Good morning. What a difference a year makes! It is so good to be able to read the Passion of the Christ narrative together once again as a community of faithful believers! There are two times in the liturgical year when we - the clergy and the laity - proclaim the Gospel, the Good News of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, together - Palm Sunday and Good Friday. And what a difference a week made for Jesus! Christ entered Jerusalem to joyful cries of “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” And then, in the Passion narrative, we meditate on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary and walk the Way of the Cross with Jesus to Calvary where our Lord was crucified and died.
Moreover, we hear about the twelve disciples who, in their own way, showed us what NOT to do when we come face to face with trials and tribulations in our lives. You see, fear gripped their hearts but rather than stand by Jesus’ side, they turned away from him. Judas betrayed him for 30 pieces of coin. Peter denied him three times. The rest of them fled for fear of the Jews. Like their actions, our own sins trouble and distress Christ and make his soul sorrowful. Think about that for a moment. Our sins make Jesus' soul sorrowful. Our sins are the whips that scourged his flesh, the thorns that speared his head, and the lance that pierced his Sacred Heart, spilling his Most Precious Blood.
Jesus was indeed the “lamb led to slaughter. . . a sheep silent before shearers” (Isaiah 53:7), but he did it willingly for you and me because he is God, and God is love. He loves each and every one of us with an everlasting love. Let there be no doubt about it, Jesus was fully divine and fully human and, in his humanity, he “prayed that if it were possible the hour might pass by him. . . [saying,] “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Take this cup away from me, but not what I will but what you will.” And on the Cross, he cried out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” What heart-wrenching moments for us to reflect on and take to prayer?
Jesus agonized over his Passion and death and yet, in complete obedience to God and out of love for us, he became the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Saint Paul tells us that “Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave. . . he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Jesus calls us friends and there is no “greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). This was the purpose for which he came to this hour - for the glory of God the Father - so that we may be reconciled with the Father, in the Son, through the Holy Spirit, becoming adopted sons and daughters, beloved children of the Father.
What about us? What is our purpose in this hour? And by “this hour”, I mean in the present moment, in the circumstances in which we find ourselves at this point in our lives but, more importantly, in our walk with Jesus Christ our Lord. It is said that Holy Week is “the week that changed the world”. Indeed, Holy Week is that and so much more because of what Jesus did for us on the Cross. Yet, the deeper question for you and me is, how will Holy Week (or how has this season of Lent, for that matter) change us? Imagine if Jesus said to us, “one of you will betray me”. Can we respond to him in humility and say: “Surely it is not I?” Or if Jesus said to us, “You will have your faith shaken”. Can we, having persevered in faith through our prayer life and spirituality, respond to him with conviction, saying, “Even though all should have their faith shaken, mine will not be.” There lies our challenge because the circumstances in our lives can lead us on the path of utter hopelessness. We just experienced, in the Passion narrative, how hopelessness overwhelmed the disciples when the Jews arrested Jesus, and how he was tried, scourged, crucified, and died. Darkness consumed the world as hope seemingly faded away.
Hopelessness is one of the seven deadly wounds and it is how we, in a way, “betray” Jesus. Recall that Judas lost hope in Christ and he betrayed him. You see, when we are overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness in our lives, that often means that our faith, belief, and trust in God - in His goodness, love, mercy, forgiveness, and generosity - are shaken by the circumstances in our lives. However, hopelessness is not what God desires for us at all. Saint John Paul II reminds us of this, saying: “We do not pretend that life is all beauty. We are aware of darkness and sin, of poverty and pain. But we know Jesus has conquered sin and passed through his own pain to the glory of the Resurrection. And we live in the light of his Paschal Mystery - the mystery of his Death AND Resurrection. ‘We are an Easter People and Alleluia is our song!’” (Angelus, 11/30/1986). Let us believe with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength that God’s divine plan for us is always for “our welfare and not for woe”, and to give us a “future of hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).
We “rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer” (Romans 12:12) for the Lord is our help. The LORD is our light and our salvation; whom should we fear? The LORD is our life’s refuge; of whom should we be afraid? (Psalms 27:1). This is our story. It is a story of our Christian hope because our reason for hope is Christ. It is a hope that endures because Christ grants us his peace and, while we may face seemingly insurmountable difficulties and challenges in our lives, Jesus tells us to “take courage, [he has] conquered the world” (John 16:33). Therefore, let us recall the story of our salvation during Holy Week and, like the centurion, bear witness and testify to the world that “Truly [Jesus is] the Son of God!”
I would invite all of us, at this time, to gaze upon our crucified Lord on the Cross and allow these words from Scripture to penetrate the depths of our soul and fill our hearts with the Father’s love as we prepare for the Passion, death, and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ this Holy Week. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16-17). Saint Joseph, pray for us. Saint Albert the Great, pray for us. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
No comments:
Post a Comment