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Reflection for
Lenten Holy Hour
8 April 2014
8 April 2014
My
brothers and sisters, what do you think of when you hear the word “passion”?
Do
you think of an athlete?
Do
you think of a soldier?
Do
you think of an artist, dancer or musician?
Do
you think of a pair of lovers?
Do
you think of someone committed to a cause?
Do
you think of our Lord?
We
have entered into the Lenten “sub-season”, if you will, of Passiontide. This
time before the celebration of the Paschal Triduum is to prepare us for the
celebrations of Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday and everything in
between.
The
Passion of our Lord is that which fulfills the true meaning of “passion” in all
of its senses and understandings. Our Lord is an athlete, a soldier, fighting
His battle with the powers of darkness to the bitter end. Our Lord is an
artist, for out of His mouth, creation came into being, and the beautiful
masterpiece is still being composed. Our Lord is the ultimate lover, calling
us, His beloved, to know for ourselves the deepest desire to be united with Him
in His Sacred Heart. Our Lord is committed to a cause: the salvation of our
souls and the redemption of the world.
The word “passion”
comes to us from the Latin passio,
meaning “suffering”. This suffering is understood as being acted upon or
subjected to through exterior forces. The Passion of our Lord is something that
should engage us to become passionate about our relationship with Him. We
should suffer with passion for our God.
We
have just heard the great prayer that Jesus offered to the Father on behalf of
His disciples on the night before He died in the Garden of Gethsemane. Yet, He
offered that prayer for us, too. Jesus knew that all who followed Him
throughout the ages would be subjected to the wiles of passion, and so He
prayed that our passion, our suffering in following Him would be able to be modeled
on His Passion, on His suffering. Our Lord prayed to His Father that we may be
one in Him in all things, just as He is One with the Father.
My
friends, the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ is just not a movie, a play or a
book that we pull out this time of year. The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ
is something that we live out in the here and now. The Passion of Our Lord
Jesus Christ is here with us in our very midst, present in the Blessed
Sacrament that we adore, because we know that the Passion of our Lord
eventually leads to the fullness of His glory; the passion that we undergo now
should lead us to share in the glory of our God. His Passion led to the
Resurrection . . . Should our passions not do the same?
We
are called to engage in battle for our Lord, combatting the foe that wishes to
drag us away from His love. We are called to win the game; we are called to win
the battle, no matter the cost. In this, we are athletes; we are soldiers.
We
are called to enter into the act of creation using our gifts and talents
through words and color, sights and sounds to tell the story of God’s love. In
this, we are artists, dancers and musicians.
We
are called to be men and women who not experience the love of God, but to truly
fall in love with Him, to be as intimate with Him as we would be to another
person. We are called to share the ecstasy and agony of love with Him. In this,
we are lovers.
We
are called to be people committed to action. We are called to be people carrying
the banner of the Cross to our brothers and sisters who are in need, who are in
pain, and who are lost in this world. We are called to be neighbor to the poor
and oppressed, the widow and orphan. We are called to be messengers of the Good
News through the evangelization of the many environments of our lives. We are
called to be Christians, working for the salvation of souls. In this, we are
people committed to a cause.
My
brothers and sisters, our passion must be modeled after and united to the
Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. In a few days, we will welcome Him back into
Jerusalem with palm branches and shouts of victory, only later in the week to,
once again, betray Him, make Him suffer, kill Him, and bury His lifeless Body.
Yet that Divine Passion, that which makes ours complete and completely
comprehensible, is the Passion by which the glory of the Resurrection – both Christ’s
and, eventually, ours – is brought about.
And
so, what do you think of when you hear the word “passion”?
Do
you think of an athlete?
Do
you think of a soldier?
Do
you think of an artist, dancer or musician?
Do
you think of a pair of lovers?
Do
you think of someone committed to a cause?
Do
you think of our Lord?
My
brothers and sisters, let us ask our God to unite our passions, our sufferings,
to His, so that we may, together, know and experience the joy of the
Resurrection – not only on Easter Sunday, but everyday, and, God willing,
eventually when He calls us home to be with Himself. Let us ask our Lord Jesus
Christ to enter into His Passion so that we may be able to humbly endure ours
in the here and now.
Let
us ask our Christ to enter into His Passion as we now pray together the Anima Christi.
Soul of
Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That I may praise Thee with Thy saints
and with Thy angels
Forever and ever
Amen
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That I may praise Thee with Thy saints
and with Thy angels
Forever and ever
Amen
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Enjoy the journey . . .
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