The Only Message making Sense...

Today, in a nutshell, Jesus is giving His disciples the whole Christian message of salvation. He is explaining the meaning of life, of history and of Creation, in just a few words. Only He could have said these words to His disciples:

"Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:46-48)

The mystery of Evil is one of the greatest obstacles people face when it comes to believing in God. From a purely rational point of view, Evil is impossible to explain away. “Why is Creation broken? Why, sometimes, does it not work well? Why should we suffer, what sense does it make to suffer?” The reason for suffering is sin, the brokenness of our human freedom—in Adam and Eve first, and then in all of us. The reason for God allowing this brokenness to happen, is that He was to fix it with the Resurrection, and in this way, He was to show His power. And the way He was to fix it, is by taking up in Himself our suffering and death and, in this way, He would show His infinite love for human beings. He would not have created us, had He not loved us; but He would never have died for us, had He not loved us more than Himself. He created human beings out of love, human beings offended Him out of selfishness, and God responded by loving human beings even more than before: because when He created us, He gave us life; but, in forgiving us, He restored us to a life of which we had become unworthy, and gave us again the hope of eternal life, His own life, His own love forever.

That is why Jesus says today to His disciples, "Thus it is written”: it was a plan, there was a reason for all this to happen. “That the Christ would suffer”: suffering was part of the plan, because the plan was to make you happy, yes, but at the price of My blood, so that you may realize how much God loves you. I could have given you lots of things, so that you could be on earth, busy with your things, and I could be in Heaven, happy by Myself, as I had always been. But instead, I preferred to share with you everything I am and I have, so that you may be happy as I am happy, so that you may be like God, with God, I in you and you in Me forever. I could have abandoned you when you offended Me with your sins, I could have punished you when you despised the offer of My eternal love; but I preferred to rescue you at the price of My own blood. Oh, yes, “it was written that the Christ would suffer…”

“… And rise from the dead on the third day.” This is the answer to the mystery of suffering: suffering will end. Suffering is not our destiny, but the means to arrive at Eternal Life. There is an eternal punishment for those who choose to not follow God’s Commandments in this life and who die in a state of mortal sin. However, for those who repent, for those who suffer with Jesus, suffering is not the end, but only a means. Suffering will pass away. Death will one day die, and we, with Jesus, will rise from the dead. The Good News is that our Saviour lives, and therefore He will give life to our dead bodies on the Last Day.

“… And that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations.” The mystery of suffering is universal, it touches all nations; the mystery of sin is universal, it touches all people; the death of Jesus is also for all, salvation is universal as well. Jesus died for our sins, and not only for the sins of the Jewish people, but for the sins of the whole world. The Good News is that we all can be saved. The Good News is that we all can be forgiven. The Good News is that we all can be admitted to the eternal banquet of the love of God, that God is—with open arms—waiting for us all, no matter how many or how serious our sins are. He is waiting, He is open to us, and our only job is to believe that He loves us, that He can forgive us, and to walk towards Him, carrying our cross every day, and keeping His commands. And the very Good News is that He is not just waiting for us, but walking with us, carrying our own cross with us, and making our path safe before us.

“You are witnesses of these things.” The Church, and the Apostles in the Church, were entrusted with the message of salvation for all nations. The meaning of history includes Jesus’ desire to establish a Church, a community that would be like the Light of the Nations, preaching to all nations the Good News of God’s Love. We are that Church. We have been entrusted with the only message able to make sense of history, of suffering and of our human existence. Let us renew our faith in Jesus, and let us be the Light of the Nations, so that all the children of God may gather one day in the Father’s House.