Would You Crucify Him? It is a chilling question really. Surely our response would be the same as Peter’s: “Though all may have their faith in you shaken, mine will never be.” “Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you.” But...even Peter in the end, three times denied ever knowing Jesus. How easy it is for people to abandon even the highest principles or ethics when the personal cost seems too high!
At the beginning of Mass, we opened with the Gospel of Matthew (chp.21) hearing of Jesus riding triumphantly into Jerusalem. The crowds hyped with excitement threw their cloaks and palm fronds onto the ground in front of Him. The long-awaited Messiah had finally arrived! But within a few days, in chapter 26, Matthew describes that same fickle crowd SCREAMING “CRUCIFY HIM!” Yes, sadly, it appears we would crucify him because of the inconstancy of human nature.
Matthew tells us Jesus prayed “My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking
it, your will be done.” Let’s not fool ourselves, Jesus did not want to face what awaited him in Jerusalem: rejection, scorn, humiliation, torture and death by public crucifixion, all at the hands of these same revelers! But Jesus knew the Father’s perfect will and what awaited him Easter Sunday: resurrection and new life for himself and for all of us!
For our sake, he stayed constant to his mission, never wavering; teaching us how to endure our Christian mission. How blessed are we to experience this constant, consistent love of Jesus, even as we constantly falter in our Christian trust and faith!
Today we begin Holy Week, the most sacred time in our Catholic calendar. It is the perfect time for us to recommit ourselves to our baptismal calling to carry the cross of Jesus and test our constancy: would we give of ourselves totally for Jesus, or would we too cry “CRUCIFY HIM?”
Please join St Mary of the Visitation Parish at 7:00pm on Holy Thursday to be with Jesus at the Last Supper and the foot washing, then again Friday at 11:00am (families with young children), 3:00pm to for the Veneration of the Cross and to meditate on Jesus’ last words, at 7:00pm for our Passion Play. Finally, we will come together at the Easter Vigil at 7:00pm Holy Saturday or one of the many Easter Sunday morning masses to celebrate Our Lord’s constant love for us the victory of the His Resurrection!