our Via Dolorosa

The liturgy of the Triduum continues and the RomanCatholic Lectionary proclaims the Word which presents comparison, contrast and contradiction as the journey of Jesus from exaltation by the crowds, through intimate giving of Himself as Servant Love in His Eucharistic Presence as the Pascal Lamb leads to the proclamation in the Gospel of John of the Kingship of Jesus, fully Divine and human who rules from a throne of torture and death. Pilgrims to Jerusalem, since Emperor Constantine legalized their worship, have traced the steps of Jesus journey from the garden which was across the Kidron Valley from the room of His Passover meal (John 18:1) to Golgotha, the site of His crucifixion. Father Thomas Rosica, in his reflection for Living with Christ, invites us to consider all the via dolorosa of the lives of people who are made into scapegoats, betrayed, rejected, ignored and abused. Jesus picks up the cross in compassion. He is with people as they walk their passion. The prophet Isaiah shows that the Suffering Servant, who Jesus takes as related to His mission, is a scapegoat. Our tendency to transfer our inadequacy or responsibility to the other is at the core of the grief we give others and ourselves. The text from the Letter to the Hebrews declares the familiarity of the one who John proclaims as God with the sin and suffering of humanity. Friar Jude Winkler takes us through some of the deep symbols and structures within the literary structure of the Gospel of John. This Sacred Book is crafted in an inspired manner so that some commentators have stated that every word is chosen to be deeply significant. At the same time, we can read the events of Jesus passion as the compelling story of human love and human failing as the One who has brought life is rejected and betrayed from the fear of the message of giving all in love to others. The theme of the use of others for our own purposes comes to mind on the journey to Calvary today. The description of the Suffering Servant who by his wounds heals us and the position of the Hebrew high priest who placed the sins of the people on the sacrificial animal indicate how the scapegoat is a technique which we understand as a way to reduce our own responsibility and pursue our own success. The dialog of Jesus and Pilate in the Gospel of John is described by Friar Jude as Jesus, in full presentation of His Divinity, proclaiming His Kingship as Servant Lover while the political advantage of manipulation of the truth to use Jesus dilemma, while sensing some real fear and trepidation in His Presence, to rub the noses of the Jewish leadership in the dominance of Rome in their lives points to the degree of destruction of the lives of others to which to we are capable to descend for our own advantage. The Presence of Jesus with us as we act in the example of Pilate or when we are suffering a passion journey on our Via Dolorosa is guaranteed to the end.