Every day of Lent, Bishop Edward Malesic writes a Scripture reflection for the faithful. Follow the bishop on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Click HERE for the readings.
The story of the death of Jesus is graphic in its brutality. It shows the human tendency to reject what is beautiful and holy and be attracted to what is ugly and evil.
But the crowd in the Gospel didn’t start out that way.
At first, the crowd shouted “Hosanna” before they cried out “Crucify Him.”
The Gospel for this Passion Sunday confronts us with a mirror. We are that crowd, fickle enough to switch sides from God to rejecting God.
Let’s be honest. It doesn’t take much to lure us away from fidelity to God, the practice of our religion, and the love that we should show one another. Just look at our society. Once filled churches have emptied out in many places. Belief in God and the practice of religion is at an all-time low. We trust in ourselves more than ever before – but trust in God? Not so much anymore. This is also that case when we love ourselves more than we love our neighbors in need. We rebel against the great command of Jesus to love one another as he has loved us.
When the crowd in the Gospel put Jesus to death, it was a dark day, to be sure. As we have removed God from our culture, focused more on our own desires and wants than on the needs of our neighbors, our world has become less safe for our children and for ourselves. Putting God out of mind has not made the world kinder and gentler. It is still a dark day in many places.
But there is good news. Here it is: Jesus knows us. He knows the fickle human heart. And he knew what to do. He took the cross -- the symbol of all that is wrong with us -- and transformed it into the symbol of all that is right with God. When we refused to give ourselves away for the divine cause, God decided to give himself away for the human cause – for us!
The sign of our hatred, the cross, became the sign of God’s love.
That’s why whenever we look at a cross, we should weep out of shame for our sins – but, at the same time, we should rejoice to see it as God’s love for us.
Confronted by the reality of the Passion of God for us, we cannot remain unchanged. At the end of the drama of the crucifixion, we will either shout all the louder, “Crucify Him.” Or say with the centurion, “Truly this man was the Son of God.”
Let’s make this coming week that a time that is set apart by our contemplation of the mystery of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection among us. By doing that we show our appreciation for the work of God on the cross that has saved us from our sins.
Have a blessed Holy Week everyone!