[ PREVIOUS CHAPTER ]  [ HOME ]  [ NEXT CHAPTER ]
[ INDEX OF CHAPTERS ]

7

‘PRESENTE’

   In the early hours of 16^th November 1989, armed men entered the residence of the Jesuit-run Central American University of San Salvador and murdered six Jesuit priests and two women domestics, a mother and her sixteen-year-old daughter. At a Requiem Mass for these martyrs held in Lusaka in Zambia, a Jesuit priest preached the homily. He spoke with great feeling because he had lived in El Salvador and knew personally those who had been murdered. In the homily, he reminded us that members of the basic Christian communities in Central and South America are no strangers to torture and death. He told us that when these communities meet for the Eucharist, they pray for those members of the community who have been slain. They have a roll-call for their members. The name of the murdered person is still called out and the congregation answers ‘Presente’. This beautiful response of faith asserts that death is not final, that loved ones still live, that our union with them is not destroyed by death. In some real mysterious way in spirit and in truth they are ‘presente’.

  This kind of faith is possible because Jesus had enough trust to let go of his young life and let himself fall back into his Father’s arms. ‘Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit’ (Luke 23:46). If these South American Christians can call out ‘Presente’ for their martyred dead, it is only because we, with equal faith, hope and love, can shout out ‘Presente’ for our crucified saviour, Jesus Christ. And this is what we do at every Eucharist at the proclamation of faith when we all say ‘Christ is risen, Christ will come again.’ In another form of the proclamation we say ‘Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life. Lord Jesus, come in glory.’

   The mystery of God’s love affair with us is not exhausted by his death for us on the cross. St. Paul says, ‘He not only died for us – he rose from the dead and there at God’s right hand he stands and pleads for us.’ (Romans 8:34) Jesus rose from the dead for us. We might be inclined to think he died for us but that he rose for himself! The mystery is deeper. He rose to tell us that those who put their trust in God will not be abandoned. His rising tells us that love can overcome hate, that love is possible and is the ultimate reality. He rose to tell us that we will rise. He rose to take our humanity into glory. He did not discard his humanity after Calvary as a worker might hang up her overalls after completing a job. And he rose to be with us all the days of our pilgrimage through life. We can at any moment say his name and hear him whisper to our hearts, ‘Presente’, I am with you.

  At the Easter vigil liturgy all over the world, groups of people, large and small, gather under the night sky around the Pascal fire. It is a very symbolic act, a community gathered round a fire at night. The fire, especially when out in the open night air, offers light, warmth, protection. The fire attracts and gathers a community round itself. And what do people do when gathered round a fire? Often they tell stories. They tell stories of the family, or the nation. A story may be told about some member of the family who was wise in leadership; one who did great things and brought pride and glory to the family.

  At Easter the Christian family gathers round the Paschal fire and tells again the story of the great deed done by the eldest Son, the first-born of the family, Jesus Christ. It is the story of how he challenged the evil powers of darkness, even death itself, on behalf of the whole family and won a great victory. It was a terrible battle and it cost him his young life, but it was done out of love and, in dying for love, he proved what our hearts always secretly believed, that love is for ever. We can never tire of this story, and each year, as children do, we turn to our Mother, the Church and say, ‘Tell it again.’

   This elder brother, our dear Lord and Saviour, is risen and present among us, offering a share in the victory he has won over evil, fear, sin and selfishness.

'Yahweh your God is in your midst,
a victorious warrior.
He will exult with joy over you,
he will renew you by his love.'

  The victory was for us. We are chosen in him from the beginning by the Father ‘Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ, to live through love in his presence’ (Ephesians 1:4). Without him we can do nothing. But we are not without him. He is with us in intimate union. ‘I am the vine, you are the branches’ (John 15:5). It is interesting to notice that in the Old Testament the image of the vine was used, but in that instance we were the vine, Yahweh plants a choice vine hoping for good grapes, but his people fail to produce good fruit. ‘He expected it to yield grapes, but sour grapes were all that it gave’ (Isaiah 5:2). But now, in our day, Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. We can be fruitful because we draw life from him who is risen and with us.

  Let us go deeper. The resurrection of Jesus our brother is part of the mystery of God’s plan for us, hidden from all eternity but now revealed in our time in Jesus. The resurrection is not a matter of turning the tables on Satan or evil. It is not merely the reversing of a bad situation. We are witnessing planned fulfilment. It is not a question of Jesus being brought back to this life and taking up where he had left off, thus frustrating all his enemies. We are witnessing the flowering of the seed that died in trust. Jesus does not come back to our limited form of life. He moves forward into the new life of glory. It is a Passover. And where he has gone, each of us can follow. This is our destiny. Death is not something that falls upon us or something which catches us out or cuts short a life. It is our Passover into glory.

