Christ’s Incarnation as the Son of God, a deliberate pilgrimage to the Cross for the salvation of all men, culminated in the brutal Passion  (Latin, passionem,  meaning, “suffering”, “enduring”) on Good Friday.  After the Blessed Virgin, Mary of Magdala and others hastily wrapped Christ’s dead body in burial cloths and placed it in the Tomb (the Holy Sepulcher) before the start of the Sabbath at sundown of Good Friday, the Apostles and disciples wait in fear and discouragement in the Upper Room. After the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday), Mary of Magdala goes to the tomb (with other women; Matt 28:1 ..read more

After accomplishing His mission for the salvation of mankind and giving up His spirit, Christ’s scourged and crucified body is placed in a cold tomb hewn from stone (the Holy Sepulcher) near the place of the Crucifixion. Following darkness and earthquakes of Good Friday and the emptiness of the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday), Easter (“dawn”; “passover”) establishes a New Sabbath that celebrates the Resurrection of Christ Jesus and the salvation of many. On Good Friday, urged by the Jewish leadership, Pilate has Christ’s tomb sealed with a giant stone and guarded by Roman soldiers for three days to ..read more

Anticipated from the Fall in Eden and coming into glorious reality on Good Friday, God’s Divine Mercy is released in Christ’s Passion (Latin, passionem, meaning, “suffering”, “enduring”). Because Christ is a Divine Person, His suffering is infinite in worth, far surpassing the accumulated cost of all mankind’s sins from the beginning until the end of time. Christ’s sacrificial choice to do the Father’s will establishes the New Covenant in which men who repent, are baptized and commit themselves to Him are saved and will enjoy eternal life with God in Heaven. The Incarnation is Christ’s delibe ..read more

After the Apostles prepare for the Passover in the Upper Room in Jerusalem, Christ gathers the Twelve after sunset for the celebration of Passover. Commanded by God (Ex 12), Jews annually remembered God’s deliverance from bondage in Egypt by eating a ritual meal which recalled the Night of the Passover; prayers were said, four cups of wine were ritually drank and a lamb sacrificed at the Temple was eaten along with bitter herbs. But rather than simply “keeping” the Passover, Christ divinely transforms it, establishing the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Holy Orders. While Chri ..read more

Following His triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Christ teaches in the Temple during the days preceding the Passover and returns to the small town of Bethany on the Mount of Olives in the evening. Earlier, Judas, who wanted to sell the expensive oil that Mary (sister of Lazarus) used to anoint Christ and steal the proceeds, was rebuked by Christ; Judas’ long-simmering sins lead him to sneak away and he freely makes a deal to betray Christ to the Jewish leadership for a paltry 30 pieces of silver. Commanded by God (Ex 12), Jews annually remembered God’s deliverance from bondage in ..read more

After His merciful act of washing of the Apostles’ feet before the Last Supper, Christ reveals that one His chosen will betray Him (“He who ate My bread has lifted his heel against Me”; Psalm 41:9). Christ has been troubled during the evening as He anticipates the horrors of sin and His Passion and again becomes troubled as He considers the awful betrayal of Judas; Christ loves Judas despite his betrayal and anguishes over Judas’ coming suicide and his soul. Announcing He will be betrayed by one of them, the Apostles become agitated, wondering who the betrayer is. Peter asks John, who is recl ..read more

After His disciplined three-year public ministry of preaching, offering signs of His divinity and forming His Apostles for their mission, Christ returns to Bethany (where He raised Lazarus from the dead) on the Saturday before the Jewish Passover. Preparing for His Passion, Christ attends a dinner in His honor at the home of Simon the Leper (Matt 26:6); Lazarus is at table and his sisters Martha and Mary prepare a meal for Christ and His Apostles. While the industrious Martha serves, the deeply devoted Mary draws near to Christ to anoint His feet with pure nard, a highly fragrant oil from the ..read more

Christ’s deliberate preparation to fully reveal Himself to the world in the Passion and Resurrection continues with His triumphal entry into Jerusalem at the Passover (likely date: April 3, 33 A.D.). Withdrawing from Jerusalem after raising Lazarus to avoid the Jewish leadership’s plot to kill Him (John 11), Christ returns just before Passover and waits in the small town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives just east of Jerusalem. Christ directs two disciples to fetch a donkey and colt from a nearby village, mysteriously knowing the animals are waiting for Him. Christ purposefully enters Jerus ..read more

Bringing into reality God’s deliberate plan of salvation conceived from the beginning, the culminating act of Christ’s Incarnation is accomplished in His Passion. Christ’s entire life and the three years of His public ministry prefigure and reveal the saving events of His Passion. The profound mysteries of the Passion can only be imperfectly considered in the briefest of ways in this short commentary. Beginning on Holy Thursday, Christ transforms the Passover Seder (Jewish ritual meal which commemorates the Passover and deliverance from Egypt; Ex 12) into His Eucharist by the transubstantiati ..read more

Christ’s miraculous raising of Lazarus from the dead was witnessed by His Apostles, Lazarus’ sisters Martha and Mary and by a number of Jews from Jerusalem who had arrived to mourn the death of Lazarus. While many believed in Christ because He raised Lazarus, some immediately went to Jerusalem to inform the Jewish leadership. The chief priests and the Pharisees had sought to arrest and to kill Christ multiple times for they were unwilling to believe He was the Messiah. Now, with overwhelming proof of His miracles, the Jewish council (the Sanhedrin) switches tactics; they will justify their mu ..read more