What kind of Passion?

If you’ve ever been in love, you will probably not be surprised to learn that the word passion is derived from a Latin root that means, “to suffer.”  From Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to Kem proclaiming that there’s Nobody who can match the woman he’s just lost, we can’t get away from the fact that, as wonderful as it is, love includes loss and pain as well as goodness and gain.

Today’s celebration of the Passion of the Lord reminds us that at times, as Dostoyevsky observed in The Brothers Karamazov, “Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.”  As we saw from the reactions of the crowds to Jesus—singing hosannas of praise one moment and calling for him to be crucified the next—passion can bring out the worst as well as the best in us.  (Remember that the word “fan” is short for “fanatic.”)

As we begin this holiest week of the church year, the word of God draws us to consider the loving grace of God embodied in the life, death and resurrection of God’s Son:

• The one who knew how to speak a word of hope to the weary; who heard with open ears and spoke with “a well-trained tongue;” who opened himself to abuse but also set his face like flint for the sake of his mission.
• The one who, even in his darkest hour when he felt abandoned and alone, could still utter a word of thanksgiving and praise.
• The one who, “though he was in the form of God…emptied himself, taking the form of a slave…and found in human appearance, he humbled himself, becoming even obedient to death, even death on a cross.”
• The one who left us the gift of his Body and Blood; who could ask that the cup of his suffering might pass him by yet submitted himself to his Father’s will; and who endured injustice, insult, torture and execution out of love for us and the world.

As we remember Jesus’ life and death, we also recall that love sometimes means saying good-bye.  Today our parish says farewell to MaryEtta Davis as she completes her move to Atlanta; and we give thanks for the witness of her love here at the Gate—in raising her sons, in her involvement in Jeffrey Manor, in our choir, in the Gatekeepers and Women’s Club, and especially in her years as the Principal of OLGH School.  Thank you, MaryEtta!

So we begin this week with passion.  Let’s end it with joy, gratitude and above all with love—for each other, for our faith, and for the One who loved us first. +