When do you know if you’ve lost everything? Even though it seems as if he has, and the scorn of the people are seeking to strip him of his dignity, Jesus has an treasure that cannot be touched. As he calls us to follow, we have the same gift.
Lent is a season of looking ahead to the cross, of remembering Jesus’ sacrifice, and of taking up our own crosses. Our Lord’s endurance of a Roman cross, with its appalling pain and selfless love, is called “the passion” (Latin for suffering) in Church tradition. This sacrifice both saves and summons us. His passion is our salvation given and salvation lived.
So it’s no wonder the Gospels speed past months of Jesus’ life to give inordinate focus to his final week, his final days, his final hours. During these two months, we too will slow down and pay careful attention to the varied, powerful truth of His Passion.
