Easter Sunday Reflection
John 20:1-9
March 31, 2013
“…and he saw and believed (John 20:8).”
Easter Joy
I have written a lot about sufferings and
the meanings of hope in the midst of these human tragedies. Yet, not to lose hope
is not really the terminal point of being a Christian. Blaise Pascal, a French
Catholic philosopher, was once overheard that ‘Nobody is as happy as a real
Christian.’ He said the truth, but how many of us, in practice, possess the
happiness of which Pascal speaks? More
closer to our reality is the words of German Existentialist philosopher,
Friedrich Nietzsche – a foremost critic of Christianity – that ‘Christ’s
disciples should look more redeemed!’
True enough! We are redeemed people and it
is the source of greatest and overflowing joy. Jesus indeed dies to redeem us
from our sins and death, but what assures us that He truly redeems us, is His
Resurrection. In the words of Antonio Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, ‘we
are Easter People!’ If the climax of Easter Triduum is Easter Sunday, and this
Holy Sunday is all about Christ’s Resurrection, then joy is indeed the summit
of our Christian characters. St. Thomas Aquinas once mentioned that ‘Joy is the
noblest human act.’
Unfortunately, some of us do not manifest
this Christian joy. Even, other complain precisely for being Christians! Some
just sleep during the homily of the priest, and make a Church’s liturgy a good
lullaby. In some countries where Christians are minority, being Christian
sometimes is considered as a curse rather than a blessing. People with
Christian name are discriminated if not persecuted. Yet, where the Christians
are the dominant group, we turn to be perpetrators of these injustice and
harassment. After all, how we can be really happy if human world is so broken
and full of sufferings?
We might miss the entire point if we simply
associate the joy of the redeemed with mere pleasant emotions or good feelings.
It does not mean we are going to laugh out loud during the funeral and say to
every one, ‘Hi, we are Christians, we should be happy all the time!’ Neither
does it flow from alcohol, illegal drugs and illicit sexual acts. Christian joy
has to be more substantial and deeper.
Let us see today’s Gospel to have a glimpse
of this joy. When the disciples found the tomb was empty, it was nothing but
natural for them to be confused and greatly saddened. Where is the Lord? Who
dared to take His Body? Peter looked at the tomb in confusion and went home
puzzled. Mary Magdalene remained, yet she wept bitterly. Only the beloved disciple
saw the bare sepulcher, and he believed. John gazed the emptiness, but he did
not simply perceive nothingness. He saw beyond and discovered a meaning. The
Easter Sunday begins with empty burial place, and indeed our faith in
Resurrected Jesus commences in this very emptiness of the tomb!
Our joy is not about feeling ‘great’ and
‘good’, but ours springs from God’s grace by which we are able to see meaning
in our lives, and even in the emptiness of life itself. To remain faithful and
hopeful in the bitterness of lives is indeed a finest quality of Christian, but
to be able to unearth the meanings behind those events brings us to another
decimal level of being Christian. Allow me to end this reflection to tell the
story of Evelyn.
In 2006, after Zimbabwe president, Robert Mugabe,
won the election, he decreed operation Murambatsvina, “the cleaning out of the
rubbish”. He ordered the demolition of the houses of those people who refused
to vote for him during the election. More than 700,000 people watched their
home bulldozed. They became refugees in their homeland and begun their life
again out of the rubbles of their home. At the heart of this place of refuge,
was a small plastic tent, called ‘the young Generation pre-school’. This was a
home of a young woman called Evelyn, and she used it as a school in the day.
There were around a dozen of her students under the age of eight, nearly all
HIV-positive and with TB. Sometimes there was food to eat, but usually, there
was none. Yet, Evelyn never gave up taking care of the children and even the
children sang welcome songs happily every time guests would visit them. Fr.
