From Darkness to Dawn
By Julian Cárron — The light of the Easter candle dominates this night, in which we celebrate the victory of Christ's light over overall darkness. With this light, we can look back to understand more profoundly and immerse ourselves further in the story of Jesus that we have experienced these days. Keeping this light always in view is crucial for understanding the Resurrection.
Jesus entered His Passion decisively, not under duress, but freely. "I lay down my life... no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord" (John 10:17-18). It's always amazing to contemplate His freedom, His certainty. He walks confidently through all pain, rejection and anguish, never getting confused, facing everyone's temptations without getting entangled, challenging every darkness, every solitude, even that of His friends, relying entirely on the one pillar that never fails, His relationship with the Father. Who wouldn't want to be like that, to be able to go through all of life's circumstances as a protagonist, not paralyzed by fear or disorientation? This is the allure He sets before us to awaken the desire for this protagonism, to be ourselves. Jesus introduced a way of being human that was unimaginable before. For this reason, the Father spared His Son nothing necessary to go through, not even the bottomless abyss of evil, the darkest solitude, without shying away from entering into it to conquer it definitively.
I'm astonished that Jesus didn't spare His disciples the trial, just as He hasn't spared us. He said to Peter, "I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:32). Why did Jesus not spare His disciples even in the darkness of death? So they could come to understand who Jesus was. So they could grasp the novelty He could introduce even into the darkest circumstances. And we must always be thankful to the disciples who went through the darkness of "that" death for us.
Today, we can ask ourselves: how'd John and Andrew live in any circumstance after going through all that darkness and seeing Him alive? I'm sure they couldn't face any challenge, any upheaval or any disturbing circumstance without seeing in their eyes the presence of the risen Christ, whom they had seen alive. They needed to go through all that darkness to realize they weren't alone with their powerlessness, troubles and darkness. From Easter, a Presence unique touched everyone unlike any other
This is why Saint Paul could summarize what life would be like for all followers of Jesus after Him, after His Resurrection: "I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). The first disciples of Jesus gave us the key to enter any situation, to face any challenge: before doing anything, before even imagining how to face it, the recognition of His living Presence dominated their hearts, pervaded their memory.
Therefore, to face any challenge, we start from here — the recognition of His Presence — so we can face this challenge, enter any darkness with His company and view any situation rightly because there is no longer a world, a problem, a darkness, where the risen Christ hasn't already entered and can't enter. For He was the first to enter the darkness of the tomb. He didn't watch our death from a balcony but suffered it, entering the tomb to prove, not with a speech, fairy tale or slogan — "everything will be fine" – but with a fact: darkness and death have been conquered.
"That risen Man," said Don Giussani, "is the Reality upon which the positivity of every man's existence depends. Every earthly experience, lived in the Spirit of Jesus, risen from the dead, blossoms into the Eternal." But this blooming isn't only about the future; "this flowering will not only bloom at the end of time, it has already begun in the twilight of Easter."
Whoever lets this Presence into their life, who recognizes this living Presence of Christ, begins to see this blooming in their life now! Therefore, if we let His living presence into our hearts, into the folds of our lives, the circumstances we face won't be a tomb for us but the place of Resurrection, where we can see ourselves blossom.
For this reason, we should have only one concern: "It is as if the primary object of attention," Don Giussani says again, "is this Presence: not the 'duty' to be done. It is as if the primary term of affection is that Presence: not the reality to be possessed. It is as if the primary source from which the necessary energy is drawn is that Presence, not one's ethical strength. The clarity of judgment, the emotional inclination to the right, the strength of will, all mature as a consequence: indeed, in the relationship with that Presence, the totality of the person is attracted, is called to goodness."
With His Resurrection, Jesus inaugurated a "new and living way" for us (Hebrews 10:20). He challenged all of us, showing that it is possible to live up to our humanity without compromise because "through baptism, we were buried with Him into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4).
This is what we celebrate today: a new life has occurred, and an absolute novelty is accessible to everyone at every moment. But the novelty introduced by the Resurrection is all to be verified in life to convince us of its truth, that is, that the risen Christ has this capacity to make everything new. How often is the Resurrection reduced to something virtual that we don't believe can transform life? We can't honestly know the reality of the risen Christ without making room for His Living Presence, for it reveals itself to us, showing all its reality, capacity for change and ability to generate new creatures. What experience must the first Christians have had to speak of a "new creation". Without letting it operate in our lives, the Resurrection will be a beautiful formula but empty! True, but ineffective, affirmed and repeated, but not believed to be real. The only thing that'll make it believable is the experience of its capacity to transform, which always surprises us, which we can recognize because it isn't at the mercy of everything, as before.
Homely by Julian Cárron - March 20, 2024 - Unrevised translation.
