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 has a way of silencing God’s voice and suppressing our sense of His presence in our hearts.
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 from our living room couches. We cannot claim any victory if we are not fully and fearlessly engaged in the struggle against evil.
Thus, we must have a courageous faith in Him in order to experience and share in His victory. We must have faith courageous enough to face evil within ourselves and in the world without giving in to fear. This means believing in Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life. In Him, the resurrection is not just a past event, it is a living person present with us always, One who has the power 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 season.
Firstly, be truly grounded in God’s love. 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 listen to and act on the Word of God. “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 listen to and act on the words and promises of Jesus, we are left only with public opinions, our imaginations, and emotions. Against the fears presented by these, we are powerless because we have not internalized 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 wounds, even kills, 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, thereby refusing 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 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, for “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, staying close to Him till the very end. She also exhibited her courageous faith by waiting patiently for His resurrection. This is why she is not involved in the expedition of looking for the dead body of Jesus.
Let us be close to Mama Mary so that she can teach us to be courageous in our faith in Jesus. She can help us be grounded in God’s love for us, and to listen to and act on His words 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. We do not have to act in faithless and cowardly ways. By the power of His resurrection, we can be faithful witnesses to Jesus in face of 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.
Glory to Jesus!!! Honor to Mary!!!
Image from Wikimedia Commons