Timothy Radcliffe, OP once visited her and seeing her condition, he asked her
why she did that. She just had one simple reason that she loved the children so
much and indeed found meaning and joy in what she was doing. [1]
Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP
WOMAN, BEHOLD YOUR SON
Reflection on Good Friday
Nowhere in the bible we can discover that Jesus calls his mother, ‘mother’. Not even He addresses her with the beautiful name, ‘Mary’! Jesus names her as ‘Woman’. Certainly Jesus does not teach us disrespect by calling our own father, “Yo, Man!” Rather, He recognizes who Mary really is, her true and deepest identity. On the cross, Jesus reveals the name of Mary, ‘the Woman’, because she is the new Eve. While the old Eve, the first woman, failed and fell, Mary, the new Eve, remains faithful even until the most painful end.
Who could bear to see her only son, the fruit of her womb, being unjustly condemned as a criminal, tortured like an animal and humiliatingly crucified before all eyes? Yet, Mary did not run away, she did not weep, she did not kneel, but she stood firmly under the cross (John 19:25)! The ‘Yes’ Mary said to God in the Annunciation, is the same ‘Yes’, she professed to her Son, under the cross. She remained faithful, while the rest of humanity fail and fall.
Look at Jesus’ male disciples! Practically almost all male disciples ran for their lives. Peter, the boldest among all, denied his Master thrice. Judas cheaply sold Him at the price of a slave. Others were scattered and nowhere to be found. The community of disciples that Jesus painstakingly gathered was eventually disbanded under the cross. However, not every body left Jesus hanging on the cross. Mary stood and looked at her Son. It was under the cross, the greatest sufferings the world could inflict, Jesus saw who the true disciples were, the one who followed Him till the end. Remarkably, she was the first disciple of him and in fact, the last, Mary the Woman.
Like Mary, our authentic identity and characters reveal themselves under the cross, under the great sufferings, and sometimes on the face of death. The genuine disciples of Jesus can only be found under the cross. And only through the cross, like Mary, we are admitted into the household of God, the community of believers: “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home (John 19:26-27).
Do we say a little prayer and sign of the cross in public for simple blessing we receive? Do we go to the Church every Sunday despite boredom and laziness? Just in case our boyfriend runs with another woman, are we able to forgive them, or we rather look for the payback time? In dire need of money, are we going to remain honest, or we start seeking opportunity for corruption?
Under the cross, in the face of disintegrating old group and hopeless death of its founder, the embryo of a new community springs up. It is the community of believers who alike Mary, recognize God even in most battered humanity of Jesus; believers that hold fast despite no good future in their gaze; believers who see the seed of resurrection in the disfigured realities of life. There is no resurrection without the cross. The genuine disciples of Jesus can only be found under the cross. Only through Christ’s cross, we can say that we are truly Christians.
Nowhere in the bible we can discover that Jesus calls his mother, ‘mother’. Not even He addresses her with the beautiful name, ‘Mary’! Jesus names her as ‘Woman’. Certainly Jesus does not teach us disrespect by calling our own father, “Yo, Man!” Rather, He recognizes who Mary really is, her true and deepest identity. On the cross, Jesus reveals the name of Mary, ‘the Woman’, because she is the new Eve. While the old Eve, the first woman, failed and fell, Mary, the new Eve, remains faithful even until the most painful end.
Who could bear to see her only son, the fruit of her womb, being unjustly condemned as a criminal, tortured like an animal and humiliatingly crucified before all eyes? Yet, Mary did not run away, she did not weep, she did not kneel, but she stood firmly under the cross (John 19:25)! The ‘Yes’ Mary said to God in the Annunciation, is the same ‘Yes’, she professed to her Son, under the cross. She remained faithful, while the rest of humanity fail and fall.
Look at Jesus’ male disciples! Practically almost all male disciples ran for their lives. Peter, the boldest among all, denied his Master thrice. Judas cheaply sold Him at the price of a slave. Others were scattered and nowhere to be found. The community of disciples that Jesus painstakingly gathered was eventually disbanded under the cross. However, not every body left Jesus hanging on the cross. Mary stood and looked at her Son. It was under the cross, the greatest sufferings the world could inflict, Jesus saw who the true disciples were, the one who followed Him till the end. Remarkably, she was the first disciple of him and in fact, the last, Mary the Woman.
