Sister Bernadette McNamara, SHSp died peacefully at her home, the Convent of the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate, on March 28, 2023.
Born on May 2, 1934 on Achill Island, County Mayo, Ireland, Sister Bernadette grew up in a loving and faith-filled family with her eleven siblings. Her love for her native Ireland and for her family fed her spirit until her last breath.
On Jan. 6, 1950 at the age of fifteen, Sister Bernadette came to San Antonio following her dream of becoming a missionary. Last June, she joyously celebrated her 70th jubilee of religious profession.
In her early years of religious life, she was known as “Sister Mary Jude” and she spent those years in service of students and families whose situations often seemed hopeless. As a teacher, principal and a fundraiser, she stretched out her years in compassionate ministry in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, including St. Peter the Apostle School in Pascagoula, for 63 years. The religious congregation that she loved so deeply was blessed to have had her generous and gracious spirit with them for so long.
Sister Bernadette is mourned by her sisters and brothers, her 58 nieces and nephews, her over 70 grandnieces/nephews, her many friends and by the members of her religious community, some of whom she had known since she was twelve years old.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Monday, April 3 at the Motherhouse Chapel in San Antonio, Texas. Sister Bernadette is interred in the Community Cemetery. Services can be viewed on the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate Facebook page.
Donations can be made in Sister Bernadette’s memory to the ministries of the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate.
NATION BALTIMORE (OSV News) – The release of the Maryland Attorney General’s report on clergy sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore was a day of sorrow, Archbishop William E. Lori said in his first interview after the April 5 release. “It’s a day that I must face, and the archdiocese must face the enormity of this horrid legacy of sexual abuse. It is a day when my heart goes out to the victim-survivors, recognizing how many people have been harmed, and harmed very significantly,” he told the Catholic Review, the archdiocesan news outlet. He said that as he read the report, “just as a pastor of souls and as a Catholic,” he felt ”deep sadness” and “shame” and “felt sickened by the report.” Archbishop Lori said he spoke to some victim-survivors in the morning before the anticipated release, an opportunity for which he was grateful, as he has been for the many conversations he has had with victim-survivors over the years. He emphasized that there is no one currently in ministry in the archdiocese who has been credibly accused of abuse. The church began to change decades ago, the archbishop said, and in hearing the voices of victim-survivors, has steadily taken “really important steps to root sexual abuse out of our ranks,” including zero tolerance and removal from ministry of anyone credibly accused of abuse; creating safe environments within parishes and schools to keep young people safe; reporting “any and every allegation” to authorities; offering counseling to victims; and settlements “where desired.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (OSV News) – At least five people were killed and eight were injured in a shooting at Old National Bank in downtown Louisville, Ky., on April 10, local police said. That shooting followed another mass shooting where six people, including three children, were killed at a Nashville school two weeks earlier on March 27. Both mass shootings are just some of the violent events with multiple casualties involving guns, that have taken place in the U.S. A public policy response to gun violence from a Catholic perspective should prioritize the common good, theologians and church leaders told OSV News. Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio in whose diocese is Uvalde, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers last year, has emerged in the wake of the tragedy as an advocate for more gun control. He told OSV News that gun violence is tied to a host of other signs of an acceptance of violence in the culture, from abortion, to domestic violence, to a lack of regard for the immigrant, to failing to care for creation. Archbishop García-Siller said the U.S. bishops have called for gun ownership regulations – banning civilian ownership of tactical-style semi-automatic weapons, eliminating high capacity magazines, and extending universal background checks – because “people are really suffering.” He said, “We have the teaching of Jesus about being peacemakers. We have to continue advocating, to continue promoting justice, to promote behavior that goes more along with our dignity.”
VATICAN VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican’s chief prosecutor said Pope Francis has given him free rein to investigate the 1983 disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, a 15-year-old Vatican resident. The case has fueled conspiracy theories for close to 40 years and inspired a Netflix series in 2022. Alessandro Diddi, the Vatican prosecutor, told Corriere della Sera, an Italian newspaper, that the pope and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, have an “iron will” to shed whatever light is possible on what happened to Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican employee, who vanished in Rome June 22, 1983. Diddi’s interview with Corriere della Sera was published April 11, the same day Pietro Orlandi, Emanuela’s brother, met with Diddi and other Vatican prosecutors for more than eight hours. It was their first meeting since Diddi opened a new file on the case in January at Orlandi’s request. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Orlandi said that in 40 years he had “never been questioned so thoroughly” on the case, but the meeting also gave him an opportunity to discuss “the most important things that have come out in these 40 years.”
