Shutterstock © Marco Iacobucci Epp
The Resurrection
“The centre of our faith and hope are firmly rooted in the Resurrection of Christ, which is not a bombastic triumph, nor revenge or retaliation against his enemies, but a wonderful testimony to how love rises again after a great defeat to continue its unstoppable journey.
When we get up again after a trauma, often the first reaction is anger, to make someone pay for what we have suffered. The Risen One does not react this way. When he emerges from the underworld, Jesus does not return with gestures of power, but with meekness he manifests a love greater than any wound and stronger than any betrayal.
The Risen One does not feel any need to reiterate his superiority. He appears to his friends, the disciples, and he does so with extreme discretion. His desire is to be in communion with them, helping them overcome their sense of guilt in the Upper Room, where they are enclosed in fear.
It is a moment that expresses extraordinary strength. After descending into the abyss of death to liberate those imprisoned there, Jesus enters the closed room, bringing a gift that no one dared hope for.
His greeting is simple, almost ordinary: “Peace be with you.” But it is accompanied by a gesture so beautiful that it is almost disconcerting. Jesus shows the disciples his hands and his side, with the marks of the Passion. Why show his wounds to those who had denied and abandoned him? Why not hide those signs of pain?
Seeing the Lord, the disciples rejoice. Jesus is fully reconciled with everything he has suffered. There is no shadow of resentment. The wounds serve not to reproach, but confirm a love stronger than any infidelity. They are proof that in the moment of our failure, God did not retreat. He did not give up on us.
The Lord presents himself naked and defenceless. He does not makes demands, nor hold us to ransom. His is a love that does not humiliate. It is the peace of one who has suffered for love and affirms that it was worthwhile.
We often mask our wounds out of pride, or fear of appearing weak. We say, ‘It doesn’t matter, it is all in the past’, but we are not at peace with the betrayals that have wounded us. We prefer to hide our struggle so as not to appear vulnerable, or risk suffering again, but Jesus offers his wounds as a guarantee of forgiveness: the Resurrection is not the erasure of the past, but its transfiguration into mercy.
The Lord then repeats: ‘Peace be with you,’ and adds, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” With these words, he entrusts the apostles with a responsibility to be instruments of reconciliation, as if to say, ‘Who will be able to proclaim the merciful face of the Father, if not you, who have experienced failure and forgiveness?’
Jesus breathes on them and gives them the same Holy Spirit that sustained him in obedience to the Father onto the cross. The apostles will no longer remain silent about what they have seen: that God forgives, lifts up, and restores trust.
This is the heart of the Church’s mission: not to administer power over others, but to communicate the joy of those who were loved when they did not deserve it. It is the strength that gave rise to the Christian community and made it grow.
Dear brothers and sisters, we too are sent. The Lord also shows us his wounds and says, ‘Peace be with you.’ Do not be afraid to show your wounds healed by mercy. Do not be afraid to draw close to those who are trapped in fear or guilt. May the breath of the Holy Spirit make us, too, witnesses of this peace and love that is stronger than any defeat.”