When the allied troops moved through Cologne, Germany at the end of World War II they found the following text written on a basement wall by someone who hid there from the Nazis: “I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining. I believe in love, even when feeling it not. I believe in God, even when God is silent.” Nothing is known about the fate of the writer. However, the sentiment expressed in the text is profoundly moving and inspirational for us, even today.
The Gospel for Palm Sunday of Our Lord’s is the Passion Narrative. When thinking of the above-mentioned text two passages of the Passion of Jesus come to mind. The first takes place in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus asks God three times for the cup he is to drink to pass, yet God remains silent. The second is right before Jesus dies when he cries out: “My God, my God why have you abandoned me,” yet God remains silent.
Jesus’ existential struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane was a very pivotal moment in his life. He knew that because of his unapologetic dedication to his mission, he was about to be betrayed, tortured, and killed. In that very dark moment, he understandably asked God to be spared his fate. His prayer was met by Divine silence. Yet, even when faced with this silence Jesus did not abandon his mission or betray his love of God and God’s people, so he carried on and accepted his fate in the knowledge that even if God be silent, God is present.
As for the second passage, I cannot but wonder if Jesus really thought God had abandoned him when he cried out “My God, my God why have you abandoned me” mere moments before he died. Although humanly speaking that might indeed be possible, would Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity doubt God in his final moments on earth? In that very moment Jesus quoted the first line of Psalm 22, a well-known Psalm of Lament attributed to King David. By doing this, he invoked a Jewish tradition of quoting the first line of a text, thus calling to mind the entire text.
There are many parallels between this Psalm and Jesus’ suffering as this Psalm speaks about being scorned and despised 22:7; about being thirsty 22:16; about hands and feet being pierced 22:17; and about the casting of lots for clothes 22:19 all of which happened to Jesus. Yet, more importantly, the Psalm concludes with God’s vindication and triumph. Thus, right before his death Jesus pointed to his future when in the end, God would vindicate him. Even if God was silent when Jesus hung on the Cross, God’s promise of vindication was present.
Our world groans under the weight of wars, violence, loss of civility, climate change and so much more. Like Jesus we may wonder at times if God has abandoned us. Like Jesus, we pray fervently for this cup to pass us, for all the ugliness and darkness in our world and in our lives to go away. And just like Jesus we are often met with Divine silence. When that happens, it is most important that we not withdraw from God. Rather, like Jesus, we ought to open wide the doors of our heart to God because God is with us, always and everywhere even in the darkest of times and the deepest of silence. And in the end, we know that we will be vindicated by God just as Psalm 22 affirms.
May the commemoration of the mystery of the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus afford us a better understanding of God’s presence in our lives. And may it be a time when we listen more deeply and open our hearts more widely to God, even and especially when God appears to be silent.