In the liturgical memory of Saints Joachim and Anna, Pope Francis paid great praise to the grandparents of Jesus and indicated in the grandparents a heritage of wisdom not to be squandered. «How important they are in the life of the family to communicate that heritage of humanity and faith which is essential for every society! And how important is the meeting, the dialogue between generations, especially within the family!Let's read this dialogue.
Grandpa, tell me: if Jesus was resurrected, then did he die for the second time?
Very intelligent question! In the Gospels we see how Jesus raised his dear friend Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus returned to life, in this life, for a few years; but then he had to die again. The resurrection, on the other hand, is the entry into another life, into a new form of life. We could say that Lazarus returns to life as we know it, life with a lowercase "v", while Jesus enters Life with a capital "V", and we enter it together with him!
Grandpa, but I only know this life here, with a lowercase "v". I'm afraid of death! I'm afraid of separating from my parents, from you, from my brothers, from my body!
What you say shows that the fear of death unites us all, that it has no age, that it is "the" problem that we all always have to deal with. Faith must respond to this fear, otherwise it is really of no use, because with our eyes we see the dead descend into the grave, and not fly to heaven. The other day you told me that at school you talked about a very interesting topic, the atom, remember? The atom is invisible to the eyes, but it is there.
If we bombard it with other particles invisible to the naked eye, neutrons... do you remember what happens?
Atomic energy is created.
Exactly. Particles so small that they seem insignificant, if subjected to this process, can release such a quantity of energy that they can power an entire city, lighting up thousands and thousands of buildings! Now think of Jesus as this little atom. Jesus spoke and worked publicly for only three years, in an era when there was no radio, TV, internet and cinema. A man who was abandoned by everyone and in the end was left alone to face death, and death on the cross, the most atrocious and ignominious punishment that the Romans reserved for the worst criminals. In the eyes of the world, this man should have disappeared, been swallowed up by the folds of history, like a failure. But what did Jesus say about himself? "I am the resurrection and the life." With his resurrection he opened the path of a joy that will never end.
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