In celebration of Palm Sunday, which begins Holy Week, Monsignor Silvio Báez based his homily from the Santa Agatha Church in Miami, United States, on the story of Jesus Crucified, expressing that “he was a victim of hatred and of violence, of the excessive ambition of power of the men of religion and politics».
Alluding to the situation that Monsignor Rolando Álvarez is going through, imprisoned by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, Báez affirmed that “Jesús was illegally arrested. Those who arrested him did not have any court order to do so, he was arrested without having committed any crime and subjected to a religious trial and a political one, in which the most minimal procedures established by the Law were not respected ».
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«In the religious trial, the high priest Caiaphas accused him of blasphemy, using false witnesses who shamelessly lied against Jesus. At the impeachment trial, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who found no evidence to support the accusations against him, gave in to political pressure, refused to jeopardize his privileges and power, and sentenced him to death. Jesus was disrespected and humiliated in his dignity, being subjected to terrible torture and physical abuse during his trial and his crucifixion,” added the monsignor.
He regrets that during the process of crucifixion Jesus was a victim of the hatred and violence of the men who controlled power and religion, as well as “of the manipulation of an ignorant and valueless people.”
But, in the midst of this situation, there is a voice that realizes what is happening, it says, “it is a pagan woman, who is not a Jew and does not believe in God. She is Pilate’s wife. We do not know her name, but she represents the moral reserve that is in the conscience of every human being, even the most evil and remote from God. Pilate’s wife sent word to her husband: “Don’t mess with that just man, because today in a dream I suffered a lot for him” (Mt 27:19). Pilate did not listen to her, her ambition for power and her fear got the better of him and he bowed before her corrupt and dark conscience »
«The voice of this woman represents the voices of those who today defend the innocent victims and rise up against the violation of human rights. These voices give the appearance of being weak and scattered, the world does not seem to hear them and the powerful strive to crush and silence them. However, what Pilate’s wife did is necessary to continue doing today. We have to be the voice of the just who have no voice and are condemned; and we have to be a voice against those who have too much voice and, therefore, condemn the just,” added the religious leader.
Continuing with this passage, he expresses that «the resurrection of the Crucified will prove Pilate’s wife right. We have to make an effort to keep our conscience incorruptible, we must strengthen the feelings that make us supportive and sensitive to the pain of the victims, we must not quench in our hearts the hunger and thirst for justice in a world subjugated by dark powers at the service of humanity. injustice”.
Monsignor’s message to his listeners was the image of the cross, which shows that the just die as a victim of the injustice of the world, it also reveals God’s solidarity with the crucified today. «In the persecuted and excluded, in the victims of repression and war, in political prisoners and in those who are forced into exile. The Crucified Lord continues to suffer in the ordeals of the world: there where the freedom and life of the people are disrespected, in the towns oppressed by the powerful deranged and in the impoverished societies due to injustice and corruption”, says Monsignor Báez.
Remind parishioners that these holy days are a propitious time to spend time in prayer and contemplate the Crucified Lord. “By contemplating Jesus Crucified we will be filled with hope, even in the midst of pain and death, and we will learn the language of God’s humble love, which forgives, saves and gives life.”
The regime maintains persecution against the church and its representatives, during this time of Lent the authorities have denied the realization of processions, pilgrimages and Catholic traditions, a situation that has been classified by human rights defenders as a “crime against humanity”.
