Stay.
It is the verb that characterizes the readings of this Fifth Sunday of Easter.
We find it in the first letter of John ( 1 Jn 3, 18-24 ), which reads: “ Whoever keeps his commandments remains in God and God in him. In this we know that he remains in us: by the Spirit that he has given us “, and, several times, in the Gospel: “ Remain in me and I in you “, “ who remains in me….”, “ if you remain in me…”
Today the liturgy therefore invites us to “ remain in Him “.
Remain is a complex verb in today’s society, the so-called. “ liquid company “, where every day everything must change dramatically, where it seems possible to experience so many things in such a short time.
Yet the “ continuous change “ leads to not defining oneself.
If I always want to be something different, I end up never making choices and remain in a dimension of ” eternal superficiality “ which prevents me from creating solid bonds and relationships.
Remain, on the other hand, is the verb of construction, it is the verb that leads to truly knowing a person, a reality.
It’s hard to stay.
Often we would like to escape: run away from a marriage that seems to imprison us, from a job that doesn’t satisfy, from family members with whom we really have no affinity.
Yet only by remaining can a relationship be created, which is the lifeblood for the human being.
And among the many ” relations “ that are overlooked, the main one is the one with Jesus.
There are those who “ it doesn’t stay “ in Christ because he has never been with Him, there are those who “ it doesn’t stay “because he thinks it is too difficult to follow the Master, there are those who “ it doesn’t stay “ because he feels betrayed, abandoned by God in the moment of pain, in the moment of suffering.
Nevertheless “ don’t stay “ leads to nothingness.
The key phrase of the Gospel text that we read for me is: “ He who remains in me, and I in him, bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing “.
NOTHING.
This is the reality, which must be remembered to those who are tempted to abandon God or to those who have never frequented Him.
Without Him we go nowhere and do nothing.
Pain, suffering, are there for everyone.
The great difference is living them in the Lord or without the Lord.
Those who are rooted in Him know that Christ does not abandon them in those moments but is close to him, suffers with him because he suffered before him and more than him, going so far as to give his own life.
Those who remain in God know that pain is not the last word, just as neither is death.
Jesus, by resurrecting, gave proof that pain and suffering are ” steps “ but they are not the end, because, behind them, after them, there is Salvation.
Only those who are rooted in God do not lose their way in the face of pain.
Who instead ” it does not remain in Him “because he doesn’t know or doesn’t remember what God has done for each man, he inexorably gets lost because he becomes prey to ” non sense “, ending up abandoning themselves to desperation, to anger.
To stay or not to stay.
It is the fundamental choice for a full life in Christ.
Happy Sunday and good reflection everyone.