Like Mary, our authentic identity and characters reveal themselves under the cross, under the great sufferings, and sometimes on the face of death. The genuine disciples of Jesus can only be found under the cross. And only through the cross, like Mary, we are admitted into the household of God, the community of believers: “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home (John 19:26-27).
Do we say a little prayer and sign of the cross in public for simple blessing we receive? Do we go to the Church every Sunday despite boredom and laziness? Just in case our boyfriend runs with another woman, are we able to forgive them, or we rather look for the payback time? In dire need of money, are we going to remain honest, or we start seeking opportunity for corruption?
Under the cross, in the face of disintegrating old group and hopeless death of its founder, the embryo of a new community springs up. It is the community of believers who alike Mary, recognize God even in most battered humanity of Jesus; believers that hold fast despite no good future in their gaze; believers who see the seed of resurrection in the disfigured realities of life. There is no resurrection without the cross. The genuine disciples of Jesus can only be found under the cross. Only through Christ’s cross, we can say that we are truly Christians.
Bro. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP
The Last Supper and the First Eucharist
(reflection on Holy Thursday)
We enter the most dramatic and important
episodes in the life of Jesus and indeed in the life of the Church: the Paschal
Tridium. The drama of salvation begins at the Upper room in which Jesus gathers
with his disciples for the Last Supper. It is here Jesus institutes the first
Holy Eucharist which becomes the summit of Church Liturgy and life. Yet, why
does Jesus have to commence the first Holy Eucharist here in the Last Supper?
If we have a closer look at the Last Supper,
it is actually a warm and solemn celebration of Passover meal. In Jewish
tradition, Passover meal commemorates the Liberation of the Jews from the
slavery in Egypt
led by Moses. It is the story of victory and power of God. In the time of
Jesus, Passover meal is ritually done within a family where immediate family
members gather together in intimate meal. It is a celebration of intimacy and
unity. Only the persons closest to us can sit together in our table and share
the same meal with us. Indeed, Jesus shares his table and meals with His
closest friends, the disciples. Thus, every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we
are invited to be part of that intimate friendship with Jesus. It is in
Eucharist that various differences and boundaries that separate humanity are
being torn down. Though we are different in ethnicity, culture, gender, age and
personality, we become closest friends and intimately one in Eucharist. This is
why the Eucharist is also called the Holy Communion.
In
this Last Supper, Jesus offers His Body
and Blood for His disciples and for us. In Jewish culture, body symbolizes
a person’s total belonging and blood is believed to be the source of life of
living creatures. This is why body and blood are the most pleasing offerings
for God in ancient time. When Jesus offers His body and blood for us, we
receive God in His totality. Jesus becomes so poor so that we may become so
rich. It is no longer the story of a vampire-like God who demands blood offerings
to please Him, but of compassionate God who now offers Himself for His people.
Thus, every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we behold who our God is. He is
God who makes us His closest friends, and to prove His true friendship, He breaks
His own body into pieces and shares them so that every one of us may have a bit
of God, a fullness of life. It is the missionary aspect of the Eucharist. After
we are made one in Christ, we are to be broken and shared this fullness of life
to others.
Eventually,
the Eucharist is the celebration of God’s victory. Yet, if we try to put the
Last Supper in context of Easter Triduum, it is actually a communal celebration
in the face of its disintegration; a thanksgiving in the midst of horror. Jesus
is about to be deserted by his closest friends, sold by a disciple for a price
of a slave, and denied by the very person who vowed to defend him with his own
life. So, is it really about victory? We have to remember that this betrayal
and cowardice are not the center of the story. It is Jesus who refuses to give
up or run away for his life, but freely chooses to celebrate with these people.
By embracing these people who betray and run from Him, Jesus has won the battle
over fear, vengeance and death. It is
God’s victory.
