Monday, March 29, 2021

 Monday of Holy Week

(Isaiah 42:1-7; John 12:1-11)

Anti-Christian theorists claim that the apostles invented the passion story.  They say that after Jesus was crucified, the apostles invented a narrative of how it took place using minutia that they found in the Scriptures.  They even believe that St. Paul admits this when he writes in I Corinthians, “…Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures…”

The Paschal event – Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection – defies ordinary experience.  But that does not mean that it was made up.  It is unique because it was God who entered history to save humans from themselves.  It is much more likely that the apostles saw what happened to Jesus and reflected on it.  Then they proclaimed the historical event with emphasis on those details that corresponded to Scripture.  The coincidence was not scant but multiple and profound.  Many of the references in the Passion accounts refer to the Suffering Servant, whom we meet in the first reading today.  Christ, like the Servant, did establish righteousness without fanfare.  He has become, like the Servant, “a light to the nations.”

Some people try to find justification for their wrongdoing by denying the truth of authority.  We can find this taking place in those who deny the authenticity of the gospel.  Not wanting to repent of their misdeeds as Jesus taught, they try to discredit Jesus.  We are wise not to follow this tack.  In following his teaching, we become more fully human.  Going to the cross with him, we will find eternal happiness.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Monday of Holy Week

(Isaiah 42:1-7; John 12:1-11)

Jews read the passages about the “Suffering Servant” with a question in mind: “To whom does the prophet Isaiah refer?”  Is it the prophet himself, or Job or possibly the entire Jewish people who suffered terribly at various points in history?  Christians, in turn, have no doubt that the passages refer to Jesus Christ whose passion and death fit quite squarely with Isaiah’s descriptions.

Jesus did not come with an army of followers and much less did he use violence to impose his teaching.  He established justice on earth by exemplifying God’s love to what became myriads of followers.  With his crucifixion, God established an eternal covenant which is by no means in retreat despite the fact that relatively fewer people attend church in Western societies.  Jesus also opened the eyes of the blind, physically in some cases but, more critically, morally to all people who seek fulfillment from power, pleasure, or possessions.  Finally and most importantly, he freed prisoners of sin who may not even be aware of the harm they do.

We will hear readings from the Suffering Servant passages throughout Holy Week.  They remind us how Jesus fulfills Old Testament prophecy through his passion and death.  Although everyone has difficulties, they leave us in awe at the price Jesus paid for our freedom.