By Victor Edwin
New Delhi, April 19, 2022: I attended the Easter vigil service at the Jesuit chapel of Saint Xavier’s School in Old Delhi.
Keeping vigil for the Lord (Ex 12. 42) in the Jewish scriptures reflected in the Gospel admonition about the servants waiting for their master. (Luke 12. 35-37). The faithful, carrying lighted lamps in their hands, should be like those looking for the Lord when he returns, so that at his coming he may find them awake and have them sit at his table.
This is one of the most ancient traditions in the Church. I felt I am so beautifully connected with our Abrahamic cousins, the Jewish people. As a student of Christian-Muslim relations I joyfully remembered that Muslims celebrate the night on which the first verses of the Qur’an (Q. 97. 3-5) ‘descended’ as Laylat al-Qadr (the night of power/destiny) during the month of Ramadan.
They believe that this night is better than a thousand months. Many Muslims spend this night in prayer, with the deep hope that their prayers will be heard.
Keeping vigil for the Lord brings us Abrahamic cousins closer together spiritually. It is obvious that keeping the vigil for the Lord in this world can be meaningful only when we rise above our ‘fear of the other’, work for peace and reconciliation, undergirding these on the foundation of justice for all, especially for the poor, the sick, and refugees.
As I reflected on ‘Easter vigil,’ I was aware of the distress that I have been through these days. As there is some respite from the Coronavirus, once again ‘the virus of hate and divisiveness’ has raised its ugly head. I am deeply worried as our nation is becoming more intolerant day by day. In the editorial page essay (The Indian Express, 16 April, 2022, page 8) ‘A virus rages among us,’ Sonia Gandhi, president of the Congress Party, writes.
Vigorous debate, discussion and virtually any form of interaction where an alternative point of view is welcomed has become a thing of the past and we are all the poorer for it. Even academia, once respected for encouraging fresh thought, is under the scanner for interacting with counterparts from other parts of the world. As vilification of faiths and condemnation of entire communities become the norm, it is becoming commonplace to see divisive politics affecting not just the workplace, but also entering neighborhoods and indeed people’s homes. Never before has this country seen hatred as the basis of the day to day choices.
For those who spread hatred and animosity, the ‘other’ is an enemy to be conquered and subdued, no more a ‘brother, sister or a neighbor’ to be loved and treasured.
I am worried, as I said, but as a Christian believer I am not bereft of hope. Our hope is founded in Christ. A Christian understands Christ the Risen One as the foundation for a new phase in human history.
The Risen Christ is the new Adam in whom the distorted image of the human person is restored. Humanity is renewed in the risen Christ. We Christians acknowledge that as Christ’s disciples, we are members of his mystical body, through our faith in the risen one. We also believe that through the free action of God’s grace, every human person is a member of this renewed humanity, and together we walk towards a common humanum.
Faith in Christ is, ultimately, faith in God’s intervention in ‘history and flesh’ that is the togetherness of all people committed to their respective faiths and deeply respectful towards the faith convictions of one another.
(Jesuit Father Joseph Victor Edwin is a teacher of theology and Christian Muslim relations at Delhi’s Vidyajyoti College of Theology.)