Word of the Week

Palm Sunday

Passion: Pascho (Gk.): meaning, “to be affected or have been affected, to feel, have a sensible experience, to undergo”. In the biblical vision, the strongest synonym is “to suffer.”

It is for another study altogether to examine this word in light of its relationship to our feelings whether it be in the good sense (positive drive) or bad sense (anger). This study will focus in on the passion as it relates directly to Christ. As you can well imagine by looking at the root word to passion (pascho), the Passion of Christ is at the heart of the Paschal Mystery (cf. CCC, 572, 602-616). That is to say, the suffering and death of Jesus Christ is the axis to The Paschal Mystery. Recall, the Paschal Mystery, also known as the Paschal Sacrifice, is “Christ’s work of Redemption accomplished principally by his Passion, death, Resurrection, and Glorious Ascension, whereby “dying he destroyed our death, rising he restored our life…The Paschal mystery is celebrated and made present in the Liturgy of the Church, and its saving effects  are communicated through the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, which renews the paschal sacrifice of Christ as the sacrifice offered by the Church” (CCC Glossary, 891). For this reason, we are called to participate in the mystery of the Mass and unite ourselves in all of our humanity to Christ as a sharing in his own paschal mystery.

The greek pascho is used forty-two times in the New Testament with eighteen of those coming in the synoptic gospels. What is interesting to find is the abundance to which Peter uses it in his first epistle, eleven separate times. For Peter, the acceptance of various trials and affliction is a means to refine our faith and opportunity to prove ourselves worthy of the Kingdom of God. Essentially, suffering is a way to grow in Christ for “righteousness sake” (cf. 1 Pet.2:19-23, 3:14-18, 4:1, 15-19, 5:10). The synoptic use of pascho largely is placed within the context of Christ’s suffering as it is tied and points to the Passion of Christ (cf. Mt.16:21, 17:12-15, 27:19; Mk.5:26, 8:31, 9:12; Lk.9:22, 17:25, 22:15).

Passion Sunday affords us the opportunity to examine just not Christ’s sufferings, but also our call to assimilate ourselves into the redemptive mission of Christ. Understanding the Christian way of doing things is to first understand Christ’s way of doing things; especially the “via de la rosa”. In light of Christ’s way of the cross, he calls us to have the same compassion upon others that he had upon us. It is worth while to note that compassion comes from the Latin cum-passio, meaning, to “suffer with”. We are to imitate Christ by walking in the shoes of others for the sake of compassion, for the sake of Christianity. Calvary was the peak of Christ’s journey, so should the measure that we accept our suffering be the indicator to the vitality of our Christian witness. Let this annual recall into Christ’s passion be taken as an opportunity to grow in the richness of Christ’s own suffering and death.

“God will bring forth the salvation of humanity from Christ’s falling beneath the weight of the Cross.”

--John Paul II

Primary Texts Consulted

• Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.

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