The Passion of the Christ! Could you imagine? I decided to watch it again this Good Friday. Oh my! I sat and watched, alone in my office, taking notes about the scenes and doing a Visio Divina of sorts. Here are my notes:
Jesus continues to be tempted in the Garden of Gethsemane but remains steadfast in prayer and maintains His strength to endure suffering.
betrayal
Judas, filled with regret, forgets the love, mercy and compassion of the Lord. He forgets about the power of prayer and begins to despair to the point of death.
Peter, however, regardless of the darkness he witnesses and the guilt he feels over his denial, recalls who his friend is and what He promised. He understands his role in the drama and relies on the Truth, capital T, to set him free of guilt and despair. I’m guessing through his open confession of his denial given to Mary, the sting becomes more bearable.
temptation and lies
Memories of what He will leave behind – mom, love, work, peace, caring family – still do not deter him from literally walking through the pain. A sure sign of what it means to detach from those things that distract us from life’s journey.
Joseph, Christ’s foster-father and our spiritual father was referred to as “the obscure carpenter” by the haters in the movie. Really? Raising the Son of God. The man charged with teaching faith and vocation and keeping the family safe – obscure?
strength through scourging
Anyone who has seen the movie knows how brutal the scenes of Jesus’ scourging were. All I could think was “I did this,” “I had a hand in the buffets and spitting.” How? Through the laziness, complacency, lack of reverence, disobedience, lack of charity, judgment, etc.
Mary, pillar of strength and grace. As she witnesses the physical abuse of her Son who has been wrongly accused, she manages to hold it together because of her intimate relationship with the Father. She truly knew the reason for this “season” of suffering and accepted it. Mary knew what it meant to be detached in a sense. She didn’t ask, “why my child?” Mom didn’t try to stop it. She simply asked “my Son, where, when and how will you choose to be delivered from this? She was willing to sacrifice for the greater good. All for the glory of God!
character identification
On the other hand, we see the barbaric and evil acts committed against Jesus by the Roman soldiers. The scene is full of ignorance. Ignorance of the ones participating by beating Jesus and those participating by standing on the sidelines. Can we identify with them? Of course we can. How often do we witness injustice and do nothing, say nothing? How often do we sin in the varied ways we act and fail to act?
We can all identify with the characters of the Passion. Often we put ourselves in the scene to compare ourselves to those who betrayed Jesus and take stock of how we do that today. I recently heard a podcast where the priest suggested we put ourselves in the scene as Jesus. Can you identify with Jesus?
How often do you feel betrayed by others or suffer at the hands of another? How often are you unjustly accused or feel beaten, weak and abused? Who has done that to you? Have you forgiven them as Christ has forgiven you for all you have done and failed to do? Can you offer it for the salvation of others, as Christ did and put it behind you? Can you bear it all patiently and see it as an opportunity to be in solidarity with Christ in order to grow closer to Him?
how to help
Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry His cross and stands up for Him when he thinks the abuse is just too much. He risked his life by standing up for Christ. Can you place yourself in Simon’s shoes? How can we help Jesus carry His cross? How can we be like Simon?
follow his commandments;
love one another as he has loved us – that means: humility, forgiveness, seeing Him in all His creation, it’s the only way!
Read Scripture – get to know Him and His story;
love your enemies and pray for your persecutors;
worship Him, revere Him, pray with Him; participate in the sacraments and in His plan for your life;
detach
bear your crosses patiently – don’t will them away; don’t ignore them or run from them but ask God for strength to get through them, as Jesus did;
offer your sufferings as Jesus did. How could anyone be as heartless as those Roman soldiers. Yet he forgave them. They knew not what they were doing and neither do we, neither do the people who hurt us! Isn’t it easier to forgive someone if you believe they do not know what they are doing?
moral of the story
Bottom line is, Christ is VICTORIOUS! The evil one could not convince Him to back out the plan for salvation, no matter how difficult or painful the road was. How does the story of Christ’s Passion speak to you in your life? In the midst of the present pandemic? He made Himself and ALL THINGS new! Take courage! Praise be to God!
Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ! That’s a famous quote attributed to St. Jerome. Isn’t that the truth?! This past Holy Thursday we continued, as a nation, to isolate ourselves to #flattenthecurve of the coronavirus. This is the first time any of us has been prevented from attending religious services and we are certainly feeling the sting.
