Standing On The Edge.

The abyss is not a frightening enigma but a comforting mystery — the unspeakable truth that invites, with words and silences alike, entry into the heart of life, which is inexhaustible joy.
— Archbishop Mario Enrico Delpini
Standing on the edge
Archbishop Mario Enrico Delpini

Alcibishop Delpini - Standing on the edge: Father Giussani and the God who speaks from the abyss.

Men and women stand on the edge of the abyss. Fools and the wise alike stand on the edge of the abyss, where life and death meet. At some point in their lives, men and women are forced to go beyond banality, beyond arrogance, beyond the things they have learned from books, beyond the tired formulas devised to simplify life. And so, compelled to go beyond banality, they find themselves standing on the edge of the abyss—perhaps teetering on the edge of the abyss.

There are men and women who are seized by panic at the unknown, by the suspicion of a threat, by fear in the face of the indecipherable enigma of life and death. They peer over the edge. No matter how hard one searches, one discovers nothing. Men and women convince themselves to retreat into banality, to silence their questions, to smother their fear—as if to say it is better to live in quiet desperation than to lean over the abyss. But the men and women of God look over the edge of the abyss, and there, perhaps in the darkness and fear, they are struck with wonder by the voice that calls.

They are enveloped by a comforting tenderness; they welcome the assurance carried in the very name of the abyss: I am who I am. They hear a voice as delicate as a light breeze, as moving as an embrace, as intense as life itself, declaring: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the One who was, who is, and who is to come, the Almighty. I am the Beginning and the End.Behold: the men and women of God receive the revelation that the abyss is not a frightening enigma but a comforting mystery—the unspeakable truth that invites, with words and silences alike, entry into the heart of life, which is inexhaustible joy.

The men and women of God. They venture into the abyss and dwell in mystery and rejoice in wonder. They live the life they have received and discover that they are even capable of loving—of loving with a free and pure love, a crucified love. So deeply loved as to become capable of loving in return: men and women of God, dwelling in mystery. And what can be said about Fr. Giussani? Perhaps simply that he was a man of God.

Men and women stand on the edge of the abyss. Fools and the wise stand there. They stand on the edge of the mystery of the human heart, where love and hate, dedication and pretension, goodness and wickedness all dwell. The unfathomable abyss of the human heart: one stands on the edge and is frightened by the evil of which it is capable.

Men and women of flesh and blood, capable of tremendous evil—"They will hand you over to the councils. You will be beaten in synagogues and will stand before governors and kings." Fools look out over the abyss of the human heart and are enthralled by violence. Here are the wounded who wound, the offended who offend, cruel souls who seek revenge for the cruelty they have suffered, and even ruthless people who take pleasure in tormenting the innocent. The unfathomable and frightening abyss of the human heart when it is inhabited by incomprehensible wickedness.

But the men and women of God look out over the edge of the abyss of the human heart—with the freedom and audacity to recognize divine sparks within it. The heart so wayward, so prone to evil, so seemingly insignificant. There, men and women of God recognize the image of God and the vocation to love.

Men and women of God know how to speak to the human heart in a way that rekindles compassion, benevolence, thirst for the infinite, and longing for God. And many men and women feel called by these children of God to an unheard-of exultation, to heroic goodness, to a boundless measure of humanity. Men and women of God have something to say about the abyss of the human heart; they have the right words to awaken it to its original vocation. And what can be said about Fr. Giussani? Perhaps simply that he was a man of God.

And men and women look into the abyss. They look out over the abyss of tangled relationships between people, over the inextricable web of passions and coldness, of hostility and intolerance. "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise up against their parents and put them to death."

The incomprehensible enigma of human relationships that dwells in homes, communities, groups, and movements. They loved each other and love no more. They respected each other and now despise each other.

The affection they once shared has turned to indifference. The sense of belonging has given way to estrangement. The foolish gaze upon the enigma of relationships that become complicated and entangled in malice and pettiness. The foolish take pleasure in seeing how much harm is done among those who once loved each other. Perhaps they even find in it a reason to justify their own complicated relationships, their own broken promises, their own malice consumed within the walls of their homes.

But there are men and women of God who look upon the enigmatic abyss of relationships—between people, between groups, between factions—and they feel called to intervene: to intercede, to reconcile, to restore the splendor of friendship and fraternity to family life, to groups, to movements, to associations. Men and women of God step in to make peace.

They step in and tell everyone: How great is the love and grace that unites you. How small are the whims and petty quarrels that divide you. Walk, then, the path of forgiveness. Let yourselves be reconciled with God. This is how men and women of God speak about the abyss of relationships between people. What can be said about Fr. Giussani? Perhaps simply that he was a man of God.

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Rend Your Hearts