Freedom Day

In the accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus, there is a detail that should not go unnoticed if we are interested in knowing whether it is reasonable to believe in the 21st century. Why did those who saw the Risen One face to face not recognize him at first glance?

The Gospels record this phenomenon on several occasions: Mary Magdalene, weeping at the foot of the tomb, mistook him for a gardener; the two from Emmaus accompanied him during a long walk and did not recognize him until nightfall, when breaking bread; even his closest friends, his own disciples, were unable to recognize him when they were fishing and he appeared on the shore of the lake.

Leaving for another day the reflection on the mysterious capabilities of the glorious body of Jesus, let us focus on its meaning: the resurrection of the one from Nazareth may be a historical fact verified by a thousand and one sources, we can have it in front of us, even converse with him; but, if we do not take the step of believing, we will be unable to see it, unable to recognize it.

Why doesn't the most transcendental event in the history of mankind (the realization that death is only a step towards another form of life) become more evident? Why has God preferred to go unnoticed by the majority of the world's population and has shown himself only to a few?

The easy solution had already been suggested to him by the tempter after the 40 days in the wilderness. He put him on the eaves of the temple in Jerusalem and said to him: "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written: 'He has given orders to his angels concerning you, that they should take care of you'". If he had listened to him, the whole world would have believed in him at once and undeniably. Why did he not make a spectacle of faith? Why does not God, being God, show himself in a sensational, clear and unquestionable way? Why, if he loves man, does he not make use of his power so that every man may believe in him and be saved?

To try to understand God, the best we can do is to put ourselves in his place and see him from his perspective. God is love, and love requires free, not forced, consent. For this reason, a marriage in which it is discovered that one of the spouses has been forced or has hidden interests is said to be null and void, it has not existed. It has not been true because there has not been love, but interest or fear. In the same way, God loves us and as a good lover He wants to be reciprocated, but He must leave us the necessary freedom for this correspondence to be true. Believing out of interest or fear is not believing, it is pretending. Faith, which is nothing other than loving God above all things, must be a free and personal response to the proposal that he makes to us. God's omnipotence is demonstrated in his capacity to make himself small, insignificant, to the point of lowering himself to the level of the being he loves in order to be reciprocated... or not.

That is why we have been celebrating the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ for 2,000 years and for many it is nothing more than an excellent reason to spend a few days of vacation at the beginning of spring or, if anything, to enjoy the cultural manifestations that this commemoration entails. This event does not take root, because there has been no encounter with the living person of Jesus, who has passed in front of us and we have not recognized him.

It is the mystery of the freedom with which he created us and which we so often disfigure with our language. We speak of freedom of expression, for example, but we cancel those who do not conform to the norm; we speak of sexual freedom, but at the cost of killing those who are conceived for that reason but who we do not want to be born; we speak of freedom to decide a dignified death, when in reality we force those who do not want to suffer to commit suicide because we do not give them alternatives; we boast of being free societies, but we look the other way in the face of situations of trafficking, or precarious work; We proclaim an education in freedom, but we allow technology to enslave our children; we boast about free markets, but we exploit the poorest countries; we compete to be the countries with the most freedoms, but we prevent the entry of those who have no choice but to flee from the lack of freedom in their countries; we pride ourselves on advancing in social freedoms at the cost of destroying the family as the nucleus for the growth of people in love and freedom. 

Freedom never destroys, never does wrong, never looks the other way, but involves itself, builds, loves without waiting. The greatest act of freedom ever consummated is that of Jesus giving his life for all humanity. With his resurrection, he has set us free by breaking the chains of death. Freedom sets us free to the extent that it transforms a person's life and leads him or her to seek the common good.

Pope Francis recalled that "to be truly free, we need not only to know ourselves, on a psychological level, but above all to know the truth in ourselves, on a deeper level. And there, in the heart, to open ourselves to the grace of Christ".

This is what the Magdalene, the disciples of Emmaus, and the disciples did to know themselves interiorly and to see that they had before their eyes God himself. Perhaps you have had him before you on several occasions throughout your life and you have not seen him. Perhaps you have him before you right now and you do not see him. Remember that only the truth sets us free. Happy Freedom Day! Happy Easter... or not!