The
Eucharist is a story of God who has embraced us, even before we deny, betray
and run from Him. It is a story of God who heals us even before we hurt Him. It
is a story of God who breaks and shares His own life even though before we die
in sin. The Eucharist is the story of our God is and who we are in His immense
love, our own story.
Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP
Fifth Sunday of Lent
March 17, 2013
John 8:1-11
“Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not
sin any more (John 8:11).”
Broken yet Shared
People are broken and wounded. Some are
unwanted. Some are unloved. Some are betrayed by persons they trusted most.
Boyfriend cheats his girlfriend. A man puts a hypocritical mask and is
dishonest to his own best friend. Some suffer psychological and physical abuses
even coming from the closest persons in their lives. A husband runs with
another woman and leaves behind his wife with three little kids. A single
mother sees her only daughter is pregnant outside of marriage. A boy kills his
own brother over a trivial quarrel. Our world is so broken and so much flooded
with lies and violence.
Some of us burned by anger and hatred,
expect nothing but a harsh revenge. We are looking for the best payback time,
to see those who caused our pain suffer even more. Yet, when we could not exact
our bitterness, we unconsciously want others, even those innocent ones, to feel
our agony. Some of us explode and do nothing but inflict pain to more people. It
simply deepens and worsens the vicious cycle of hate. More and more people are
hurt and broken.
Now let’s us focus on today’s Gospel. Some
Jewish people brought to Jesus an adulterer and expected Jesus to approve their
action to kill her. Yet, if Jesus did not grant his approval, they would find a
reason to kill Jesus as a lawbreaker (Lev 20:10). Jesus was forced to
perpetuate the culture of revenge. But, Jesus knew well that violence was never
the solution. Thus, in His divine wisdom, Jesus said, “let those without sin
throw the first stone.” Jesus knew that everybody there deserved to be stoned.
Those self-righteous law-enforcers were no better than the adulterer. Everybody
is practically broken.
Jesus confronted the Jews with a subtler
yet malicious motivation way down in their mind. It was a psychological disease
that justified a person’s sin by condemning other with similar sin. In a novel
“Kite Runner”, Assef, a Taliban leader in Afghanistan, led stoning to death
an adulterous couple in public, yet secretly inside his base, he raped minors,
sometime girls but oftentimes boys. Violence comes up as the one-fits-all
solution, which actually only deepens and worsens the vicious cycle of this
hatred.
Jesus interrupted this atrocity. He
revealed to these accusers who they were, that they did not have any right to
touch the woman. Finally they went away. Yet, what more startling was the way
Jesus dealt with the woman. Jesus ‘forgave’ the woman and asked her to ‘go’ and
‘sin no longer’. Jesus teaches us that only by being honest with ourselves, our
brokenness and our vulnerability, we may break the culture of vengeance. Jesus
embraced the adulterous woman’s and even her accusers’ brokenness. Jesus asked
them to go and share their broken selves to others so that even the worst of
this world may become blessings. Jesus knows that people are broken, but our
brokenness is not a curse, but may become a wonderful blessing to others when
embraced and shared.
A brokenhearted girl wishes her former
boyfriend a happy life. A mother embraces her pregnant daughter despite
heaviness of heart. I am broken and wounded, but I refuse to be a channel of
violence, but choose to rather promote forgiveness and peace through my
reflections. People are broken, but it is not the end.
Br.
Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP
Third Sunday of Lent
March 3, 2013
Luke 13:1-9
“Sir,
leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and
fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future (Luk 13:8).”
A Story of a Fig Tree
It normally takes around three years for a fig tree to reach its
maturity and fruition. If it does not produce fruit by that time, it is not
likely to fruit at all. The owner has a reasonable right to cut the tree, but
through the effort of the gardener, it is given another chance. Like the fig tree,
through the effort of our Chief Gardener, the new Adam of eternal Eden, Jesus
Christ, we are given another chance to change and be fruitful.
