Passion Sunday
With today’s liturgy, we enter into Passiontide, the two weeks leading up to Easter, and during which our thoughts and meditations are continually drawn into the mystery of the sufferings of the God-Man, Our Lord Jesus Christ. We are invited to contemplate more assiduously the crucifix, and yet the Church takes the crucifix from us; she hides it behind a dark-coloured veil, thus increasing our desire to see, to worship, to penetrate the mystery. It is as if she were saying to us: you are accustomed to seeing the crucifix every day over the altar of sacrifice. Just keep in mind that this mystery is much greater than you will ever understand. It is good for you to have to make an effort to see, to comprehend, to delve deeper into the ocean of Divine Mercy and Justice, both of which are made manifest in the cross.
Today’s epistle focuses on the precious Blood of our Saviour, that Blood which alone saves us. It alone purifies us. It is the Blood of the New and Eternal Covenant, which brings to an end all the ritual sacrifices of the Old Law, and which is renewed on our altars at each Holy Mass. It is the blood without which there is no forgiveness of sins, as St Paul expresses elsewhere in the epistle to the Hebrews (Hb 9:22). It is the blood that gives victory over demons, which gives courage to martyrs, purity to virgins, strength to confessors. It helps those in peril, gives relief to the burdened, consoles those in sorrow, gives strength to the dying and is the pledge of eternal life.
It is through the sacraments, especially, that the Blood of Our Lord reaches us. Through penance, the Blood of Jesus purifies our souls of sin. Through Holy Communion that Blood is received to be the sweet delight and strength of our souls, that Blood which so moved St Therese in a well-known passage that it is good to meditate upon at this time of year: “One Sunday, looking at a picture of our Lord on the Cross, I was struck by the blood flowing from one of the divine hands. I felt a great pang of sorrow when thinking this blood was falling to the ground without anyone’s hastening to gather it up. I was resolved to remain in spirit at the foot of the Cross and to receive the divine dew. I understood I was then to pour it out upon souls. The cry of Jesus on the Cross sounded continually in my heart: ‘I thirst!’ These words ignited within me an unknown and very living fire. I wanted to give my Beloved to drink and I felt myself consumed with a thirst for souls.”
In today’s Gospel, we hear Our Lord pronounce some terrifying words to the Pharisees: He who is of God hears the words of God. Therefore you hear them not, for you are not of God. St Gregory tells us that, if this is so, then we must all ask ourselves if we hear the words of God. Which words? First and foremost, those very simple words that are very easy to understand: Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness; keep holy the Lord’s day, honour thy father and thy mother, share what you have with those in need, etc. Let each one of us ask ourselves if we hear these words of God deep down in our heart, for just as there are many who do not even make an effort to listen to the Word of God, so there are many who hear the Word with their ears, but do not embrace it with spiritual longing, and there are also many who hear the Word willingly and even are moved to tears of repentance, but afterwards return to their evil ways. These do not really hear the Word of God since they neglect to put it into practice.
The Word of God is also the Word of the Cross, to employ an expression of St Paul to the Corinthians: verbum crucis (1 Cor 1:18). That Word is folly to worldlings who live for the ephemeral satisfactions of this life. But it is a Word that contains a divine logic. “They who at present,” writes the Imitation of Christ, “willingly hear and follow the word of the cross, shall not then be afraid of eternal condemnation. The sign of the Cross will be in heaven, when the Lord shall come to judge. Then all the servants of the cross, who in their life time have conformed themselves to Him that was crucified, shall come to Christ their judge with great confidence”.
And so we are always brought back to the cross, the judgment throne of Jesus Christ, in light of which and in the presence of which each one of us will be judged. Just as Moses was told to execute the plans for the ancient tabernacle according to what he had seen on Mount Sinai, so we must strive to realise the model shown to us on Mount Calvary.
Today if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your heart. This verse is repeated to us during Passiontide with great insistence. The Word reaches us in many ways. Sometimes, it takes time for the Word to penetrate, but this can only be done if we do not harden our hearts, if we allow it to penetrate, to burn, to heal.
Often in our lives, the voice of the Lord, the voice of the cross, comes to us, and we reject it or even run away from it. The healing salve often burns the wounds of our sins, but it is to heal them. Let us ask our Blessed Mother of Sorrows to teach us not to be deaf to that Word when it reaches us in the form of the cross, to be conformed more and more to the image of a Lord who chose to offer His life for us in order to open the gates of eternal blessedness. Let us apply ourselves to hearing, to listening, to the Word that rings out, throughout the ages, as it urges us to turn to the image of the Crucified Lord. Folly it is to the pagans; for us, it is the power and wisdom of God.