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis has chosen “His mercy is from age to age,” a passage from the Gospel of Luke, as the theme for the 2023 celebration of the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. On the world day, which will be celebrated July 23, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, according to the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life. Pope Francis chose the theme to tie the celebration of the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly to World Youth Day, which will be celebrated just over a week later, in Lisbon, Portugal, the dicastery said. The theme for the youth gathering Aug. 1-6 is “Mary arose and went with haste” from Luke 1:39, the dicastery said, and it describes how Mary sets out to visit her elderly cousin Elizabeth and “proclaims, in the Magnificat, the strength of the alliance between young and old. ”Pope Francis celebrated the first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly in 2021 and decreed that it be observed each year on the Sunday closest to the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne, Jesus’ grandparents.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis confirmed he will travel to Mongolia in September, becoming the first pope to visit the Asian nation, which is home to a cardinal and some 1,300 Catholics. In an audience April 14 with executives and staff of ITA Airways, the airline that has taken the pope on his international trips since 2021, he said that he will visit Mongolia, a country sandwiched between Russia and China, after traveling to Hungary in late April and Marseille, France, in September. During an airborne news conference on his return flight from South Sudan in February, the pope told journalists there was a “possibility that from Marseille I will fly to Mongolia.” To the airline workers, Pope Francis said that “God willing” he will leave for his 41st apostolic trip, traveling to Hungary April 28-30 “and then there will be Marseille and Mongolia, and all the others that are on the waiting list.” In August 2022, Pope Francis named Italian Bishop Giorgio Marengo, apostolic prefect of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to be the first cardinal based in Mongolia. The cardinal, 48, is the youngest member of the College of Cardinals.
WORLD JERUSALEM (OSV News) – A British-Israeli mother and her two daughters were killed in a drive-by-shooting terrorist attack in the Jordan valley on April 7, during a week that, instead of seeing the holidays of Passover, Easter and Ramadan celebrated in parallel peacefully, spiraled the region into violence. Rina, 15, and Maia, 20, Dee died at the scene of the attack while their mother Lucy, 48, died of her wounds on April 10. Following the Jordan valley attack, an Italian tourist identified as Alessandro Parini, 36 – in Israel for the Easter holiday – was killed in what Israeli police have said was a car-ramming terrorist attack on a beach promenade in Tel Aviv which left one other Italian and three British nationals among the injured. The attacks were spurred on by an Israeli police raid into Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque compound in the early morning of April 5, and is on a site known to Jews as the “Temple Mount.” Israel police also issued a statement saying they had completed their “extensive…work” in preparation for the Orthodox Holy Fire ceremony on April 15, following coordination meetings with heads of churches. The fire hazard security regulations imposed by Israeli police on the ceremony, and the way in which it is enforced, is always a point of contention. It imposes restrictions on the number of faithful who can attend the ceremony, which sees the holy fire brought forth from the traditional tomb of Jesus inside Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Scaffolding surrounds the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris July 28, 2022. Four years into the devastating fire, Notre Dame Cathedral will get the spire back by the end of 2023. But to reopen the beloved symbol of France by Dec. 8, 2024, three conditions need to be met. (OSV News photo/Geoffroy Van Der Hassel, pool via Reuters)
PARIS (OSV News) – Notre Dame Cathedral will get its spire back by the end of 2023, more than four years after it was devastated by a fire. But to reopen by its deadline of Dec. 8, 2024, the cathedral, a beloved symbol of France, needs to meet three conditions, currently in the works. This includes cleaning and restoration of the interior of the building; restoration of masonry and collapsed vaults; and working to restore the missing spire and frameworks, which, according to the newest statement from the “Rebuild Notre Dame” committee, “is in progress, both on the Ile de la Cité and in the workshop.” More than 1,000 people, spread throughout France, are working simultaneously on the revival of the masterpiece of Gothic art that Notre Dame is, including nearly 500 workers, craftsmen and supervisors who are currently working on the building site, inside the cathedral. Notre Dame also attracted an unprecedented surge of generosity in the history of French philanthropy, with 340,000 donors from 150 countries raising $929 million in donations.
