Sunday, April 9, 2006 · no responses · comments closed

Speaking of the Passion, Pope John Paul says, “Today we are contemporaries of the Lord, and, like the multitude in Jerusalem, like the disciples and the women, we are called to decide if we are to be with him, or flee, or just be spectators at his death.”

It’s easy to think of these choices in terms of salvation — it’s those lost people who need to make a choice. But as I’ve pondered this, trying to figure out where to go with this idea, what to write, I keep coming back to the third option: being a spectator of the crucifixion.

This is not just about observing Easter…well, actually, it is, isn’t it. It’s about observing, seeing what Jesus has done but doing nothing with it. It’s about singing, “Crucified / and laid behind a stone / You lived to die…” at church and being selfish at home. Being a spectator is being aware of what Jesus did and yet remaining unchanged.

In my office here at home, I can see four crosses: one rusted iron, one blue and taupe, another white, the fourth one large and gold, from the Jane Seymour Home Collection. I’m surrounded by crosses, have even worn one at times, yet what difference has it made in my life?

That’s the question I have to ask myself daily: am I with Jesus, or am I just a spectator?