prostrated them, but his resurrection raised them up and prompted them to go out with courage to announce with conviction that the crucifixion was not the end but the beginning of a new era for all humanity.
Based on what has been said above, I see it opportune to take advantage of the fact that we are a few days away from living a new Easter in the Church and humbly recognize that we also need to continue meeting the Risen Jesus, to shake off the dust that has been sticking to us along the way, preventing us from seeing the fruits of His resurrection, in people and in everyday life. In this sense, as a Capuchin Tertiary Sister, I want to conclude this simple reflection, quoting the number 5 of our Constitutions, which precisely recommends us to be attentive to the signs of times as a characteristic attitude of our Father Founder, and to propose as a task to live in community and with the laity, the welcome to the synodal process that the Church lives as a path of communion, participation and mission.
This is a call made for us through Pope Francis: to walk together as an expression of the supreme value of fraternity that is being nourished in the Risen Christ, the Bread of Life, and renews its baptismal commitment and its co-responsibility in the evangelizing mission in the world today.
ELIZABETH CABALLERO GREEN, TC
Live the Easter! Saint Paul expresses the believer’s greatest joy: «If Christ has not been raised, both my proclamation and your faith are meaningless» (1 Cor 15:14). The Second Vatican Council proclaims this ecclesial fact as root and source, center and summit” (Lumen Gentium 10,11,12; Ad gentes 9…).
We distinguish in the mystery of Christ’s Passover the history and the mystery itself, the frontal historical event and the permanent sacramental reality in the Church; the latter properly constitutes the paschal mystery in the life of the Church, the key to the liturgical year and the foundation of Christian living as ʺco-resurrected with Christ» (cf. Col 3:1).
To be a Christian is to graft oneself onto the supernatural reality of the paschal mystery; to disconnect oneself consciously and unconsciously from the salvific reality of Easter is not to be a Christian. Christ even submitted himself to death and a death on a cross. That is why God granted him the name above every nameʺ (Phil 2:8-9).
The central mystery of Easter embraces in an integral way the unitary process of the salvific events: death of the Incarnate Word as a victim in solidarity and new life, resurrection and co-resurrection with Christ. It is the paschal trilogy «Calvary, tomb and resurrection,» urging every believer to inner transformation through the personal experience of the regenerating mystery of death to the old man in Christ and with Christ. The conscious and responsible living of the Lenten journey must lead to the culmination of the new existence in the risen Christ.
Hence, the Church and in her our Congregation provoke a personal encounter with God in the consummate mystery of his Son: «No one comes to the Father except through me» (Jn. 14:6). In today’s history, the Congregation is challenging and leading us to make present the Paschal Mystery among the people to whom we announce the Gospel, sharing with them the reality they live day by day: hunger, unemployment, abandonment and arrogance of dictatorial governments, among others, sowing hope and confidence in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Lord. It is the Spirit that impels and stimulates us in our evangelizing action.
The Sun has awakened, it is Easter, Christ is risen, and it is the first day of the new creation. In this context, Pope Francis tells us: ʺDo not get tired of doing good.
Joyfully, let us continue to live faithful to God in this charismatic family, always committed to reality.
ARELYS MARTÍNEZ, TC