ABUJA, Nigeria (OSV News) – At least 52,250 people have been killed over the last 14 years in Nigeria just for being Christian, a new report published April 10 revealed. The report, titled “Martyred Christians in Nigeria” and published by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), says 30,250 of those killed were killed since 2015, when President Muhhamadu Buhari came to power. The report blames what it calls Buhari’s radical Islamism for those killings. Approximately 34,000 moderate Muslims were also butchered or hacked to death within the same period. The sheer number of Christians and moderate Muslims killed or displaced has sent chills down the spines of many, including Andrew Boyd, spokesman for Release International, which serves the persecuted church in some 30 countries. He described the report’s finding as “a staggering death toll.” “It is absolutely appalling that so many Christians are being targeted for their faith and killed in Nigeria, while the Nigerian government seems to stand by and let it happen. It is no less appalling that the international community appears content to stay on the sidelines and watch,” he told OSV News. Meanwhile, Aid to the Church in Need, in its own report, has given voice to the thousands of Christians persecuted for their faith in Nigeria.
By John Mulderig NEW YORK (OSV News) – “Do not be afraid to dream.” That’s one of the characteristic statements viewers encounter in the uplifting documentary “In Viaggio: The Travels of Pope Francis” (Magnolia).
Despite its depiction of some of the world’s most pressing problems, filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi’s polished retrospective maintains a tranquil tone as it looks back over the 37 journeys to 53 different countries undertaken by the pontiff during the first nine years of his pontificate. The result is thoughtful fare suitable for grown-ups and teens.
This is a scene from the documentary “In Viaggio: The Travels of Pope Francis.” The OSV News classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The documentary is not rated by the Motion Picture Association. (OSV News photo/Archivo Vatican Media, courtesy Magnolia Pictures)
As Francis globe-trots from the halls of Congress to the Philippines and on to the streets of Havana, he speaks his mind about refugees, migrants, poverty, war and the need to imagine a better future. He also grapples with the scandalous abuse crisis in the church and the all-too-understandable sensitivities it has created, especially among victims.
Rosi adopts a hands-off, cinema verite approach to his work, eschewing vocal narration and incorporating stretches of contemplative silence. Always meditative, his profile also is sometimes moving, as when it captures Francis’ one-on-one exchanges with the inmates of a Mexican prison.
A sequence showing the pope walking through a deserted St. Peter’s Square at the height of the COVID pandemic is a striking reminder of the isolation to which that disease reduced so many around the world. In a voiceover, Francis ponders the possibility that the tragedy was the outcome of modern people’s unwillingness to slow themselves down and listen to God’s voice.
Along with the discussion of topics that make it inappropriate for youngsters, Rosi’s picture also includes footage that might upset them. Thus we’re shown real-life scenes of shipwreck, violent conflict and death. While not pulling his punches, however, Rosi successfully captures the peaceable atmosphere that generally surrounds Pope Francis. Accordingly, his portrait of a pontiff on the move – energetically yet calmly bringing his message of hope to a rich variety of destinations – can be thought of as an appealing 80-minute opportunity for spiritual reflection.
The film contains mature themes, including the sexual abuse of children, potentially disturbing images and situations of peril. The OSV News classification is A-II – adults and adolescents. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association.
The Pope’s Exorcist
By John Mulderig NEW YORK (OSV News) – It’s important to bear in mind that, however credible its source material may be, the ostensibly fact-based possession tale “The Pope’s Exorcist” (Sony) remains a Hollywood horror movie. Considered as such, the film starts off promisingly enough but eventually becomes overheated and lurid. Any adaptation of books published by high-profile exorcist Pauline Father Gabriele Amorth, who died in 2016, aged 91, is unlikely to be fare suitable for the whole family, moreover. And so it proves in this case since, as directed by Julius Avery, the picture includes a variety of components that even grown-ups in search of casual entertainment may wish to avoid.
