God’s Passionate Love
On Palm Sunday (Sunday of the Passion), the Rev. George Adamik reflects on the word “passion” and God’s steadfast love (Luke 22:14-23:56): “Often times, when we hear the word ‘passion’ — the Passion of Christ — it may bring to mind the suffering of Jesus, this violent death, this beating, the crown of thorns, rejection, hurt… And many would say Jesus did that for me; because Jesus did that, I’m saved. It’s a very common understanding, an ancient understanding. But at times, it presents the idea that somehow God the Father didn’t like us very much, that God the Father needed a sacrifice to love us again. I want to offer another lens to look at this word ‘passion’ — a minority opinion in the history of Christianity. It speaks to me, and I think it’s very Episcopalian.”