The Gospel of Luke, chapter 23:34

The passion of Christ is more than a record of one individual’s suffering. It is a process through which all who call themselves Christians must enter. That is why there is so much we can identify with in the passion of Christ which is recorded in all four Gospels.

Generally, we tend to see ourselves in this story only as sympathetic bystanders. But, we are more than that.. We take the place of the judges, betrayers, cowardly disciples and executioners. How often do we condemn others or betray their trust? How quickly are we ready to unleash a bitter tongue, a piercing remark, a snap judgment? How mercilessly do we find ourselves following the crowd, taking the easy way out, shirking our responsibility? We may not like thinking about such things, but we must, if we are to cast off the old dead person and rise again to new life. The sins of the judges, disciples and executioners, for whom Christ died, were not just past-sins. They are present-day sins which people commit daily. This is why the story of the Lord’s passion is so important. It enables us to face our dark side and to conquer it because Jesus overcame sin for us in His passion.

We are invited to identify with Christ on the cross. But doing so is not easy, for it means saying “yes” to even harder questions. Are you willing to let go? Are you willing to be vulnerable, to forgive those who hate you? Can you choose to be compassionate rather than to seek revenge? Can you strive for unity among all peoples and religious rather than division? Can you choose life over death? To identify with Christ and to follow Him to the cross, means to say “yes” to all these questions. It means renouncing the seductions and attachments to sin in order to be set free.
Every year, Christians gather in church to celebrate the passion story on Palm Sunday. They become part of the greatest drama that has ever unfolded on earth. They recall how a master became a servant; how He humbled himself and yet was exalted above every other creature, how death was swallowed up in life.

The passion story is the story of Christ’s love for us. It is the story of the new Passover that Christ celebrated with his disciples in the upper room before He went to his death. “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer,” He said. After giving them the bread: “my body which will be given for you,” and the wine: “the new covenant in my blood;” He bound them to: “do this in memory of me.” Sacrifice and communion, all wrapped up in the Eucharist is Christ’s lasting gift to us.

The passion of Christ is a miraculous victory over sin and death, and we are the beneficiaries.

Fr. Hugh Duffy