“The Pope’s Exorcist” is a 2023 supernatural horror film starring Russell Crowe as the late Pauline Father Gabriele Amorth, a longtime exorcist for the Diocese of Rome. The film is ‘inspired by’ the Italian priest’s memoirs and was released in the United States April 14, 2023. (CNS photo/Sony Pictures Entertainment)
Star Russell Crowe brings verve to his portrayal of Father Amorth. Genial and fond of a joke, the cleric is nonetheless never frivolous. Perhaps the most characteristic image among the opening scenes is that of Father Amorth riding his Vespa scooter through the streets of Rome backed by Faith No More’s refrain, “It’s a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it.”
From the Eternal City we jump to Spain, where a trio of Americans – widowed mom Julia (Alex Essoe), rebellious teen daughter Amy (Laurel Marsden) and traumatized preteen son Henry (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney) – are living temporarily. They’ve taken up residence in a former abbey while Julia supervises its renovation with an eye to selling it.
Of course, the spooky old place turns out to be haunted by a demon (voice of Ralph Ineson) who promptly puts Henry under his dominion. Local priest Father Esquibel (Daniel Zovatto) tries to help but he’s way out of his depth. Time to summon Father Amorth.
In fact, it develops that Father Amorth’s presence is part of a scheme the unholy spirit has concocted for infiltrating the Vatican. There, an entirely fictional pope (Franco Nero) is not only ailing but surrounded by fractious prelates – some allies of Father Amorth, others his opponents.
While the focus remains on young Henry’s plight, the movie feels dramatically compact and sound, though not lacking in genre cliches. And screenwriters Michael Petroni and Evan Spiliotopoulos successfully make the case for taking the power of evil seriously.
As the duo of clergymen research the abbey’s past, however, extraneous elements ranging from contemporary divisions within the church to the legacy of the Spanish Inquisition are thrown into the mix – and depicted ineptly. As a result, the proceedings eventually degenerate into a muddle while the tone becomes increasingly sensationalist.
Details of religious practice are also portrayed inaccurately. Thus in two of the three confessions we witness on screen, the confessor fails to use the necessary formula of absolution, substituting instead a vague prayer that the penitent may be forgiven. Any well catechized Catholic would demand a do-over. Speaking of ecclesiastical tensions, in the midst of it all Father Amorth makes an observation that might be taken for heresy in some circles these days. “Prayers,” he tells Father Esquibel, “are more powerful in Latin.”
The film contains mature themes, disturbing images, an attempted suicide, brief aberrant sexual interaction, glimpses of upper and rear female nudity, a few mild oaths, numerous rough terms, occasional crude language and an obscene gesture. The OSV News classification is L – limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association rating is R – restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
JACKSON – Niños y jóvenes protagonizaron este año la Misa Crismal. (arriba) Karla Luke, directora ejecutiva de la oficina de Educación Católica, de pie al fondo, posa con estudiantes invitados. (der) El obispo Joseph Kopacz insufla el Espíritu Santo sobre los óleos, acompañado por seminaristas de la Diócesis y el seminarista EJ Martin le porta el libro. (Fotos de Rhonda Bowden) Después de la Misa Crismal, todos los seminaristas se reunieron con los estudiantes invitados. (der.) El seminarista EJ Martin conversa con los niños de la escuela Católica de Vicksburg y responde a sus preguntas. (Foto de Joanna King)
PEARL – “…Que podamos llegar con corazón limpio a las fiestas de la eterna luz.” Pidieron decenas de feligreses de St. Jude el sábado 8, en el Ritual de la bendición y encendido del cirio con el fuego nuevo antes de la Vigilia Pascual, celebrada por el Padre Jofin George con la asistencia del diácono John T. McGregor. Durante la Vigilia se pide “Que la Luz de Cristo, que resucita glorioso, disipe las tinieblas del corazón y del espíritu.” (Fotos de Tereza Ma)
PEARL, St. Jude – En cada Vigilia Pascual, después de meses de preparación, jóvenes y adultos son bautizados y algunos reciben la primera Comunión. La Vigilia Pascual en la parroquia de St. Jude Pearl, fue celebrada por el Padre Jofin George, con la asistencia del diácono John T. McGregor, el sábado 8 de abril. (arriba) Niños y jóvenes portan sus velas de Bautismo recibidas en la Vigilia Pascual. (der.) El monaguillo Thomas Paczak ayuda en la ceremonia y la niña America Leuvano se acerca a la pila bautismal.
