The Passion of Jesus is certainly an account of the end of his earthly life. But the Passion of Jesus is also something that was demonstrated every day of his earthly life.  Most notably:

• A passion for human justice.
• A passion for divine justice.
• A passion for doing what is right and good.
• A passion for challenging others to promote the same.

In his Treatise on the Love of God (Book 10, Chapter 16), St. Francis de Sales identifies three levels of such passion:

First, we can have a passion for correcting, censuring and reprimanding others. This passion is perhaps easy because it does not necessarily require those who are passionate about righteousness to actually perform acts of justice themselves. This form of zeal, obviously, can be very attractive because the focus is on what others are not doing. On the other hand, it can become a classic case of “do as I say, not as I do”, because it does not require us to live in a just manner ourselves.

Second, we can be passionate “by doing acts of great virtue in order to give good examples by suggesting remedies for evil, encouraging others to apply them, and doing the good opposed to the evil that we wish to eradicate”. “This holds for all of us”, remarked de Sales, “but few of us are anxious to do so”. Sure, it requires work and integrity on our part. We can’t simply talk the talk; we must also walk the walk.

“Finally, the most excellent exercise of passion consists in suffering and enduring many things in order to prevent or avert evil. Almost no one wants to exercise this passion”. This passion is willing to risk everything for what is righteous and just, even life itself. “Our Lord’s passion appeared principally in his death on the cross to destroy death and the sins of humanity”, wrote St. Francis de Sales. To imitate Jesus’ zeal for justice is “a perfection of courage and unbelievable fervor of spirit”.

Jesus certainly challenged the injustice of others. Jesus was willing to promote justice through his own good example. Most importantly, Jesus was willing to go the distance in his passion for justice, even at the cost of his own life.

Passion Sunday – for that matter, every day – begs the question: How far are we willing to go in our passion for justice, that is, for what is right and good?