Jesus followed his mission faithfully, never questioning that he would be met after death by his Father’s welcoming embrace. 

As our own experience of life deepens, so, too, may our ability to comprehend the depth of the Passion narratives.

Jesus requires from his disciples terms that are unusually demanding: Give all that you have to the poor and come follow me! Yet Jesus both models and teaches a way that’s gentle and merciful.

Jesus gave Peter, who had denied Jesus for the third time, not a look of condemnation, but one that invited Peter to “weep bitterly,” repent, and become the man he was meant to become.

The joy of our lives is based on memories, and our most sacred experience of the divine is in sharing a meal each week in memory of Jesus.

Are we ready to walk with Jesus, to follow the “way of the cross” this Holy Week in order to prepare ourselves for the wonders of next Sunday and Easter? Or will Jesus walk alone?

Christ suffered and died for all people so that we could be reconciled into one human family of God. Pray for hearts open to recognize the sacred dignity of all human life.

Isaiah 50:4-9 is part of what is sometimes known as the “Servant Song” because the first-person narrative and reference in verse 10 to a servant describes a follower of God who perseveres and relies on God in the face of persecution.

Human existence was designed to rest not only on divine creation and bountiful all-inclusive activity, but also upon human decision—precisely because God’s omnipotence is crowned in the freedom of the individual to accept or reject him.  —Romano Guardini (1885-1968)