The Risen Jesus and the World’s Problems

The turbulence in world events this Easter Week is not without historical precedent. The violence and covetousness of persons, communities, and nations usually seem unaffected by the liturgical year. Moreover, most of us Christians have probably noticed that our own problems, difficulties, and fears have not miraculously disappeared. The Resurrection of Jesus inaugurates the beginning of God’s Kingdom, which includes the mysterious presence of His Lordship over the history of this world. Still, the human journey through this world continues for us who live in it, with our struggles and sorrows and sufferings that can still seem distant from the redemption we celebrate in these days. But the Paschal event of Christ’s definitive victory over death does not “undo” His crucifixion; He rises with His wounds (hands, feet, side) in His glorified body, wounds transfigured by Divine Mercy, to be forever signs of His forgiveness. 

His glorified wounds are a constant and particular invitation to us. We all have wounds and we all hurt one another. The consequences of the violence we carry out against one another are real, and the disfigurement, the pain, the bitterness, and the anger may last long after the wounds become scars. But we who have been wounded must not allow ourselves to be reduced and defined by these afflictions so that they diminish our trust in the Risen Jesus. The ultimate truth about our lives consists in our relationship to our destiny, the fulfillment of our true selves which has already begun and is already shaping us in the present moment. 

The Risen Jesus shows us His wounds, and reveals to us that our own wounds have meaning. The Kingdom of God manifests itself, the world begins to be transformed into the New Creation, when — in union with Jesus crucified and risen — we forgive those who have injured us, we love our enemies, we pray for our persecutors.

This does not mean we ignore justice, trying to pretend the wounds are not there. What we seek is the conversion of our enemies — not only that in their sorrow they might try to repair what they can of the damage they have done to us — but fundamentally that our enemies might become our friends, together with us in the Body of the Risen Lord, united in His forgiveness that brings new life — eternal life.