Then they spat in his face and struck him; and some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who is it that struck you?” It’s the abuse that I find most difficult. Much of the Passion, when you read as slowly as we are, is hard to endure. From the agony of the garden to the...

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain...

Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last. One of the persistent questions we ask when we approach the Passion story is “why?” Why did Jesus have to endure the pain, the suffering, the abuse,...

Now the men who were holding Jesus began to mock him and beat him; they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” They kept heaping many other insults on him. The irony is that we have just been privy to a prophecy of Jesus’ coming to pass. Only...

Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you,...