Corinth, St. James the Less
Decenas de parroquianos de St.James the Less Corith, en procesión por Domingo de Ramos, antes de la Misa celebrada por el Padre Mario Solorzano. (Foto de Bernardo Sorcia)
Vardaman y Houston (Fotos by Danna Johnson)
La celebración de Semana Santa es masiva dondequiera. (arriba) El Padre Cesar Sánchez celebró el Domingo de Ramos con la comunidad Católica de Vardaman. (Foto de Danna Johnson, LEM)
El Programa “Esperanza Creciente” de Diaconado Permanente es un programa de estudio de cinco años. En el primer año, los hombres son llamados aspirantes a diáconos, luego, después del Rito de Candidatura, son candidatos a diáconos por los cuatro años restantes. Después de completar todos sus estudios, ya voluntad del obispo, son ordenados al diaconado permanente. La creciente demanda de ministros en la Iglesia hace que el trabajo del diácono sea más necesario hoy que en los últimos años.
“La formación diaconal ha ayudado en mi discernimiento del llamado de Dios para mi vida espiritual, en darme una forma más formal de orar, aprender cómo puedo servir mejor a la comunidad, ser más humilde y a tener más amigos.” Enrique Amador.
SUDÁN – Un devoto católico de Sudán del Sur realiza la recreación de la crucifixión de Cristo durante una procesión del Vía Crucis desde la Catedral de Santa Teresa en Juba, durante el Viernes Santo, 7 de abril de 2023. (OSV News photo/Samir Bol, Reuters)Se estima que 20.000 personas asistieron al servicio del Vía Crucis en el Coliseo de Roma el Viernes Santo, 7 de abril de 2023. (Foto del CNS/Chris Warde-Jones)El Papa Francisco dió la tradicional bendición pascual “URBI ET URBI”, (a la ciudad y al mundo) desde el balcón central de la Basílica de San Pedro en Misa de la Vigilia Pascual. En foto, el cirio pascual, en la Plaza de San Pedro en el Vaticano durante esta Vigilia Pascual, el 9 de abril de 2023. (Foto de CNS/Vatican Media)TURQUIA – (izq.) Una mujer reza durante una misa del domingo de Pascua en la Iglesia católica armenia Surp Giragos en Diyarbakir, Turquía, el 9 de abril de 2023. (Foto OSV News/Sertac Kayar, Reuters)Católicos se reúne para una procesión de Viernes Santo en las afueras de la Catedral Metropolitana de Managua, Nicaragua, ya que el gobierno prohibió las procesiones en las calles durante la Semana Santa y Cuaresma este año debido a preocupaciones de seguridad no especificadas, Nicaragua, 7 de abril de 2023. Las parroquias de Nicaragua llevaron a cabo las tradicionales procesiones del Viacrucis dentro de los terrenos de las iglesias o en las mismas iglesias. (Foto OSV News/Reuters)Miembros de las Servidoras del Señor y la Virgen de Matará, se unen a la Rabina Lana Zilberman Soloway en la sinagoga del siglo I desenterrada en la antigua Magdala, para las Vísperas Cristianas y las Oraciones de Kabbalat Shabat durante el Encuentro Anual de Mujeres en Magdala en la Galilea, 31 de marzo de 2023. (Foto de OSV News/Debbie Hill)
Por Cindy Wooden CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) – Compartir el Evangelio requiere literalmente “salir”, dar testimonio de la alegría de la fe en persona y no quedarse sentado en casa, siendo “leones de teclado” que discuten con otros en línea, dijo el Papa Francisco.
