What is it about stories that attract the human heart? Regardless of where we come from, every human person seems to be made for stories. There is something ingrained in us that seeks to make meaning of things, to discern pattern, beauty, and significance in the world around us.
The Story
Yet as we press this further, we discover that beyond simply all the words and stories that fill our lives, we long especially for the Story. We desire not a story, but the Story that will express all stories within itself; a story that is both grounded in history and which dwells outside time, eternal; the Story that is true in every sense of the word.
Friends, we encounter this Story today on Palm Sunday as we hear in today’s reading Luke’s telling of the Passion. How does this story strike our hearts? Does it stir us with fear and trembling, with awe? Or has the Paschal Mystery become a too familiar story for us, like a word that loses its original meaning?
The Passion
Many years ago, when I first took up the New Testament in college, I experienced a kind of holy fear as I approached the Passion narrative in the various Gospels. Reading about Jesus’s miracles and parables was one thing, but to enter the story of His death and resurrection was quite another. Even as a non-believer, I knew there was something mysterious and profound in His Passion, a kind of wellspring from which the whole Christian faith had its source. I felt both fear and attraction to the story of His Passion. It was as if I were entering some heavenly cathedral full of all the saints, yet I could neither kneel nor stand aright, only gaze in awe.
In Luke’s Gospel, the story of Jesus’ Passion brims over with many rich details, leading up to the Cross. We read of the slave Malchus, whose severed ear was healed by Jesus; the high priest Caiaphas, the governor Pontius Pilate; Barabbas, the criminal who was chosen to be released instead of Jesus; Simon of Cyrene; the Roman centurion standing by the Cross; and most memorably, the two thieves crucified alongside Jesus. Perhaps there is no more poignant moment in this passage than Jesus’ blessing to the good thief: “Truly I tell you, this day you will be with me in paradise.”
When I first read the Passion narrative those many years ago, I knew I was in the midst of some terribly profound event. It was sublime and majestic, and stirred my heart with fear. A choice was being put before me. How would I answer once I really let myself enter the story of Christ’s Passion?
Crucible of Meaning
This same invitation is presented to each of us as we embark upon Holy Week. Are we ready to take this journey with Jesus, His final tribulation? Are we ready to share in His suffering, to walk with Him on the Way of the Cross? Do we embrace the Cross with Jesus, or do we hold ourselves comfortably apart?
The closer we come to the Cross, the more we realize that from this crucible of Jesus’ suffering, there floods forth an abundance of life. It is only from the depths of His sacrifice that we discover meaning, truth, and real freedom. Indeed, in all of the world religions, is there any story which comes anywhere close to the Passion of Christ? Is there anything so explosive, so beguiling and bewildering, as the sacrificial death of Jesus, the Son of God? It is here alone that mankind’s restless thirst for true meaning is quenched.
This week, let us resolve to share deeply in the experience of Jesus’ Passion. Let us not shy away from His suffering but enter into each hour and each moment with Him. This is, after all, the Story which encompasses all stories; it is the crucible of meaning, and the very bedrock of our faith.
[Readings: Lk 19:28-40; Is 50:4-7; Phil 2:6-11; Lk 22:14—23:56]
