LENT: “Holding Passion”

In my weekly reflections during this season of Lent, I’ve been considering what I am holding during this season. What thoughts do I tend to have? What are the feelings and emotions that I allow myself to experience? In recent weeks, I’ve reflected on the ways that Lent invites us to hold grief, hope, grace, and space. This week, I want to consider PASSION.

This coming Sunday is known as Palm Sunday – the day when we remember and commemorate Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, amidst the shouts of “Hosanna!” At the same time, this coming Sunday can also be referred to as Passion Sunday, when we remember and recount the details of Christ’s passion. From His Last Supper with the disciples, to His betrayal, arrest, trial, and execution, we remember the emotional details of Christ’s last days.

In worship together this past Sunday, we heard the story of how Mary anointed the feet of Jesus while he reclined at a dinner party. Jesus remarked that she was preparing him for his death. We considered the ways that we might choose to live differently if we knew that a certain day, celebration, gathering, or greeting would be our last. The idea is that we would live with a significant degree of passion. Jesus’ “passion” is an invitation to consider the passion with which we ourselves live. It offers an invitation to consider the passion we bring to each conversation, each encounter, and each new day. This coming Sunday, we will gather and hear the story of our faith read and proclaimed. Following worship, each of us will have the opportunity to go and live in light of this passion.

How do you carry Christ’s passion into your life, Rachael? Share your stories with me. Let us inspire each other.

Very truly,

Pastor Adam