Passion Sunday
March 20, 2016
Is 50:4-7 // Phil 2:6-11 // Lk 22:14-23:56
Today we
are beginning the best week in the whole liturgical year. Centuries ago, it was
called the ‘Great Week‘. Nowadays we Catholics call it ‘Holy Week’.[i]
For, we follow Jesus every step in our spiritual life for its perfection. So
whatever the title, this is going to be a great and Holy week.
As I am
standing here to share my reflection with you on this day, my mind flies to my
state in India and praying with Salesian Fathers who sends Missionaries not
only to India and all over the world, for the release of Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil
from the clutches of present day evil forces called Isis. Fr. Tom is a
missionary in Aden, Yemen and was abducted on the 4th of March by Isis. We
don't know regarding the whereabouts and well-being of the Father Tom.
Later
this week, on March 24th, is the anniversary of the martyrdom (1980) of
Archbishop Oscar Romero from El Salvadore, a man who stood for justice for his people.
The lives
of these innocent people and their suffering leads to me a number of questions
and sometimes shakes my religiosity. It may be true with you too. So what does
it really mean to us all these liturgical celebration of this week?
We know that
Religious wisdom often speaks in the language of paradox. The age old wisdom of
the ancient religions never failed to speak on the continuing battle between
light and darkness, good and evil. These sources of wisdom are pretty sure that
the final victory is for light and goodness. Let us look at today's reading in
the background of this wisdom. And also, let us look at the suffering of Fr.
Tom and the Martyrdom of Archbishop Romero that Justice and goodness will
prevail over darkness.
The
Gospel takes us today to witness two Processions. The First one leads us into
Jerusalem with Jesus’ being welcomed and proclaimed and we cheer with the crowd
“Hosanna to the Son of David…… Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord!” The other procession pictures Jesus leaves Jerusalem a few days later in
disgrace and abandoned, going to his own crucifixion. There we also join the
crowd cheering with other words: “Crucify him, crucify him!”[ii]
What a paradox! We see the glory of a man and his ends in the same page.
It is a reality in our life and we experience
the glory and failure in our life and believe me, sometimes, the bitterness of
our suffering makes us to think that our life is a total failure. It is only
here in this state of mind that we can understand the real meaning of the
passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is seemingly the suffering of Jesus, but
it is the proof of the obsessive love of God.
In fact,
contemplating on the passion of Christ an excellent way to answer our own idea
of God. In my childhood, my mama taught me God is almighty, all powerful,
omniscient, etc. And I believe this is the concept taught by all religions down
through the centuries and we believe so. But during this great week, we may
look at the cross and ask the same questions that people who traveled along
calvary in today’s reading. What a God who even cannot help himself from the
suffering?
This is a
real shift in the idea of God that we professed. We have no more a God that
stays up above who has nothing to do with my life. We have now a God who stays
beside me not only in the moments of my glory, but more in the moments of
failure. And I have such a confident to preach that my God is so powerful, even
the extreme sufferings of this world cannot defeat him.
So, dear
brothers and sisters, Let us walk together spiritually in these days and know a
little bit more about our God who is obsessive in loving and whose Mercy we
have hope.
Fr. Tony Vattaparambil OFMConv.
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