By the power of His resurrection, we can be faithful witnesses to Jesus in our fearful world.
At the height of the Covid pandemic, a woman asked me to anoint her husband who was dying of the dreadful virus at their home. I initially wanted to refuse her request because I was afraid of contracting the virus. But when I brought it to prayer and asked the Lord Jesus what He wanted me to do, this bible verse came strongly to me, “I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”(Jn 11:25)
My fears faded away as these words filled me with courage and a spirit of complete abandonment to the One who raises the dead. I went and anointed her husband who passed away a few days later. I must confess though that it was the fastest anointing I have ever done in my priestly life.
I realized from this experience that I lacked courageous faith. I mean, I believe in Jesus Christ as God who became man, worked miracles, raised the dead, healed the sick, etc. But I lacked a courageous faith because my faith in Him was easily overcome by my fears. Fear had a way of silencing God’s voice and sense of His presence in my heart.
As we renew our baptismal promises this Easter Sunday, let us reflect briefly on the words of St. Paul about Holy Baptism, “Brothers and sisters: Are you not aware that we who were baptized into Christ were baptized into His death?” This means that, in and through baptism, we will always have to contend and struggle with the fearful powers of evil, sin, and death. We will struggle with our inadequacies and weaknesses in the face of suffering, pain, hopelessness, death, etc.
However, in and through baptism, we will also share in the victory of the risen Christ, “If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over Him.”(Rom 6:3-11 ) The death and resurrection of Jesus empower us to face and triumph over sin, death, and all evils without giving in to fear.
However, we are not victorious simply because Christ is victorious. We cannot lay claim to victory over the powers of darkness the way that we lay claim to the victory of our favorite sports team who have slugged it and triumphed while we cheer from the sidelines or from our living room couches. We cannot claim any victory if we are not fully and fearlessly engaged in the struggle against evils ourselves.
Thus, we must also have a courageous faith in Him for us to experience and share in His victory. We too must have faith courageous enough to face evil within us and in the world without giving in to fear. This means believing in Jesus as the Resurrection and Life, because, in Him, the resurrection is not just a past event to be remembered and celebrated every Easter, but it is now a living person present with us always and with the power that we need to triumph over all evil, even death itself.
There are five ways in which we can begin to cultivate this courageous faith this Easter.
Firstly, be truly grounded in God’s love for us. Jesus does not reconcile us to His Father as servants or slaves but as adopted children of God. This is why Jesus would say to the women after the Resurrection, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”(Mt 28:10) Because of our union with Jesus, God always sees us as His beloved children, He treats us as such all the time, and Jesus sees us as His brethren. Our faith is courageous when we know that the God we believe in loves us passionately and will not disappoint us in our struggles, just as He did not disappoint Jesus in the grave, “God raised this Jesus.”(Acts 2:32)
Secondly, we must take the word of God to our hearts and act on them, “Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.”(Rom 10:17 The women at the tomb were paralyzed with fear, “They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground.” They were overcome by fear because they failed to take the words of Jesus to their hearts, “Remember what He said to you while He was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day.”(Lk 24:5,6)
When we fail to take the words and promises of Jesus into our hearts and act on them, we are left with only public opinions and our imagination and emotions. We are then hopeless in dealing with the many fears that we face because we have not internalized and acted on the words of the One who is the “Way, the Truth, and the Life.”(Jn 14:6)
Thirdly, we must fear sin above all things. Unrepented sin kills and wounds the love of God in our hearts. Sin will surely bring fear into our hearts and make us hide from God, self, and others. We only have to reflect on our rebellious First Parents’ words after the Fall when they heard God calling them, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself.”(Gen 3:10)
Jesus Christ suffered and died for our sins and rose for our justification. We render His saving acts useless when we are obstinate in our sins and refuse His mercy and forgiveness. Our faith in Him cannot be courageous when we compromise, excuse, justify, or God forbid, celebrate our sins. We must avoid sin and be relentless in repentance if we are going to have courageous faith.
Fourthly, we must unite ourselves with the crucified and risen Christ in the Eucharist. The Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith, is the means by which we draw courageous faith from the love of Jesus who was courageous enough to die for us on the cross while we were still in sin, “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”(Rom 5:8)
We can be courageous when we do not allow anything – not even our sins and sufferings – to separate us from the love of Christ we experience in the Eucharist. We will surely give in to our fears and become fruitless when we walk away from the Eucharist for any reason, “Apart from me you can do nothing.”(Jn 15:5)
Lastly, we must be close to the Blessed Virgin Mary. She had a courageous faith to stand at the foot of the cross when Jesus was dying, close to Him till the very end. She also had such a courageous faith in His resurrection that she waited patiently for His resurrection. This is why she is not involved in the expedition of looking for the dead body of Jesus.
Let us also be close to Mama Mary so that she can teach and help us to be courageous in our faith in Jesus. She can help us be grounded in God’s love for us, and to hold on to His words and act on them as she did. In her Immaculate Heart, we will find the graces to withstand sin in all its forms and thus share in her courageous faith.
The forces of darkness and evil will always be with us in this world, causing us fear and confusion because we are baptized into the death of Jesus. But we do not have to give in to them and act in faithless and cowardly ways. By the power of His resurrection, we can be faithful witnesses to Jesus in our fearful world. We only have to be faithful to our baptismal consecration with a courageous faith in Jesus Christ, who is forever the Resurrection and the Life.
Happy Easter!
Glory to Jesus!!! Honor to Mary!
Acts 10:34, 37-43 | Psalms 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 | Colossians 3:1-4 or First Cor | John 20:1-9
Image credit: “The Resurrection of Christ” (detail) by Bloch via Restored Traditions
Please help spread the Gospel. Share Father’s post with family and friends on Facebook and other social media.
About the author:
Fr. Nnamdi Moneme, OMV, is a Roman Catholic priest and religious of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary currently serving in the Philippines. He teaches theology and is a seminary formator for candidates to the priesthood and religious life. Father also gives Ignatian retreats and serves as spiritual director to many of the lay, religious, and clergy in the area.
He earned his first degree in Physics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. Ordained in 2009, he studied at St. John’s seminary, in Brighton, Massachusetts. Father has an STL/MA in Moral Theology from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines.
Father Moneme blogs at https://toquenchhisthirst.wordpress.com/.
We are grateful for your support of Integrated Catholic Life…
We welcome both one-time and monthly donations. A monthly subscriber giving just $10 a month will help cover the cost of operating Integrated Catholic Life for one day! Please help us bring enriching and inspiring Catholic content to readers around the world by giving today. Thank you and may God Bless you for supporting the work of Integrated Catholic Life!
