When confronted with a choice our Spirit tells us one remains; Christ's Passion!

When confronted with a choice our spirit tells us one remains; Christ’s Passion!

We could say that is not a choice since he died for us free of exceptions.  It's been five days since he came forth from the tomb and appeared to Mary of Magdala.  Her first response was an unintelligible question; not knowing to whom she was asking where he had taken the body of her Master.  But the one remark from her uncertain quest became one of assurance that all he promised became a reality.  (Jn 20: 11 - 18). 

There are many scenarios that have developed over the centuries since the Resurrection, many of them alluding to the existence of a risen Christ, as most Christian sects adhere to this one appearance on Easter Sunday.  However, Satan is not satisfied with this truth, even though he is aware that Christ’s death removed all doubt to the end of evil in the world since his dying forever  was a victory: The victory that Christ won over sin has given us greater blessings than those which had taken from us:  “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”  (CCC 420).

As I have written in the past, the one premise of Christ’ that must open our hearts to his mission was to suffer, not as a common edict to reach Calvary, beaten, bloody, worn down to a shoveling body of evil intent by men who couldn’t care how much they hurt him, but to absorb every sin we seemed able to throw upon him until there was no more blood left in his holy body.

Christ was tempted in the wilderness, not as a way to dissuade his mission, but the beginning of a scenario that would demean his holiness and cause Christ to ignore his Incarnation and let humanity strive for themselves.  Satan knew that he couldn’t beat Jesus, the son of Man, so he went one step further by eliminating his divine mission of saving every man and woman from sin.  It was the final breath when Jesus said “It is finished:”  Meaning Satan and his evil intent were both now headed into the eternal fire at the end of all created goodness and taking with him the angels who also became evil over pride.  

When writing about the many attributes of Christ and all he accomplished for our salvation, the ones that inspired most of my articles dealt with the Crucifix, the Sacred Heart of Christ, the Blood of Christ, and the saints who reflected holiness by similar sufferings.  This is Passion and there are not too many other directions we can follow that bring real meaning to what Jesus came to do; hence the very reason he Incarnated himself out of complete love for you and me.

Ralph B. Hathaway