the strange silence of god - 25th week friday st. lorenzo ruiz

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Lorenzo Ruiz, the first martyr of the Philippine church.  When we speak of martyrdom we cannot help but also meditate on the silence of God. Martyrdom is not just about courage.  It is also about fear, abandonment, loneliness and so many unanswered questions when one is in the midst of suffering.  Where is God in the midst of my pain?  Why does God allow me to suffer?  In all these God is seemingly absent and asleep.  Even Jesus experienced the same on the cross when he cried out – “my God, my God why have you forsaken me.”  This is the silence of God.

In our gospel today Jesus predicted his passion once more.  Again the disciples could not understand.  Again its meaning is hidden from them.  Why does Jesus have to suffer and die?  Why must he carry the cross?  Again the silence of God.

Today we look to St. Lorenzo Ruiz.  He escaped persecution in Manila only to be persecuted and eventually martyred in Nagasaki. It must have been mind boggling for this young father.  And yet he persisted in his faith, believing and accepting the pain he did not fully understand. We look to the martyrs in their loyalty and perseverance, trusting, believing till the end even in the seemingly absence and silence of God in the midst of our sufferings, in the midst of our pain.