  And more still. The fruit of the resurrection of our Saviour is for us now. It is not only a consolation that awaits us after death. It is new life offered us right now, today. Our Passover can begin now. We can rise today out of the many death experiences that rob us of light, warms, joy and peace. Such experiences are fear, loneliness, guilt, anger, addiction and doubt. We are invited by him who is the victorious warrior, who is risen and present, to experience even today a Passover from such enemies. So it was for his first followers. The death of their friend Jesus left them in a world of shattered dreams, a world of darkness, confusion and hopelessness. Then they too experienced him among them saying ‘Presente’. They rose into a new experience of joy, hope and love that was so strong that they could face even the enemy, death, smiling.

  That experience of Jesus as Risen Lord present to his followers and sharing with them his victory over fear and death was, above all, a love experience. The Jesus who suffered, died and rose for them is present among them because he cares, because he loves them. They feel precious and lovable in his eyes, and he is God. The experience of being loved in this way, despite their weakness, is the source of extraordinary new courage, power and joy. This love, and the power it beings, will sustain them in all of life’s trials and sorrows. Ultimately, only love can give the power to endure everything. Jesus is that love in the lives of those early followers. We are told that when Peter and the Apostles were flogged for speaking to the people about Jesus, they considered it a great honour to suffer for the Lord (Acts 5:41). St. Paul had his life turned upside down on the Damascus road when he was convinced that Jesus was alive and not dead and, much more, that Jesus knew his name, loved him and had died for him. From now on this love is the great reality in Paul’s life. The values that had previously motivated him are as nothing compared to Christ’s love. ‘I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can have Christ’ (Philippians 3:8)

  As it was for those first friends, so it must be for all Christ’s followers of any and every age. For each of us Jesus died, is risen and is with us in love. That love must be the source of all our power to bear life’s sorrows. It must also be the love story that brings sunshine, warmth and joy into our lives. Over the years, it is to be hoped that this love will grow and become our treasure. The growth may be slow and gradual because we are weak. That’s all right. Paul accepts this for himself and for us when he says that we carry this treasure which is Christ in ‘earthenware jars’ (2 Corinthians 4:7). But gradually we begin to realise that Christ’s steadfast love is real treasure beside which the world’s wealth and pleasures love much of their attraction.

One evening a pilgrim, known for holiness, arrived at the outskirts of an Indian village. He spread his prayer mat and had begun to pray when a man from the village came through the bush, approached him and said: ‘Holy man, I have had a dream about you and in the dream was told to ask you for a very special stone you carry.’ The pilgrim at first seemed puzzled but then his face brightened and he began to rummage in the leather bag which carried all his possessions. As he was doing so, he said he had found an unusual stone on the forest path. He then took out from the bag a large shining diamond. Holding it up, he said: ‘It is indeed unusual and beautiful. Do you want it?’ The villager tried to conceal his desire and joy ‘Yes! Yes, that’s the stone. May I have it?’ The pilgrim handed him the diamond. The villager grabbed it and rushed off, fearing the pilgrim might change his mind, but the holy man was already absorbed in prayer. Next morning, as the pilgrim was at morning prayer, he was again distracted by someone coming through the bush. He looked up and saw the same villager standing there with the diamond in his hand. This time, the villager went down on his knees beside the pilgrim and said he wished to return the diamond. ‘Oh’, said the pilgrim, ‘Do you not like it?’ The villager answered ‘It is beautiful and valuable, but I wish to return it. You see, all night, I have not slept wondering what treasure you must possess that enables you to give away a most precious diamond with such ease and peace. I now beg you humbly to share this other treasure with me.’

   For the Christian believer, the other treasure is surely the personal love of Jesus for each of us. That love is unconditional. It is offered to us because we are his, because we belong to him and he sees us as lovable. We say his love in unconditional, but in fact, there is one condition we must fulfil before we can experience this love. That condition may seem easy, but for many it seems to prove difficult. The condition is that we accept the love that is offered. Why is it that we are so slow to accept this love in a childlike way? One reason, I believe, is that we feel we are not worthy of it. If only we could realise that the whole point about unconditional love is that we do not have to be worthy. Indeed, it is a contradiction to speak of being worthy of unconditional love. It’s like asking about the price of a free gift! A gift is given because we are loved, not because we pay a price.

[ HOME ]
[ INDEX OF CHAPTERS ]