For those of us who practice our faith regularly, this has been a blow to our hearts and minds. Who would ever fathom that churches would be closed and services celebrated privately? Technology has really shown it’s benefit! What a privilege and blessing it is to be able to watch the mass live-streamed. How many more people are being reached just by having that capability.
As sad and devastating as it is to be deprived of practicing our faith publicly, I wonder what good is going to come from all of this global suffering. Of course, all things work for good for those who love him, so I ponder the good. Here is what I came up with:
thirst
After I settled into my new normal, I decided to think of the many things we take for granted. Before this whole pandemic broke out, we took for granted that we could not only attend mass everyday but we could walk into a church at any point during the day to pray, read or adore Christ in the tabernacle. Suddenly, our reality became “the church will be closed until further notice.” Now we livestream mass and Adoration, we email prayer intentions and we practice our faith quarantined at home.
The good thing about all this is we will never take for granted the freedom we have to practice our faith. We are currently thirsting for the sacraments and that’s a good thing.
Awareness
There is an awareness that comes with having to worry about being six feet apart from another while shopping or not finding what you need because stock is limited, especially toilet paper. I find myself thinking about how long something is going to last or how much I’m using. “Wash your hands” and “don’t touch your face.” Were you aware of how much you touched your face before this pandemic? Have you ever taken the time to think about what consequences your actions can have? Like getting someone sick by spreading our germs through coughing, sneezing and not washing hands. Probably so, but not as much as you are now.
Solidarity
Talk about feeling persecuted! As a faith community, we are currently living in solidarity with all those persecuted Christians. In a sense, we are actually feeling the sting of not being able to practice our faith openly. Outside of faith, the entire world is experiencing the effects of this pandemic and in that sense we are living in solidarity with our brothers and sisters throughout the world, from different countries, states, races, ages and economic brackets. This pandemic does not discriminate. In a strange way it has made us realize that we are all in this world together, no one better than another.
Solitude
We’ve been forced to slow down. Nowhere to go, no one to meet. How does it feel? Has it given you time to contemplate the important and not so important things in life? Have you finally found the time to spend much needed quality time with family? Have you finally found the time to ponder some of life’s big questions?
intimacy
How quickly we turn to prayer in times of need! Even those with little faith have found solace in prayer in recent days. The truth is God is always pursuing us. He loves us. I recently heard someone say: “His love is so deep that he gives us the freedom to reject him.” Amazing! But let’s get back to that thought of Him pursuing us. How are we responding? Can we simply turn around on any given day and acknowledge him and share our mutual love through prayer? Why do we have to wait until a catastrophe arises to respond to his pursuit? All He wants is our consent to intimacy with Him. He has our attention now!
true love
Loving relationships take time. It seems as if time is on our side now doesn’t it? In the busy bustle of life it seems as if there are not enough hours in a day. Yet, suddenly it seems as if time is standing still. These past few weeks seem like an eternity. The month of March seemed like the longest month in creation and April is following suit. But this is God given time of stillness and solitude. A time that we can take to work on our relationship with God, to really fall in love. To develop a love that will last beyond this pandemic. Will you answer the call? Will you focus on falling in love with the one who loves you the most?
reverence
As a Catholic Christian the Eucharist is available to me everyday. I try to receive it as often as my schedule allows. I’m aware of the power in the Presence and I am grateful to receive it when I do. However, I have to admit that there are times when I am distracted with thoughts and concerns that prevent me from truly being mentally present to the miracle and grace that I am receiving. Being unable to receive these past few weeks and especially during the holiest time of the year has heightened my senses. I commit to never be distracted during mass again! Pray for me.
appreciation
I don’t know about you but I have a whole new appreciation for those who hold jobs considered essential – from the first responders in the medical field who travel far and wide to save lives; to the electricians, like my husband and brother whose skill keeps the city running; to the grocery store workers who risk their lives everyday so that I am able to pick up what I need to live.
I appreciate my home and property- my shelter from the storm and connection to the outdoors. What new appreciation have you developed?
