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August 2009 VOICE OF SHALOM |
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LETTER FROM 'HELL' AND HYMN OF PRAISE This letter bear all the horror of a concentration camp, where to the torments inflicted by tyrants upon their victims is added the outbreak of evil in the victims themselves, such that they in turn become further instruments of their persecutors' cruelty. This is indeed a letter from Hell, but it also reveals the truth of the Psalm text: "If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I sink to the nether world, you are present there . . . If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light' - for you darkness itself is not dark, and night shines as the day; darkness and light are the same" (Ps 139[138]:8-12; cf also Ps 23[22]:4). Christ descended into "Hell" and is therefore close to those cast into it, transforming their darkness into light. Suffering and torment is still terrible and well-nigh unbearable. Yet the star of hope has risen - the anchor of the heart reaches the very throne of God. Instead of evil being unleashed within man, the light shines victorious: suffering - without ceasing to be suffering - becomes, despite everything, a hymn of praise.
Pope Benedict XVI
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