Lent
Of all the celebrations in the Liturgical Calendar, this one season is the central one for Christians - without the Lenten/Easter season, our religion is not really different from any other. Christmas is only the birth of a babe, however revered. All Saints Day and All Souls Day only commemorate those who lived the best they could in the times they lived in, and almost every culture does that. Thanksgiving isn't a foreign concept to anyone who professes a belief in a Higher Power (a p.c. term I detest - God isn't a "higher power", He is The Most High).
All of Christianity hinges upon this one mystery - God-made-man did NOT save Himself from crucifixion. He submitted to it patiently; He was the be-all, end-all Temple Sacrifice who wasn't even sacrificed in the Temple itself, but out in the open for all to see. He wasn't sacrificed for just the Jews, or for just the Romans, but for all. He preached in the open, He healed in the open, He lived in the open - He died in the open.
This year, the world has a chance to do some of what our forefathers did some 2000 years ago, and at least be a witness to the sufferings and the dying of Jesus. It won't be the same, of course, as actually having lived through it - and I thank God this is so. Man has always been resistant to change, and has never been overly willing to discomfort himself more than absolutely necessary. I'm not sure the Christian today is worthy of the name, hiding our crosses and crucifixes under our clothing, refusing to tell the boss we simply have to have time to go to Mass or worship services, hanging on to our possessions and vices as though we'll never have to account for our actions. Witnessing some minor portion of the violence of His death may stir us up to a more Christian attitude - or it may send us scurrying back to our packed ratholes, claiming the name without playing the game.
I have some videos in my personal library that I watch with some regularity throughout the year: The Greatest Story Ever Told, King of Kings, Jesus Christ, Superstar, and my personal favourite Jesus of Nazareth. They are wonderful videos for their purpose, which gives us a concise look at the ministry of Jesus Christ. Each covers His Passion and does so in an acceptable manner for general audience viewing. None of them play up the old "Jews killed Christ" theme that plagued Christianity for centuries - there is no doubt who is responsible in each film, and there are broad hints at their purposes. Some of those are even understandable purposes - we Christians acknowledge them as wrong, of course, but does that stop us from using those same arguments for making some of our own daily decisions? Probably not. But that's where the films fail - they identify a specific anti-hero for us, and leave us comfortable in our own self-confessed version of Christianity.
Having read the various reports of those who've been given the chance to pre-view The Passion, I'm given to understand that this film sticks the blame firmly where it belongs - on each and every Christian who turns a blind eye and keeps his hands in his pockets when true acts of Christianity are called for. Some of the reviews actually identify this phenomenon, while I've read (and heard via television interviews) other reviews that take Mel Gibson to task for not placing the blame for Christ's death firmly on the head of Pontius Pilate or the Sanhedrin. These folks are eager to disown the blame, avidly searching for someone else to blame, in all things.
This is a phenomena that plagues our society in all manners, looking for someone else to blame. There is always someone willing to identify who's at fault for all sorts of things. Republicans are responsible for this, Democrats for that, Christians for that, atheists for this, Americans for this, Iraquians for that - it's time we stopped assigning blame, and started assessing our own roles in the grand scheme of things. Not our role as a Christian, or as an American, or as a member of some political faction - not even our role as parent, teacher, worker, business owner or any other thing really affects us. Being a parent didn't make me who I am. I am - first and foremost, I am. Every other title assigned to me is due to choices I made. Perhaps there are some names I did not choose for myself, but that I was in a situation to be so named was by my choice. There are some situations that are not of our choosing - but we always have a choice as to how to respond, how to act in that situation.
Mel Gibson's The Passion promises to be the sort of movie that shows Christ as a man who made a choice. Perhaps it's time we took a closer look at the choices He made, and rethink our own choices.
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