Forget the what and tell me the why.
Blaise Pascal remarked that the attitude is more important than the fact. This truth comes through clearly if listeners will focus on why a person says what they say rather than on the statement itself. As we meditate upon the Crucifixion of our Lord simply ask yourself the simple question: why are the Pharisees saying …? When you ask the “why” question then you begin to enter into the reasoning that underlies every non-Catholic, every atheist, every Mason. At the core of the answer from these good souls is an emotion called “pride”.
It is pride that crucifies Christ in the souls that we meet day in and day out. They attack Him because He is innocence par excellence. His innocence echoes so wildly in their proud heart that they must eliminate the very God Who created them. In doing so they find Innocence praying for them because they know not what they do!
Let’s consider the judgment on our dear Lord. In the religious trial they found Him too divine. This man has made himself the Son of God. True, He is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity and by nature is the only begotten Son of God. This is not blasphemy but the reality. Why did they judge and condemn Him for the Truth? Because “it is right for one man to die for the people”. This is true as well for unless the Lamb of God go forth to the pulpit of the Cross He would fail to perform the act of religion, to re-bond our sinful souls to the Divine Trinity. Caiaphas spoke prophetically as high priest that year. Their pride issued forth in the jealousy that blinds one to the reality present before them.
Do you remember the words of St. Peter? When he realized that our Lord was going to Jerusalem, he expressed his love by saying that he would die before he denied our Lord. Our Lord cuts through this word with the answer that before the cock crowed Peter would deny the Lord three times. Like Judas Peter would betray the Lord because of reliance on one’s own power. Then as Peter sat outside the Jewish mock trial he answered the query of the servant girl with “I don’t know the man.” Why does he deny the love of his life, human respect takes over. He slides three times into the denial until the Lord comes out and simply “catches his eye.” Then he runs out weeping tears of repentance unto God.
Move now to the soldiers who handled the God made Man with a cruelty that only a demonic would possess. “Tell us who struck you?” Mockery marks the mind of the proud man and evidences the sign of evil infestation. They scourged Him, they crowned Him, they stripped Him. In all that they did and said they prove the reality of the devil in this world. Their words and their actions offer us the ability to read this presence in the world around us. We recognize it in the entertainment field, the political decisions against life itself, the financial foothold that begets profits over holiness.
Dear brothers and sisters reread the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ with a constant eye to the “why” and then what takes place opens your heart to prepare a place for the Crucified in your heart. This is the essence of our Holy Week which is about to begin. Our hearts must be innocent and pure to hold the most innocent of hearts: the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart. Surely in the moment of truth the fact that these two Hearts alone will endure the test of time and offer you and I the eternal refuge we deeply desire.
May our Lord sanctify each and everyone of us through the passion, death and resurrection of our dear Lord.
In the hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
Fr. Voigt, S.D.B.
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