However, it is always easier said than done. In daily reality, it is
not simply a matter of instantly erasing errors on the whiteboard, of flash and
clear cut change from bad guy to good guy, from villains to heroes. Some of us
are merely entrapped in the evil structures or systems that promote sin in us
and through us, and we simply do not know how to get out of it. Some of us are
actually victims of vicious cycles of sin in our families or our societies that
sooner or later turn us to be the perpetrators, and we are merely powerless to
find the way out.
Then, what does it mean to repent, to change? Is there any point we
observe Lenten season every years, yet no apparent change seems to take place?
We miss the point if we just think that Lenten season is only about instant
change.
It is a story of a struggling fig tree to be fruitful and yet find
itself facing desperate end, the story of struggling humanity. It is a story of
a gardener who refuses to give up on his tree, a story of God who never loses
hope in humanity. The Lenten season means that despite of all our imperfection
and disfigured life, we refuse to succumb to despair. It means we take courage
to fight hopelessness even no actual fruit of change seems visible in our
lives. It means we always hope that the Lord never loses hope in us.
Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP
February 17, 2013
Luke 4:1-13
“Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led
by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil (Luke
4:1-2).”
Beware of the Devil
The first week of Lent surprisingly
commences with a ‘ghost story’: Jesus is disturbed by the Devil. Yet, far from
frightening us, today’s Gospel tells us that though the evil spirits are for
real, Jesus remains extremely more powerful.
Evil spirits or demons are not products of
human imagination and creative literature. Our faith says that they do exist!
Nicene Creed categorically states that God is the creator of the visible and
the invisible. The “invisible” here refers to the rank of angels. St. Thomas
Aquinas, dubbed as the Angelic Doctor because of his massive writings on the
nature of angel, posits that angels are much simpler and superior from us human
beings. They extraordinarily surpass our intellect, will and power.
Unfortunately, not all angels are good. St.
John of Patmos vividly narrates to us the Great War in heaven. The dragon and
his angels rebel against God, but St. Michael, the archangel, and the good
angels drive them away from heaven and cast them into the world (Rev 12). The
Dragon, also called as Satan or the Devil, and his cohort decide to defect from
heaven and choose the eternal pathway of enmity with God. But, why do they go
against God if they were created in almost impeccable fashion and could enjoy a
perfect happiness in heaven?
Some of the Fathers of The Church propose
that a number of angels finally ‘falls’ because of their towering pride and
envy. The angels foresee that someday, God the Son would become an ordinary man
and they are required to be the servants this Jesus of Nazareth. Moreover, out
of his gratuitous love, God would suffer and die for the sake of human and not of
the angels! This is truly unbearable truth for some angels, “What are in men
that they could merit God’s favor and we need to serve them?” Lack of humility,
they refuse to honor God and declare hostility against humanity.
Being condemned in eternal damnation, they
vow to drag human race together with them to hell. The first work the devil
ever recorded is in the Book of Genesis (Gen 3). They tempted our first parents
to disobey God’s command and it was basically successful! Adam and Eve were
expelled from the Paradise and we, their descendants, suffer the consequences.
Since then, Satan and his cohorts never stop harassing and luring men and women
of all ages to turn away from God. They know that never reenter their homeland,
but it is more than enough to bring all human into their ruin.
Though they are fallen, in nature they are
still an angel. Thus, they exceedingly outsmart and outplay us. Left by
ourselves, we do not stand a chance against the demons. But, today’s Gospel tells
us that we should not worry because Jesus convincingly outshines Satan, even in
his human nature! In the first week of Lent, we are reminded that how fragile
we are and how strong our enemies are, but we must not fret because the battle
is not ours, but primarily and ultimately God’s. We are invited to renounce the
Devil and his works and lovingly move closer toward God who is our strength and
salvation. As St. Paul would strengthen us in the hour of temptation, “Finally, draw your strength from the Lord
and from his mighty power. Put on the
armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the
devil (Eph 6:10-11).”
Br.
Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP
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