As we ponder this sacred moment, amid the tears and sorrow of so many people around the world, the question inevitably arises:
“How can we have hope in these uncertain times?”
Every day, conflicts bring deaths that carry the weight and significance of the boulder rolled in front of the entrance to Jesus’ tomb and suggest that hope has died for good.
Yet for Jesus, death was not the final word; and it is not for us either.
In his earthly life, Jesus did not turn away from pain. He wept at the death of his friend Lazarus, in solidarity with his sisters Mary and Martha, even though he knew he would raise him from the dead. He immersed himself in suffering, in order to transform it from within.
He showed us that tears are more than a mere expression of sadness; they invite us to be touched by the pain of others and to share it with them. To weep is to reveal our humanity, to open ourselves to God and to suffering in the world. To weep is to love.
The Gospel tells us that early on that Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene and other women went to the tomb. Darkness reigned, not only because of the time of day, but also in their hearts, because Jesus had been killed. The silence of Holy Saturday, the disciples’ tears, Mary’s grief, found their answer on that Easter morning.
Joy did not come in place of tears, but through them. The risen Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene while she was weeping. The transformation took place when he called her by name: her tears of sadness turned into tears of joy and proclamation.
We, too, are living through dark and sad days. The tears we shed in faith, even in pain, prepare our hearts to recognise the Resurrection.
Through the Resurrection, Jesus gives us the hope of a life that can continue and be lived in fullness. If we believe that things can change, if we strive to transform our hearts, there is hope. A hope that sadness will not prevail over us, but will give way to joy and peace.
