On this day the Church is focusing on the striking and powerful narrative of the Passion according to St. John. Listening to the events that eventually led to the death on a cross of Jesus, it is unavoidable that we reflect today on human suffering, to which he submitted himself.
Suffering and death are part and parcel of human life, even though we all would like to avoid them both especially for our loved ones and for ourselves. Disease, injustice, envy or rivalries will, sooner or later, bring about suffering to ourselves or to those around us. Once we meet these realities, our trust in God will be challenged, again and again.
This is why the story of the passion of Jesus which we read today touches our hearts in a very personal way, because it enshrines everything: in it, we find scenes of goodness, tenderness, friendship and solidarity, as well as others that are marked by treason, lies, violence and death. The full scope of human experience is represented in the Passion narrative, starting from the positive all the way to the darkest moments. We can surely state that Jesus transitioned through the whole of human condition.
At the same time, Jesus is able to merge this great variety of experiences into a single life project, and to offer it to the Father, both the joyous events, as well as the undesirable ones. He does not store up grudges and accepts the opposites and contradictions of his own life trusting fully in the will of the Father. Jesus makes the words of the psalm 30 his own, as he knew them by heart: “In you, o Lord, I take refuge, let me never be put to shame. Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, o Lord, o faithful God. (…) My trust is in you, o Lord. You are my God, in your hands is my destiny.”
The questions haunting Jesus on the eve of his passion, as they do to any of us facing similar situations, are the same: who will have the final word in the face of suffering, injustice, sickness, and death? Is the love of God really able to defeat evil, pain, and humiliation? Today we see that Jesus’ answer is the answer of faith, that is, of an unbreakable confidence in God that goes beyond understanding what is happening. “My trust is in you, o Lord …” When I am alone, my trust is in you. When I am a victim of injustice, my trust is in you. When my body reaches its limits, my trust is in you …
The way Jesus todays surrenders to the Father, in silence and complete confidence, deeply connects with our own human condition, since we necessarily identify with some of the experiences Jesus went through in his passion. Today we are called to renew our faith with him, which can be summarized with these simple words: My trust is in you, o Lord.
