Understanding the Passion as the summit of God's love
The Passion of Christ is not just a painful story to be reread once a year, it is the very heart of our Christian faith. By accepting suffering, humiliation, betrayal and death on the cross, Jesus revealed to us just how far God is prepared to go out of love for us. He held nothing back for himself. He gave himself completely, freely, so that we might have life in abundance.
To meditate on the Passion is to recognise that every gesture, every word, every silence of Jesus during those hours of trial carries a profound meaning. It is not a defeat, but a hidden, silent victory, where love triumphs despite the pain. Jesus shows that true power does not lie in domination, but in the total gift of self, to the extreme.
Letting ourselves be touched by the humanity of Christ
When we contemplate the Passion, it is essential to let ourselves be touched by the humanity of Christ. Jesus fully assumed the human condition, with all its weaknesses, fears and pain. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he felt the anguish of imminent death. On the cross, he expresses the feeling of abandonment by crying out to the Father.
These moving moments remind us that Jesus did not flee from human reality; he embraced it fully to sanctify our own humanity. He knows our struggles, our loneliness, our nights of doubt. His Passion assures us that we are never alone in our suffering. He walks with us, he bears with us the weight of our crosses.
A school of compassion and forgiveness
Meditating Christ's Passion also opens us up to a real school of compassion. Before the mystery of so much love offered freely, our hearts soften. We understand that we are called to love as he did, with the same radicalism, the same generosity.
The Passion teaches us forgiveness. Jesus, in agony, prays for his executioners: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." These words, of unprecedented force, invite us to overcome our resentments and to choose forgiveness, even when it seems impossible. The cross then becomes for us a path of inner liberation.
Living the Passion in our daily lives
Meditation on the Passion is not reserved for holy days; it has its rightful place in our everyday lives. In the face of the trials that mark our path, in the face of misunderstandings, wounds and fatigue, we can turn our gaze towards Christ crucified. He is our strength and our hope.
Taking a few moments each day to meditate on the Passion, even silently, gradually transforms us. It teaches us to put our trials into perspective in the light of Christ's sacrifice. It encourages us to live with greater patience, charity and trust, knowing that our own sufferings, united with those of Christ, take on a new and fruitful meaning.
The Passion, an open door to the Resurrection
Finally, meditating on the Passion of Christ means never forgetting that the cross is not the end of history. It opens onto the Resurrection, onto the victory of life over death. Suffering and evil do not have the last word. God's faithful and invincible love always triumphs.
This certainty gives us the courage to go forward, even in darkness. It invites us to hope. Jesus, by his Passion, inaugurated a path that leads to true joy, to profound peace, to eternal light. By meditating on this Passion, we welcome this promise into our lives.
