Monsignor Silvio Baezauxiliary bishop of Managua, invited Nicaraguans not to be discouraged by the injustices and evil that seem “invincible” and, on the contrary, to be factors of unity at this time.
The prelate in exile explained in his homily for this Sunday, March 5, the biblical passage of the Transfiguration of the Lord that refers to the revelation that Jesus gave to three of his disciples on top of a mountain; there, he showed them his change from his appearance to his form with which he would rise from the dead.
“Jesus wanted his disciples to understand that pain, injustice, evil and death do not have the last word in history (…) No night in life is forever“, said Báez, 40 years after the first visit of Saint John Paul II to Nicaragua, during the first term of Daniel Ortega, described by the saint as a “dark night.”
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In moments of fear and sadness “that paralyze”, he urged to reflect on the situation “from on high”, from a distance.
When “the force of injustice and violence seem invincible, there are no paths to a solution. In those moments you have to climb the mountain and distance yourself from reality, rise above the plain of personal or ideological interests that make us rigid, indifferent or pessimistic, “he said.
Likewise, «in social struggles, fatigue, failed attempts and disappointments are not the end. They are labor pains of a new society. They are darkness that announce the arrival of a new day full of light. You don’t have to get discouraged. Sin, evil and injustice are not the end.”
The religious leader’s message comes after a group of independent UN experts confirmed that the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo committed crimes against humanity for the heinous crimes against human rights perpetrated by the dictatorship since the social protests of April 2018.
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The report was released after the release and exile of 222 political prisoners from the Central American country. In his revenge, Ortega stripped them of their nationality and shortly after prescribed the same measure to another group of 94 union leadersfrom whom he took their property.
In his homily, Monsignor Báez added that “it is time to rise above pettiness and selfishness. It is time to think sensibly, to create bonds of communion, to mutually encourage hope and become factors of unity.
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He recalled that “illuminated with the light of Jesus we will not be sowers of darkness or prophets of bad omen, of which there are already many, but humble sowers of small flashes of light where darkness seems to reign.”
