Understanding how we respond to suffering is one of the keys to the spiritual journey. Do you avoid it or ignore it? Do you run away? Do you try to control everything around you in order to alleviate the pain? Do you try to fix it or make it go away?

As we enter into Holy week, we are invited again to hear the passion narrative from Jesus’ agony in the garden to his death on the cross. It is a familiar story, and yet every year, I cringe and brace myself until the final nail is buried into Jesus’ hands and feet. How does it happen that our God who suffers is also God who saves?

The story of Jesus crucifixion and death reminds us that this is more than the story of a man who died. Jesus’ death came as a result of radical trust and following God’s will for his life. All that we know about Jesus from his life comes to a dramatic conclusion in his death. Jesus continues to pour out love toward others and forgive those who persecute him. Jesus refuses to meet violence with more violence. In the great mystery of Easter, we will soon discover that Jesus’ death makes way for resurrection and new life.

Each one of us faces pain and struggle in our everyday lives – whether that is physical pain from an ailment or injury, emotional stress related to work or relationships, spiritual dryness, struggles with sin, addiction, or grief. We do not have to look far to see the suffering in the world around us. It takes great courage to face these struggles and not run away.

In the coming days, as we prepare to celebrate the Pascal Mystery in the great feast of Triduum, we remember the long history of God’s great love for us. We are reminded that God suffers with us and will never abandon us. Let us enter into Holy Week confident in God’s ability to transform our suffering. With Jesus as our example, may our own trials and the struggles of those around us always call us toward greater fidelity, forgiveness, and love.

Bio: Beth M. Knobbe lives and writes from Chicago. She is the author of Finding My Voice: A Young Woman’s Perspective (St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2009). Beth serves as a campus minister at the Sheil Catholic Center at Northwestern University where she coordinates spirituality programs and leads an annual mission trip to Nicaragua.

When Elise asked Cynthia and I to do a reflection, I got nervous. When I realized she wanted us to reflect on the Passion, I got REALLY nervous. I mean, this along with the next chapter in Luke (the Resurrection) is the main idea of all of Christianity. If you never read any other part of the Bible you have to read this. It is KEY. It is also long. REALLY long (and you have to stand through the whole thing in church). So what could I possibly add? What nugget of wisdom am I supposed to contribute to this key (and long) reading of the Christian faith? Now I’m really, REALLY nervous.

So, I started with the numbers. Luke 22:14 through 23:56 is 2,213 words long. In these words are examples of some of the worst human failings. There is jealousy (“which of them should be regarded as the greatest”), spiritual weakness (“Why are you sleeping?”), betrayal (“are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”), denial and fear (“I do not know him”), deceit (“he opposes the payment of taxes to Caesar”), and our wonderful ability to go along with a crowd now matter how bad the direction (“Crucify him!”).

Juxtaposed with this we see the best of God’s love displayed through Jesus. His concern for us (“I have prayed that your own faith may not fail”), His faithfulness (“not my will but yours be done”), His patient endurance of our wrongs (“save yourself”), and His unfailing forgiveness (Father, forgive them, they know not what they do”). On their own, any one of these aspects would make for good story. Put them all together and you have the Word of God. The Gospel, His good news.

There are many different responses recorded in the Passion. It shows real people reacting in very human ways. This year, as we listen again to the key story of our faith, let us reflect on which response we would give and which example we should follow. One of God’s or one of our own? Or maybe we could reflect on how the story of God’s greatest love is contained in a measly 2,213 words. Maybe this year the Passion won’t seem so long, even if we are standing.

Bio: Nathan is a city planner for a suburb of Chicago and recently became a member of St. Francis Xavier Parish in La Grange. He is engaged to a beautiful Chicago girl (yes, she’s actually from the city) and is looking forward to settling down in the Western burbs.

The Passion. It’s the heart of our faith. It marks the beginning of the holiest week in the Church’s calendar. Yet, hearing it year after year, how many of us become “immune” to what the Lord is telling us? Moreover, how many of us can see at least part of ourselves in some of the less virtuous individuals in the passage, such as Peter, Herod, or the soldiers?

There is so much Christ endures in such a short time span, it is difficult to grasp just how much pain-physical, emotional, and even spiritual-he suffered. From the pure torture of being crucified, to seeing every one of your friends desert you in your time of greatest need, to asking the Lord to “take this cup away from me”, Christ underwent intense and enormous pain.

In looking at my own life, the crosses I have experienced-losing a parent at a young age, watching fellow teachers lose their jobs in a difficult economy, witnessing a family member in pain and sickness-as trying and difficult as they are, all pale in comparison to what Christ went through, simply because his love for us was that deep. If he could, and does, bear our sins because of his love for us, then we, as his brothers and sisters, must likewise carry our crosses…however difficult they may seem. Through the Passion, we know that if Christ has beaten death, then we, through his victory, will do so as well. Our crosses are mingled with His through the Passion, and in this, we find our perseverance and strength, no matter what comes our way.

Furthermore, in addition to the obvious anguish Jesus must endure-from the physical torture of whipping and hanging from a cross, to the embarrassment of having your entire community see you killed as a criminal-He must have also been extremely discouraged at the behavior of the disciples. Even at this point in Jesus’ ministry, they still can’t seem to “get it”. At the Last Supper, here they are, arguing over which of them is the greatest. At his arrest, they ask, “Lord, shall we strike with a sword?” Despite the signs, miracles, and teachings, the Twelve just cannot grasp what Jesus is telling them: to humble themselves, to love others, not to fight hatred with hatred, but with peace and compassion. To forgive one another, even if you are being harmed to the point of death, as Christ was.

How many times are we like the disciples? In my own life, I know it is so much easier to hold a grudge, to want to fight back with an even nastier attack that what was used on me, to want to be the best and the greatest in all I do and receive the most recognition for it. How attentive are we as disciples to the true meaning of Christ’s passion and death? How often do we remember that the true grace in life is found in love and sacrifice for one another, rather than our own self-indulgence?

Personally, I often forget that I am to model myself after Christ in all ways; not just words, or just actions, but in every moment, especially when I am enduring a cross. This Holy Week is the perfect time to remind ourselves of the true meaning of our faith, the true explanation of what it means to call ourselves Christians.

Bio: Cynthia Kogol is a proud native of Chicago (yes, the city itself) who currently lives in the western suburbs. She is a teacher, currently working as a Reading Specialist with third graders. She enjoys attempting to cook for her fiancé, Nathan, and planning their fantastic wedding in the fall. She is a volunteer for Rainbow Hospice and a member of St. Celestine parish.