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In a rather ghastly and grim way, the Passion Narrative is a fascinating
story, featuring a victim who is subject to suffer for unjust
reasons. We’d rather not contemplate how human beings can be so
callous and unjust, would we? But, the cruelty inflicted upon this victim is
not just heinous and monstrous; it is also loathsome and revolting. We’d
also rather not contemplate how human beings can be so cruel, would
we?
Yet, as dreadful as the facts of this story are, the Passion Narrative
draws our attention and fascination—sort of like not adverting our
eyes as an accident unfolds—because it is a true story, not
the fanciful stuff of fiction. The story of Jesus’ suffering and
death depicts how callous and unjust, heinous and
monstrous, as well as loathsome and revolting human beings
become...when they invite evil—in the form of hate—to seize their
hearts.
However, when we focus exclusively upon those aspects of the Passion
Narrative, we miss what is the larger story, that of salvation
history and our role in it. As our minds ruminate about all
of the evil contained in this story, we glibly point the finger of blame at all of those
people who were complicit in seeing to it that Jesus would be killed. Yes, they were evil, no
doubt about it. But, when we do this, we avoid pointing the finger of
blame at ourselves for the callous and unjust, heinous and
monstrous, as well as loathsome and revolting ways we treat people
in our own lives today. They could include family members (siblings and
in-laws, for example), neighbors, co-workers, or acquaintances.
They could include people of other races, tongues, religions,
peoples, and nations. They could include the
“beautiful” glitterati or the deformed and lesser-abled among us.
To enter fully and completely into the passion and death of Jesus
Christ is not to blame others for their sins which caused them to
demand that Jesus be put to death. No, it is to blame ourselves for our sins
which caused us to demand that Jesus be put to death. We did that
symbolically this morning when we read the Passion Narrative aloud.
We said, “Crucify him, crucify him” and “His blood be on us and on
our children.” Those are not just words in a story about Jesus
passion and death; they are the
truth revealing the state of our immortal souls.
In today’s epistle, St. Paul instructs us about Jesus’ suffering and
death as well as our complicity in both. He wrote: “Christ
Jesus, though he was in the form of God....emptied himself, taking
the form of a slave....becoming obedient even to the point of death,
even death on a cross.” This emptying was complete because Son
of God though he was, Jesus took upon himself our human condition
with all of its challenges, difficulties, and trials. Sinless
though he was, Jesus took upon himself our freely-willed response to
our human condition: the weight of our sins.
Contemplating this image of humility, many of us wonder: “Why would Jesus do that?”
There is no logical answer to that question, only faith in the power
of God’s love to triumph over the power of evil. As Pope Benedict XVI describes this power:
Only when someone values love more highly than life, that is, only
where someone is ready to put life second to love, for the sake of
love, can love be stronger and more than death. If it is to be more
than death, it must first be more than mere life. Jesus’ total love
for men, which leads him to the cross, is perfected in total
stepping-over to the Father and therein becomes stronger than death,
because in this it is at the same time, total “being held” by the
Father.
Throughout past six weeks of Lent, we have been intensifying our
awareness of discipleship and of how we might be more faithful to
its requirements in all aspects of our daily lives. This final week
of Lent, Holy Week, is the time to
reflect upon how our sins caused Jesus to be put to death by
journeying through our consciences to identify how each of us has
contributed directly to the reason that Jesus was made to suffer and
to die. This Good Friday, we will fast and abstain as a sign of our
heartfelt repentance for those sins. In this way, we will signify our
desire to die to sin and to rise to a new life in God.
Sympathizing with a victim who was unjustly put to death and
recoiling at the cruelty of other human beings is to miss the whole
point of the Passion Narrative, of Holy Week, and of being a
disciple of Jesus Christ.
How your family
might celebrate the Easter Season:
Easter is so important that it cannot be celebrated in just one,
single day. To celebrate Easter appropriately, the Church
takes fifty days (forty days leading to the Ascension and ten days
leading to Pentecost Sunday, fifty days that culminate on what used
to be called "Quinquagesimea Sunday"). These are the days that
constitute the entire "Easter Season."
Here are four
simple ways you might celebrate the entire Easter Season with your
family:
1. Place a white pillar candle in the
center of your kitchen table. Each night before dinner, assign
a member of your family to light the candle and to recall
what a person said or did that day to reveal the Risen Lord.
As part of the blessing prayer, give thanks to the Lord for the gift
of that person.
2.
Take a daily walk around the neighborhood. Identify one sign
of new life each day. After completing the walk, sit down
together as a family in the living room or family room and relate
each sign to the new life that God has given all of us in the
resurrection of His only begotten Son.
3. Invite an estranged family member,
relative, or friend (or a family member, relative, or friend who
hasn't been to visit for a while) to dinner each of the Sundays of
the Easter season. Before the prayer of blessing over the
food, read a resurrection appearance where Jesus says to his
disciples, "Peace be with you." Following the blessing of the
food, offer one another the sign of peace before partaking of the
meal.
4. In preparation for the Solemnity
of Pentecost, have each member of the family on Easter Sunday write
down on a piece of paper a gift of the Holy Spirit that he or she
needs in order to become a more faithful disciple. Fold and
place these pieces of paper in a bowl in the center of the kitchen
table. At dinner each evening, pray the "Prayer of the Holy
Spirit" to send for these gifts upon the members of the family so
that your family will become a light to the world. Then,
before the prayer of blessing over the dinner on Pentecost Sunday,
burn the pieces of paper to call to mind that the gifts have already
been given in the Sacrament of Confirmation. The challenge is
now to live out those gifts in the ordinary time of our daily lives.
Easter is an event that
happens each and every day. During the fifty days of the
Easter season, in particular, you and your family can prepare to
make Easter happen each and every day of your lives by "practicing"
these simple exercises which connect Jesus' risen life to yours as
well.
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HOMILY
