LIVING FROM HIS PRESENCE
The story in John’s Gospel couldn’t be more suggestive and challenging. Only when they see Jesus risen in their midst does the group of disciples get transformed. They recover peace, their fears disappear, they’re full of an unknown joy, they notice the encouragement of Jesus upon them, and they open the doors because they feel themselves sent to live out the same mission that he had received from the Father.
Today’s crisis in the Church, her fears and her lack of spiritual vigor have their origin on a deep level. Frequently the idea of Jesus’ resurrection and of his presence in our midst is more of a thought out and preached doctrine than a lived-out experience.
The Risen Christ is in the center of the Church, but his living presence isn’t ingrained within us, isn’t incorporated in the substance of our communities, doesn’t ordinarily nourish our projects. After 20 centuries of Christianity, Jesus isn’t known or understood in his originality. He isn’t loved or followed as it was for his first disciples.
It’s pretty evident when a group or a Christian community feels itself inhabited by that invisible but real and working presence of the Risen Christ. They aren’t content with routinely following the directives that regulate Church life. They possess a special sensibility of listening, seeking, remembering and applying Jesus’ Gospel. They are the most healthy and alive spaces in the Church.
Nothing or no one can today support us in the power, joy and creativity we need to confront an unprecedented crisis, as can the Risen Christ’s living presence. Deprived of his spiritual vigor we won’t leave behind our almost inborn passivity, we will keep the doors closed to the modern world, we will continue doing «what’s required» without joy or conviction. Where will we encounter the energy we need to recreate and reform the Church?
We must act. We need Jesus more than ever. We need to live out his living presence, remember in all circumstances his criteria and his Spirit, constantly rethink his life, let him be the inspiration of our action. He can bring us more light and power than anyone. He’s in our midst, communicating his peace, his joy, and his Spirit.
José Antonio Pagola
Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf
