EASTER THOUGHT

Oh finally... I am back! It took one whole year before I could write, again. Well, there have been a lot of thoughts crossing through my mind but most of all the thought of this season we are (at least for us christians) celebrating, the Easter.

But even before Easter, the days of Lent were truly remarkable. I did not really have any special moments of prayer, retreat or recollection. But what made these days remarkable was the fact that I was able to have some moments of silent reflection. Reflecting what? Of everything in my life, the life of those people with whom I live with, the various situations I am informed about or got to know... etc... practically, everything that concerns me and the people around me... of life, of death, of joy, of sorrow...

But the most striking of all the thoughts that came through my mind was the act of dying of Jesus. I have always believed, and still believing until now, that Jesus did not come in our miserable world to die. That would be absurd!

These days it came to me very clearly, the why of his coming. He came to be one among us, to be like us! This thought was confirmed when one day I was browsing through a page in the net and I happened to cross a famous line from Chiara Lubich, it says: "...So that we might have Light, you made yourself “darkness”So that God might dwell in us, you felt him far away. So that we might possess wisdom, you made yourself “ignorance”So that we might have life, you experienced death. So that we might be clothed with innocence, you made yourself “sin”. So that we might hope, you almost felt desperation. So that Heaven might be ours, you felt forsaken. "

This description of Chiara, I think, says it all. All the absurdity that there is in the world can be seen in this optic.

But also today, while reading an article of the Zenit Pope Benedict underlined a very important reality on the act of dying of Jesus. The purpose why Jesus has to die. I felt that it was particularly address to me, it says:
"My hand upholds you. Wherever you may fall, you will always fall into my hands. "I am present even at the door of death. Where no one can accompany you further, and where you can bring nothing, even there I am waiting for you, and for you I will change darkness into light."

This, I think, is the meaning of my Easter 2007. That passing through a terrible darkness, but even death, can also become a moment of light, of life. I realized that I should not focus so much on my "falls" but on the merciful hands of God who even upholds me wherever I fall.

This is my simple Easter thought!