THE PASSION OF JESUS, THE PASSION OF HUMAN LIFE

The Passion of Jesus is a word that encompasses all that Jesus suffered from, what is known as the agony in the garden to his final cry of death. We can easily extend that to his whole life which was filled with conflict, misunderstanding, hostility, rejection, and failure. I am sure there were moments of joy and laughter, success and celebration. I am sure He enjoyed the wedding reception at Cana! I am sure He delighted in his visits to Lazar, Martha, and Mary. But on the whole of it His life was a continuous cross. Very early in our lives we are aware that there is something out of kilt. Life is not neutral. It leans heavily to the side of pain and discomfort. Children, the young, the twenties and everything beyond are acutely aware that there is an unavoidable slant toward something being wrong. It shadows every Joy, just beyond every delight. It is what we feel. It is who we are. Does it have a name? Let’s call it the Human Condition. We cannot walk away from it, nor deny it. It hits some persons harder than others. We are aghast at the suffering everywhere. Undeserved and capricious and deadly. What to do? Since we believe that Jesus is Son of God, the perfect representative of the Divine, the answer must be in that equation. The appearance of the cross in his life, the embrace and acceptance of the cross by Jesus with all the suffering; physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, it entailed, is our model. It belongs to next week to explore further.