[StBernard] Resurrection and Recovery

[Westley Annis]

Easter Season is upon us and I couldn't help but consider the parallels
between our recovery and the events of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection
of Our Lord. Non-Christian readers will still find the parallels appropriate
and are certainly included in this reflection.

When one reflects on the events and actions of the people around Jesus and
His own responses during His Passion, Death, and Resurrection, and then
focuses on our own state of current affairs the similarities are startling.
In our recovery, we have faced our own Judas in those who expressly support
our efforts but often have an alternative plan that continues to bring about
hardship and additional obstacles; our own Peter in those who are passionate
about the whole recovery and often are people we count on, but in a pinch
and when push comes to shove, they disappear; our own Pilates in those who
have the civil authority to change the direction of our recovery, but refuse
to step out far enough and instead pass the responsibility to someone else;
our own Herod in those who would rather enjoy an opportunity to watch our
struggles continue and mock others than to offer any assistance; our own
High Priests in those who orchestrate our recovery and see to it that people
are denied access to recovery by quoting all of the restrictions only so
that their authority is not challenged; our own Roman Centurions in those
who have clearly a vantage point of what is happening in our recovery, but
do nothing but profit from our recovery; our own Mary in those who never
leave our side, love us unconditionally, and share in the hardship and pain
of the recovery; our own John in those who are not able to stand up to the
evil in our recovery, but find a way to support others through their
presence; our own Mary Magdalene in those who shed their initial self
serving interests in our recovery and have become advocates and participants
for our sake; our own Simon of Cyrene in those who were remotely interested
in our recovery until they became involved and then have become one with us
with no reward offered to them; our own Joseph of Aremathea in those who
wish to help and offer their resources from behind the scenes so as not to
cause disturbances but are sincere in their assistance. And our own Jesus in
those who have emptied themselves, suffered, who have been ridiculed and
spat upon, but who have remained committed to their part in our recovery,
never wavering and always persevering with a single focus to remove the
obstacles, offer an encouraging or forgiving word, accept the hardships
created by others, and always loving us enough to put the needs of those
around them before their own.

We have all seen these characters played out in our recovery experiences. I
certainly do not intend to oversimplify or trivialize the path of Jesus and
certainly not to compare His suffering to our recovery experiences as equal,
but if we are to learn from His Life, Passion, Death, and Resurrection why
not see ourselves in the very characters that fulfilled scriptural reality.
While the tendency is to pick out all the people we know who fit this
description or that description, my and our real challenge is to ask
ourselves who do I compare to on any given day. After all, this time of
recovery and the difficulties are only temporary, but what we do during this
time matters. Who is it that we appear to be to others?

God Bless,
Craig Taffaro, Jr.