Posted by The WORD in other words (2018) by Fr Dante Barril SVD – Catholic Trade Manila
3rd Sunday of Easter – B
We fear the unknown. I used to be very scared of dark places. I remember how my father would go to a dark room and tell me that there were no monsters inside. And then it would not be that scary anymore.
The Gospel presents that Jesus is a suffering Messiah. And Luke’s report about how Jesus showed his hands and feet, which must have borne the marks of the nails, serves to reinforce the image of Jesus as one who has suffered much. But for all the drama and emotion that the crucifixion evokes, it’s not really the wounds, the pain and suffering that make Jesus special.
Everybody has been wounded and surely nobody has been exempted from suffering and pain. Instead what sets Jesus apart is the fact that He has conquered pain and suffering – even death. He went to hell and has come back!
Once our group was in the Dead Sea. Everybody was swimming, except one sister. I approached her and persuaded her to swim. I showed her how easy it was. Eventually I convinced her to give it a try. Dear old sister started floating and smiling all over the renowned sea. And I really could see joy in her face, for about five minutes.
Until somebody accidentally splashed very salty water in her eyes, which caused her to panic and to cry for help. She almost drowned. Luckily the place had ready life guards who sprang into action and saved our group and especially me from a truckload of guilt.
But what sister said, when I offered my apologies later on, struck me:“You know what? I could float on that sea. I did it because you were doing it. There was a minor glitch in my execution, but I’m sure when I will do it again I will do a little better.”
We hide our wounds. We brush away our hurts. We don’t talk or even think of our death. All these scare us. But the fact that Jesus has conquered them gives us hope. It could be done. There might be glitches in our execution, but if we keep on going at it we’ll eventually get better.
Besides, as that famous prayer “Footprints in the Sand” says, if we could no longer walk He will carry us through. And He sure knows the way because He has been there and done that already. And more importantly, Jesus Himself has given the assurance to his followers saying that even if “in the world you will have trouble, (but) take courage, I have conquered the world.” (Jn. 16,33)
Jesus has entered the dark room and has assured us that there are no monsters inside – only darkness that will soon give way to light.
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