• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

The Passionists of Holy Cross Province

The Love that Compels

  • Online Masses
    • Passionist Online Masses and Services
  • 300th Jubilee
    • Jubilaeum Video
    • Opening Mass of the Passionist Jubilee Year
    • Video: 300th Jubilee – English
    • Video: Jubileo Pasionista – Español
    • Jubilee Icon Itinerary
    • Jubilee Resources
    • Jubilee Song
  • Pray
    • Lent 2021
    • Daily Reflections
    • Prayer Request
    • Sunday Homily
    • Passionist Spirituality and Prayer
    • Stations of the Cross
    • Prayer and Seasonal Cards
  • Grow
    • Journey into the Mystery of Christ Crucified
    • Celebrating the Feast of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Subscribe to E-News
    • Passionist Magazine
      • Passionist Magazine, Spring 2020
    • Passionist Ministries
      • Preaching
      • Hispanic Ministry
      • Haiti
      • Parish Life
      • Earth and Spirit Center
      • Education
      • Fr. Cedric Pisegna, CP, Live with Passion!
    • Retreat Centers
    • Passionist Solidarity Network
    • Vision Fulfillment Newsletters
    • Sacred Heart Monastery
      • History of Sacred Heart Monastery
      • A Day in the Life of Senior Passionists
      • “Pillars” of the Community
  • Join
    • Nicholas Divine, CP, Ordination to the Diaconate
    • Are You Being Called?
    • Discerning Your Call
    • Pray With Us
    • Passionist Vocation Directors
    • Lay Partnerships
  • Connect
    • Find a Passionist
    • Passionist Websites
    • Fr. Cedric Pisegna, CP, Live with Passion!
    • Passionist Alumni Association
      • Reunions
      • 2019 Passionist Alumni Reunion
      • Welcome
      • Letter from the Provincial
        • These Men We Call Our Brothers
      • Mission Statement
      • CrossRoads Bulletin
      • Alumni Enrollment Form
        • Alumni Survey
      • Reunion Photo Gallery
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Monthly Giving
    • Leave a Legacy
      • Giving Matters
      • Ways to Give
      • Donor Relations
      • Testimonials
    • Prayer and Seasonal Cards
    • Privacy Policy Statement
  • Learn
    • Our Founder
    • History
    • The Letters of St. Paul of the Cross
    • The Diary of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Mission and Charism
    • Saints and Blesseds
    • FAQs
    • Find a Passionist
    • STUDIES IN PASSIONIST HISTORY AND SPIRITUALITY
  • Safe Environments

Daily Scripture, February 20, 2009

Solemn Commemoration of the Passion

Scripture:

Isaiah 53:1-12
I Corinthians 1:18-25
John 19:17-30

Reflection:

Today we Passionists celebrate a very special feast, The Solemn Commemoration of the Passion.  This is the titular Feast of our Congregation and we celebrate it each year on the Friday before Ash Wednesday.  St. Paul of the Cross instituted this feast as a celebration of the great love that Christ has for us as witnessed by His self gift in the Passion.  We are forgiven our sins and have eternal life with God because of Christ’s great love for us.

The first reading, taken from the Prophet Isaiah, describes how complete was the Suffering Servants self gift.  "He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom men hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem."  Ultimately, he is destroyed.  Yet, because he was innocent and had given his life for others, God, recognizing the love at the heart of his sacrifice, overcomes the guilt of us all.

Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, testifies to the power of Christ’s sacrificial love and reflects on how different the wisdom of God is from that of men. 

In the Gospel we hear again the stark re-telling of the final events of Christ’s life: his painful struggle to Golgotha with the burden of his cross, his crucifixion and death on the cross, the witness of the soldiers and the gift of his Mother to us.  The final brutal death accepted with gentle love that expresses so eloquently Christ’s desire to bring all of us to life.

The details are hard to hear, but the overwhelming message of God’s love for us shines through clearly.  How grateful we are to be so completely loved by our saving Lord.

 

Fr. Mike Higgins, C.P. is the director of lay formation for Holy Cross Province and lives in Chicago, IL. 

Footer

Facebook Feed

Support the Passionists

Contact the Passionists

The Passionists of Holy Cross Province
660 Busse Highway | Park Ridge, IL 60068
Tel: 847.518.8844 | Toll-free: 800.295.9048 | Fax: 847.518.0461
Safe Environments | Board Member Portal | Copyright © 2021 | Log in