“No se anuncia el Evangelio parados, encerrados en una oficina, en el escritorio o en el ordenador haciendo polémicas como ‘leones de teclado’ y sustituyendo la creatividad del anuncio con el corta y pega de ideas cogidas aquí y allí”, dijo el Papa el 12 de abril durante su audiencia general semanal en la Plaza de San Pedro. Durante la Octava de Pascua, con decenas de miles de narcisos y tulipanes decorando la plaza, el Papa continuó su serie de discursos sobre el “celo evangélico”, analizando cómo se diferencia de pretender compartir el Evangelio cuando en realidad sólo se busca llamar la atención o promover las propias ideas.
El Papa Francisco lava el pie de un recluso durante la Misa del Jueves Santo de la Cena del Señor en la prisión para menores Casal del Marmo de Roma, 6 de abril de 2023. (Foto de OSV News/Vatican Media)
Al final de la audiencia, antes de dirigir las oraciones por la paz en Ucrania, el Papa Francisco recordó que el 11 de abril se cumplía el 60º aniversario de la encíclica de San Juan XXIII “Pacem in Terris” (“Paz en la Tierra”). La encíclica, dijo, ofreció a la humanidad “un atisbo de serenidad en medio de nubes oscuras” de la alta tensión entre Estados Unidos y la Unión Soviética durante la Guerra Fría. El documento, publicado en 1963, es tan relevante hoy como en ese entonces, dijo el Papa Francisco, leyendo una línea como ejemplo: “Las relaciones internacionales, como las relaciones individuales, han de regirse no por la fuerza de las armas, sino por las normas de la recta razón, es decir, las normas de la verdad, de la justicia y de una activa solidaridad”.
En su discurso principal, el Papa se centró en la necesidad de que los discípulos misioneros estén dispuestos a ponerse en camino y estén abiertos a explorar nuevas sendas mientras tratan de compartir el Evangelio con palabras y obras.
Dejando de lado su texto preparado, el Papa Francisco dijo a la gente en la plaza: “Los exhorto a ser evangelizadores que se mueven, sin miedo, que van adelante para compartir la belleza de Jesús, para llevar la novedad de Jesús que cambia todo”.
El Papa imaginó que alguien le respondía: “Sí, padre, él cambió el calendario, porque ahora contamos los años como ‘antes de Jesús'” y después. Pero, aún más, dijo el Papa, Jesús “cambia el corazón”. “¿Estás dispuesto a dejar que Jesús te cambie el corazón?”, preguntó a los presentes. “¿O eres un cristiano tibio, que no se mueve? Piensa un poco: ¿tú eres un entusiasta de Jesús, vas adelante? Piénsalo”.
“Un heraldo está preparado para partir, y sabe que el Señor pasa de forma sorprendente”, dijo el Papa, por lo que no se puede estar “fosilizado” por cálculos humanos sobre lo que es probable que tenga éxito o por pensamientos de que “siempre se ha hecho así”.
Ser discípulo misionero significa “no dejar pasar las ocasiones de promulgar el Evangelio de la paz, esa paz que Cristo sabe dar más y mejor de como la da el mundo”.
Después que Jesús resucitó de entre los muertos, sus primeras apariciones fueron a mujeres. ¿Por qué? Una razón obvia podría ser que fueron las mujeres quienes lo siguieron hasta su muerte el Viernes Santo, mientras que los hombres lo abandonaron en gran medida. Además, fueron las mujeres, no los hombres, quienes partieron hacia su tumba en la mañana de Pascua, con la esperanza de ungir su cadáver con especias, por lo que fueron las mujeres las que estaban en el jardín cuando apareció por primera vez. Pero hay, creo, una razón más profunda y más simbólica. Las mujeres son las comadronas. Por lo general, son las mujeres las que atienden el nuevo nacimiento y las mujeres las que son más importantes en la crianza inicial de una nueva vida en su infancia.
En cualquier parto una comadrona puede ser de ayuda. Cuando nace un bebé, normalmente la cabeza se abre camino a través del canal de parto primero, abriendo el camino para que el cuerpo lo siga. Una buena partera puede ser muy útil en este momento, ayudando a facilitar el paso por el canal del parto, ayudando a garantizar que el bebé comience a respirar y ayudando a la madre a comenzar de inmediato a nutrir esa nueva vida. Una partera a veces puede significar la diferencia entre la vida y la muerte, y siempre hace que el parto sea más fácil y saludable.