Newness
While the first few weeks of this pandemic rattled me a bit, I slowly began to remember what I always say to encourage others: “remember, after the crucifixion is the resurrection!” In other words, this too shall pass and we’ll be all the better for it. So as I remembered that, I thought about the stone being rolled back to reveal Christ had risen. May the “stone” of this virus be rolled away and may we emerge transformed as Jesus did!
Back to Holy Thursday. Many years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to a powerful tradition on Holy Thursday. It is the pilgrimage of the seven churches. Read about it here. I’ve since moved from my old neighborhood where I would join several friends in an evening of prayer, fellowship and just plain fun. I’ve continued the tradition on my own in my new place and have even dragged a few new friends along for the ride. This year was different obviously, but I still chose to do a virtual pilgrimage.
As I sat in virtual adoration at each of the churches this year, I meditated on the scripture verses of each station as I played a chant of Ubi Caritas in the background. Each meditation brought with it a lesson:
Gethsemane
Jesus’ prayer was powerful! It prevented Him from being tempted to back out of God’s plan. It gave Him strength to stand and face His destiny head on. He makes it a point to tell His disciples to pray specifically that they not enter into temptation. Bells should be going off in our heads when we hear that. It is a direct command from Jesus Himself, preparing us and indicating how powerful prayer is in helping us overcome temptation.
Taken before Annas
Imagine the scene, Jesus who is God, standing before a high priest. He answers the questions posed to Him and He gets admonished and struck. I’m sorry, but if I were Jesus, I think I would respond with a strike back and a response that went something like “is that any way to greet the king of the world?” Yet, Jesus takes it. Picture perfect humility!
Taken before Caiaphas
I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time containing myself when I feel like I’m not being heard or seen. The meditation about Jesus being brought before Caiaphas indicated to me that Jesus was damned if He did and damned if He didn’t speak. As a matter of fact, it seemed as if Caiaphas had already made up his mind about Jesus before He even spoke. Yet, again, Jesus tolerates it. I wish I could be more like Jesus.
Taken before Pilate
When I read this and meditated on it I thought of Jesus being God’s way of revealing Himself to us. God took on flesh to show the world that He is not something out there somewhere. He walks among us. He is with us! It brought me great comfort to remember that now.
Jesus taken before Herod
“Contempt” and “mocking.” How could that be? That the Son of Man allow himself to be treated with contempt and mocked. Not only that, but the shuttling back and forth between the authorities. Jesus was bigger and more powerful than them but He refused to fall prey to how the evil one was trying to derail His destiny. I thought, at a time when Jesus looks weakest, that’s when He is most powerful! Amen! There’s power in humility. There’s power in suffering at the hands of others – whatever form that may take.
Taken before Pilate again
What do you think struck me? “Crucify him, crucify him!” This is the meditation that made me think of St. Jerome’s quote: ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. I thought of the Jewish people. I thought of how Jesus was prefigured in the Old Testament. This may be a stretch but I thought, if the Jews had been more familiar with Scripture or solid in their faith, they would have seen the connection between what they were reading in their books and what they were witnessing in Jesus. They would have recognized Jesus as the Messiah. Ignorance of scripture, ignorance of Christ! Take heed, now we have no excuse – time is on our side. Remember: ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ and knowing Christ is what gives us peace in times like this!
Crown of Thorns and Crucified
I cried. To imagine Jesus being mocked, humiliated, spat upon and beaten on the head while He wore the crown of thorns was so sad for me. I suffer from migraines and I often think of Jesus wearing His crown of thorns. It makes me less likely to complain or feel bad for myself. The words “and led Him away to crucify Him,” made me think of an innocent lamb being led to slaughter. I love animals, so that would break my heart. Jesus led away to be crucified should break our hearts too.
As I finish up this reflection, I get a text from a friend who forwarded a text she received. This part of the text caught my attention: during this quarantine, rivers are cleaning up, vegetation is growing, the air is becoming cleaner because of less pollution, there is less theft and murder, healing is happening, and most importantly, people are turning to Christ. The Earth is at rest for the first time in many years and hearts are truly transforming.
So here’s an idea: now that Lent is done and we have all fasted in ways we would have never imagined, let’s resolve to do MORE as this scourge continues. Let’s resolve to be transformed through it. Let’s resolve to a transformation that lasts beyond the first week after this is all over. What will you commit to? mindfulness? intimacy? solidarity? God bless you and keep you healthy!
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