The Passion According to St. Luke, Part Two

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What He did not assume, He did not redeem. This was said about the necessity of Christ taking on our human nature. But perhaps we could even suggest it about the experience of sorrow, fear, dread. “He must thus also undertake the grief in order to overcome the sorrow and not exclude it” [Ambrose]. The Lord Jesus experiences all of our difficulties and troubles. And in all of it, He teaches us also how to bear up in the hour of trial: “Not My will, but Yours, be done.”

At this time, such a notion is incomprehensible to the disciples. So when the soldiers come, they think this is the long-awaited moment when the war for liberation begins….

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Reminiscere 2026

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“Remember, O man, that thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou return.” “Remember, O man, that thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou return.” “Remember, O man, that thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou return.”

Something happens when you say that a few hundred times in a day. You realize the problem is bigger than me or you, or the scandal du jour….

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Palmarum 2024

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Disciples whom Jesus loves: This week is our holiest of weeks. Holy Week comes at the end of a season of self-denial, a season of repentance, a season of renewal in prayer. Has it been such a season for you? If not, you’re not alone. Lent can lead to disappointment and frustration. Instead of growing in holiness, growing as a disciple of Jesus, the season exposes our true identity. It’s all there in the Passion account: Frauds; conspirators; a pragmatist; a traitor. Lent is meant for us to discover anew the love of God. We were supposed to learn how much good can come from obedience; but it has a way of revealing our capacity for deceit, hypocrisy, laziness, and self-pity.

The Passion of St. Matthew shows them all to us….

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