La resurrección de Jesús dio a luz nueva vida a nuestro mundo, y en su infancia esa vida tuvo que ser especialmente a traveé de una partera, tanto en su surgimiento como en las primeras respiraciones que tomó en este mundo.
La resurrección dio a luz muchas cosas, y éstas tenían que ser parteras; primero por las mujeres a las que Jesús se les apareció por primera vez, luego por los apóstoles que nos dejaron sus relatos de testigos presenciales de Jesús resucitado, luego por la iglesia primitiva, luego por sus mártires, luego por la fe vivida de innumerables mujeres y hombres a lo largo de los siglos, ya veces también por teólogos y escritores espirituales. Todavía necesitamos una comadrona para lo que nació en la resurrección.
Y muchas cosas nacieron en ese evento, un evento tan radical como la creación original en lo que dio a luz. La resurrección de Jesús fue el “primer día” por segunda vez, la segunda vez que la luz se separó de las tinieblas. De hecho, el mundo mide el tiempo por la resurrección. Estamos en el año 2023 desde que sucedió. (El cristianismo nació con ese evento. Entonces comenzó un nuevo tiempo. Pero los eruditos calcularon que Jesús tenía treinta y tres años cuando murió, por lo que agregaron treinta y tres años para comenzar un nuevo tiempo con la fecha de su nacimiento). Destaca el hecho que la resurrección da a luz y lo que aún necesita una partera, la esperanza. La resurrección da a luz a la esperanza.
Las mujeres de los Evangelios que conocieron por primera vez a Jesús resucitado fueron las primeras a las que se les dio un verdadero motivo de esperanza y fueron las primeras en actuar como parteras de ese nuevo nacimiento. Nosotros también debemos hacerlo. Necesitamos convertirnos en parteras de la esperanza. Pero, ¿qué es la esperanza y cómo se da a luz en la resurrección?
La esperanza genuina nunca debe confundirse con ilusiones u optimismo temperamental. A diferencia de la esperanza, las ilusiones no se basan en nada. Es puro deseo. El optimismo, por su parte, tiene sus raíces en un temperamento natural (“Siempre veo el lado positivo de las cosas”) o en lo bien o mal que se ven las noticias de la noche en un día determinado. Y sabemos cómo eso puede cambiar de un día a otro. La esperanza tiene una base diferente.
Aquí hay un ejemplo: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, un científico profundamente lleno de fe, fue desafiado una vez por un colega agnóstico después de hacer una presentación en la que trató de mostrar cómo la historia de la salvación encaja perfectamente con las percepciones de la ciencia con respecto a los orígenes de la salvación, el universo y el proceso de evolución.
Teilhard continuó sugiriendo, de acuerdo con Efesios 1:3-10, que el final de todo el proceso evolutivo será la unión de todas las cosas en una gran armonía final en Cristo. Un colega agnóstico lo desafió en este sentido: Es un pequeño esquema maravillosamente optimista el que propones. Pero supongamos que hacemos estallar el mundo con una bomba atómica. ¿Qué pasa entonces con tu esquema optimista?
Teilhard respondió con palabras en este sentido: si hacemos estallar el mundo con una bomba atómica, eso será un revés, tal vez por millones de años. Pero lo que propongo va a suceder, no porque lo desee o porque sea optimista de que sucederá. Sucederá porque Dios lo prometió, y en la resurrección, Dios mostró que tiene el poder para cumplir esa promesa.
Lo que experimentaron las mujeres que conocieron por primera vez a Jesús resucitado fue esperanza, el tipo de esperanza que se basa en la promesa de Dios de vindicar el bien sobre el mal y la vida sobre la muerte, sin importar las circunstancias, sin importar el obstáculo, y sin importar cuán terribles sean las noticias. podría mirar en un día determinado, sin importar la muerte misma, y sin importar si somos optimistas o pesimistas. Fueron las parteras iniciales que ayudaron a dar a luz a esa esperanza. Esa tarea ahora es nuestra.
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