Faith is light amid darkness

By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami

Archbishop Thomas Wenski shared this reflection with Pastoral Center employees during their traditional Lenten morning of reflection, held March 25, 2021.

“We are Easter people and ‘Alleluia’ is our song,” preached St. Augustine of Hippo in the uncertain times in which he lived. He added, “Let us sing here and now in this life, even though we are oppressed by various worries, so that we may sing it one day in the world to come, when we are set free from all anxiety.”

We spent a year “oppressed by various worries” and weighed down by “anxiety.”

Our earthly life is described in that beautiful Marian prayer, the Salve Regina, as a “valley of tears,” and as an “exile.” We certainly descended into that valley of tears as the reality of this pandemic unsettled our lives. Our tears mingled with our fears. And isolation was experienced by many as a type of exile.

As Christians still living in the world, we will experience all manner of trials and tribulations. The sufferings of Christ do not exempt us from suffering ourselves; but his sufferings seen in the light of his Resurrection give meaning and hope to our own. And so, even suffering does not take away our joy in the future promise of our own Resurrection. Faith – like the Paschal Candle during Easter Vigil – is light amid darkness. It is a light that shows us the way.

Our Lenten observances along with our celebration of Easter are designed to help us experience Jesus not as a figure from the past but as truly living today, a Jesus who gives us a new way of seeing the world and a new way of living in the world.

Our Christian faith is born not so much from the acceptance of a doctrine but from an encounter with a person – with Christ, once dead but now risen. Christ who encountered the women who came to the tomb is the same Christ who encounters us today in his Word and Sacrament. And this is why the faithful yearn for that day – and please God it will be soon – when we can return to our churches and, in obedience to Jesus’ command, “Do this in remembrance of me,” to worship and share in the communion of His Body and Blood.

Jesus is not just a character from a far distant past. He is not remembered in the same way as the great men and heroes who lived long ago are remembered. We might talk about them – and about their deeds. But we cannot talk to them or befriend them. Jesus, however, is the same yesterday, today and forever. He lives.

Having broken the chains of death, he walks before us as one who is alive – and he calls us to follow him, the living one, and to enter a relationship of friendship with him. In this way we discover the path of life, a life that is always new because it will never die. Christ in rising from the dead saves all that is truly human and by the gift of his Spirit makes it possible for us to live no longer for ourselves but for him.

For Catholics, Easter is our return every year to our own baptism... our own “passage” or “Pascha” into new life in Christ. Lent was a call to renewed conversion of mind and heart – a turning back to the Lord because even though we are baptized what we constantly lose and betray is precisely that which we received in baptism. And so, at Easter, we are reminded that we were created for life – eternal life that transcends the boundaries of this world and overcomes even the limitation of death. Our baptism stands as a radical witness today in a world that denies that man was created for anything else but death.

Faith in Jesus’ passion, death and Resurrection gives us the inner strength to exercise our baptismal commitment to live, in different ways, lives of service and significance.

In the gift of Easter lie the demands of Easter: “If you were raised with Christ seek what is above,” St. Paul tells us. Jesus’ whole life was shaped by his obedience to his Father. For us, to live in Christ means that we will never allow the things of this world to distract us from the true purpose and goal of our existence. We must seek to do God’s will in all things – even in the seemingly most mundane things. But doing God’s will and following the commandments does not deprive us of joy but it is what makes true joy possible.

Indeed, joy is a sign that we have been with the Lord. And this joy comes by not only following God’s law but also from knowing God in his son Jesus Christ. It comes from experiencing his mercy and grace and sharing in his divine life. Our witness will be that much more credible if it is joyful – our joy allows God to smile through us and thus – even in this time of a health and economic crises – to bring renewed hope to the world.

Last year, in the early days of the pandemic, Pope Francis presided over an extraordinary moment of prayer in which he reflected on the apostles and their fears when a tempest overtook them in a boat while Jesus slept. (cf. Mark 4)

In applying this incident in the ministry of Jesus to the global pandemic, Pope Francis said: “The storm exposes our vulnerability and uncovers those false and superfluous certainties around which we have constructed our daily schedules, our projects, our habits and priorities. It shows us how we have allowed to become dull and feeble the very things that nourish, sustain, and strengthen our lives and our communities...”

We have hopefully learned that we are not as powerful or as in control of our lives as we sometimes pretend to be. But, at the same time, we also learned that we all are “in the same boat.” As the U.S. bishops said in their statement this month marking the anniversary of the pandemic: “Rather than being ashamed of this powerlessness or crushed by the fear of what we cannot control, our interconnectedness and dependence on God has been revealed.”

This past year has tried us sorely: We faced sickness — our own or that of our loved ones; we mourned the deaths of relatives and friends; we suffered the anxiety of economic uncertainty and experienced loneliness as we were forced to “stay apart”; and, we worried as we saw racial unrest and partisan bickering threaten the domestic tranquility of our nation’s life. Yet, we have proven resilient, for the Lord does not leave us to the mercy of the storm.

And certainly, the many acts of kindness of neighbor to neighbor, the selfless courage of front line workers, the quiet dedication of our teachers, the steady accompaniment of our priests — even when public participation in the Eucharist was not possible — were rays of hope dispelling the darkness of despair. 

Again, as the pope wrote, “In this storm, the façade of those stereotypes with which we camouflaged our egos, always worrying about our image, has fallen away, uncovering once more that (blessed) common belonging, of which we cannot be deprived: our belonging as brothers and sisters.” 

“Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” This was Jesus’ reproach to the Apostles when they awoke him in the midst of the storm. Faith begins when we realize our need of salvation. As we look to get on the far side of this pandemic, let us entrust ourselves to the Lord.

Sunday is Palm Sunday – and this year I am looking forward to Holy Week with our churches open – even if at reduced capacity because of social distancing. Last year’s Holy Week was more than a bit surreal – with Masses livestreamed to parishioners in the homes. I hope this year’s Holy Week and Easter will be a bit more normal for all of us.

Again, to cite Pope Francis: “By his cross we have been saved in order to embrace hope and let it strengthen and sustain all measures and all possible avenues for helping us protect ourselves and others. Embracing the Lord in order to embrace hope: that is the strength of faith, which frees us from fear and gives us hope.”

I will end, as I began, with a quote from St. Augustine:

“We are Easter people and ‘Alleluia’ is our song. Let us sing here and now in this life, even though we are oppressed by various worries, so that we may sing it one day in the world to come, when we are set free from all anxiety.”