In the age of atomic bomb, of the splitting of the atom, which people believed to
be indivisible, heaven permitted that we discover a divine atomic bomb, which is the most powerful weapon of all: love. Instead of destroying the world, instead of levelling humanity to the ground, it raises it up to the greatest heights possible and bestows on it the highest dignity. It is a dignity of being a single people, the people of God, rather than the people of many nations who live right next to one another, but who often fight and threaten each other like rude and dangerously overgrown children. It is a weapon that brings unity here on earth, not merely a human unity, but a divine one. It’s the unity for which Christ prayed when, preparing to die for all of us, he said, “Father, that they may all be one.”

Jesus Forsaken: the divine atomic bomb

If Constantine believed he saw a cross in the sky and understood from it, “In this sign you will be victorious by using one means alone. This means is called “Jesus Forsaken,” that is Jesus in agony on the cross who cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

It is precisely Jesus Forsaken who is the divine atomic bomb.

He is God who cries out “My God, my God…” In that cry, hurled by God-
man towards heaven, towards God, it seems—but it’s not true—that the unity
of God is broken. In reality it is precisely in that suffering of Jesus that we can find the solution, every solution, to recompose unity and harmony all the disunities that we and everyone else experience—individuals and whole nations alike! Through Jesus Forsaken, the unity of the world can be accomplished.

The need for a worldwide communion

I want to speak about the new situation we find ourselves in, because of the irreversible encounter of peoples and civilizations in every part of the world. This encounter was made possible and encouraged by the explosive development of the communications media and by the colossal progress in the field of technology. All of this has certainly brought about a great deal of good, because there is greater circulation of news, knowledge, facts and event, traditions and mentalities, causing everything to be put in common, and impelling everyone to move beyond their own cultural and national mentality, which up until now had regulated their lifestyle. […]

There is another side of the coin, however. People today are not always prepared for this kind of encounter with those who are different from them.

The limitations of culture

Concepts, traditions and mentalities that seemed to be a solid basis for society, no longer stand firm when rapidly confronted with other ways of thinking and other traditions. A sense of painful uncertainty takes over, a suffering that all of humanity more or less feels, and will certainly feel, as world civilizations and cultures are shaken by the impact of encountering whole groups of people who are different and previously unknown.

Why is this? The uncertainty comes from the fact that the mental structures of the Western world are, for the most part, intimately connected with the absolute values contained in these structures and expressed by them (such as ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, freedom,
justice, etc.). These values seem to be compromised when they come into contact with other mentalities and cultures.

The fact is that absolute truths and values, such as eternal Truth, that is, the Kingdom of God, should not be confused with our own limited mental structures that contain them like a shell. The various and changing ideas and theories that are proposed today, and the uncertainty they cause, should not lead us to believe that the absolute values are being compromised. It might seem that these theories and construct are so tied up with the truths they express that they are the same thing. But this is not true.

Attempts at a solution

Nonetheless, in this new situation, we find a growing uncertainty and uneasiness in people who are trying to protect themselves from this ideological earthquake, seeking shelter in one way or another.

Some are frightened and anchor themselves to what they know, and want to die in peace, leaving to future generations the task of solving the problem.

There are those who trust in their own strength and go out to discover a new civilization, new ideas or even other religions, believing they will find the answer in a synthesis of them all. […] What happens then is a confusion of ideas that offer nothing valid or solid or absolute, and thus collapse into the most absurd and destructive relativism, in which everything is subjective.

Others would like to speed up the destruction of the old world, almost as if the birth of a new world will necessarily follow the demise of the present one.

Still others don’t want to inconvenience themselves too much with thinking about
it and so they leave to others the task of generating a new world, flinging themselves into a lifestyle of blind pragmatism.

And so how, can we live in the terrible situation we find today, in which it seems that a mysterious catastrophe is causing all our highest values to tremble and fall, like huge skyscrapers that bend over and break into pieces?

The world-person Jesus Forsaken

Is there a practical answer, a sure way that can be trusted in order to work with others to generate the world of the future?
In reality, is there such a thing as “global person” who felt in himself this terrible earthquake, which is threatening to destroy everything that up until now was thought to be invulnerable? Is there someone who came to the point of almost doubting that the absolute truth itself was abandoning him to his own destiny, thus throwing him into a state of great confusion, and yet was able to overcome this terrible trial, paying for a new world, which he found anew within himself and generated for others?

Yes such a person does exist.

But it is easy to understand this person couldn’t be merely a human being, but had to be the human being: Jesus Forsaken.

On the cross, close to his physical death and his mystical death in the abandonment, Jesus experienced the total collapse of his humanity, of his human being. We could say that he experienced the disintegration of his life as a human being. At that moment, the Father mysteriously permitted him to doubt that even God’s presence in him had vanished. For this reason, he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

But since he is God, precisely in this cry, Jesus had the strength to overcome this infinite suffering. He gives his mortal flesh the power of immortality, inserting his risen body into the heart of the immortal Trinity.

Not only, but with this extraordinary act of accepting the most horrible destruction ever known in heaven or earth, Jesus gives humankind the possibility of rising again in the next life, with the resurrection of the flesh and also in this life, with a spiritual resurrection from any kind of death or destruction in which people could find themselves.

He offers those who love him and follow him the Spirit of Truth, just as after his abandonment on Calvary he made the Holy Spirit descend upon the apostles.

When the Gen follow him, they will find the strength not to fear any situation, but rather to face it with certainty that every human truth, and the Kingdom of Heaven which is the Truth, can find, also with their help, new mental structures on a worldwide level.

Furthermore, the Gen know that Christ lives in his Church, which was able to face all the events of history throughout the centuries, gradually stripping of customs, rituals and particular methods in order to hold firm to the truth that never changes. The recent Second Vatican Council is a luminous example of this effort of updating and renewal.

Therefore, remain firmly united to the Church and follow Jesus Forsaken. Get to know him profoundly, to re-live him and to give a decisive and indispensable launch to the change that humanity needs to make.

From the Book: Jesus Forsaken by Chiara Lubich as edited by Hubertus Blaumeisser pp. 107-114