Do we stay faithful to the oppressed?
At the moment of the crucifixion, all the disciples fled except one, John, who stood at the foot of the cross with the Mother of God.
All the others abandoned Christ, except a small group of women who stood a short distance from the cross. And when Jesus died, they came to anoint his body, which Joseph of Arimathea had requested from Pilate, unafraid of being known as his disciple.
For in life and in death, it is love and faithfulness that win, and they console those who live them.
The myrrh-bearing women, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus are people barely mentioned in the Gospel. Yet when Christ seemed defeated, when death, rejection, humiliation and hatred seemed to have triumphed, they showed faithfulness and courage: faithfulness from the heart, and the courage that is born only of love.
Let us ask ourselves:
how do we behave toward someone who has been rejected, mocked, cast out by their community, condemned by people who matter to us and with whom we have interests and advantages?
Do we stay faithful to the oppressed?
Do we have the courage to say, “He was and will remain our friend, whether you accept him or reject him”?
There is no greater faithfulness than the faithfulness shown in defeat.
Let us think about this, because all of us are defeated in some way. Yet we strive, with whatever small or great strength we have, to be what we ought to be, even though we are defeated at every moment: to stay loyal and faithful, and to prove that our love is not conditional on the hope of gain, advantage or pleasing the powerful around us, but is a great, free gift of the heart. This is what brings about our resurrection and Christ’s victory in us. Amen.
Father Boutros El Zein
