THE SCARS OF THE RISEN ONE
«You killed him, but God raised him». This is what Jesus’ disciples preached with faith throughout the streets of Jerusalem just a few days after his execution. For them, the resurrection is God’s answer to the unjust and criminal action of those who wanted to silence his voice forever and cut off at the root his project of a more just world.
We must not forget it. In the heart of our faith there is a Crucified One whom God has proven right. In the very center of the Church there is a victim to whom God has brought justice. A life «crucified» but lived out with Jesus’ spirit doesn’t end in failure but in resurrection.
This totally changes the meaning of our efforts, pains, works and sufferings for a more human world and a happier life for all. To go about thinking about those who suffer, to be close to the most needy, to extend a hand to the defenseless… to follow the footsteps of Jesus, isn’t something absurd. It is to walk toward the Mystery of a God who will raise up our lives forever.
The small abuses that we can endure, the injustices, rejections or misunderstandings that we can suffer, are wounds that one day will scar over forever. We must learn to look at the wounds of the Risen One with more faith. Thus so one day will be our wounds of today. Scars healed by God for ever.
This faith sustains us within and makes us stronger to keep taking risks. Little by little we need to go about learning not to complain so much, not to always go about feeling sorry for ourselves for the bad there is in the world and in the Church, to not always feel victimized by others. Why can’t we live like Jesus, saying «no one takes my life from me, but it’s I myself who give it»?
To follow the Crucified One all the way to sharing in the resurrection with him is definitely to learn to «give my life», time, efforts and maybe our health out of love. We won’t lack wounds, weariness, and fatigue. A hope sustains us: someday, «God will wipe away the tears from our eyes, and there’ll be no more death or mourning, no crying out or fatigue, but this whole old world will have passed away».
José Antonio Pagola
Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf
