More than Eggs

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the Passion of Christ and the Easter story continue to shape Western culture. Whether Christian or not, who isn’t aware of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, Peter’s cowardice, Jesus’ trial and crucifixion, or the empty tomb on Sunday morning? We are also familiar with the ritual acts of Pilate washing his hands and releasing Barabbas to the angry crowd as well as phrases like “Ecce homo!” (John 19:5), “What is truth?” (John 18:38), and “What further need have we of witnesses?” (Matthew 26:65).

Last week on Palm Sunday a particular phrase struck me. The reading before the Gospel proclaimed, “But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people. All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head” (Psalm 22:6-7). To drive home the point, the word “humiliation” appears throughout the readings and prayers for the day. Historically, the Church has interpreted these as Old Testament references to Jesus and his suffering.

The Latin version of the psalm is even more direct about being a worm: “Ego autem sum vermis, et non homo.” The words cut like a gladius, the Roman short sword, and are enough to make anyone stop eating vermicelli (vermis = worm), mainly because they could apply to all of us, including you and me. When I think of my past, a case certainly could be made.

Ego autem sum vermis, et non homo.

Psalm 22:6

To cite just one example, years ago I was part of a sales team that sold an unsuspecting couple a new Oldsmobile that one of our salesmen had crashed on a drunken joy ride. The Service Department put it back together, and the car was back on the lot faster than you can say “bamboozle.”

The couple had pulled up to the dealership in a trade-in that barely ran with an invalid daughter in the back seat tied up with rope to restrain her during epileptic attacks. To make matters worse (yes, it gets worse), we charged them full price. Needing the money, I split the commission with the joy rider. Like so much on this site, it’s a complicated story best left for another post, maybe even another go-around in the confessional (see Johnny Angel; High and Tight, Low and Slow). I just hope Purgatory really exists.

The beauty of Easter comes from the fact that being a worm isn’t the end of the story. A final chapter follows, one without which you would be reading an entirely different post. That, of course, is Jesus’ resurrection and his sending of the Spirit to continue his work in the world through the Church. The collect, or gathering prayer, on Holy Thursday says that “through the grace of His resurrection,” Christ “cleared away our former guilt” (ablāto vetusātis errōre). The effects of whatever we did that led to our guilt (e.g., fleecing the couple) remain and we are called to make amends, but we don’t have to be bound by guilt and despair for the rest of our lives. We can walk upright and not slither along the ground like the vermicelli we once were.

That, to me, has always been a miracle and allows me to strive to do better next time around (e.g., getting out of the car business, among other things). This is especially so when I hear the prayer at the breaking of the bread during Eucharist: “Deliver us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, from all evils, past, present, and to come.” The idea behind all of this is regeneration; that is, the dying of the old man and the birth of a new one.

In the blessing of baptismal water during the Easter Vigil, the priest sings from the prayer text: “Here may the stains of all sins be washed out; here may human nature, created in Thine image and reformed to the honor of its Author, be cleansed of all the filth of the old man; that all who receive this Sacrament of regeneration may be born again, new children of true innocence.”

I ask you, does it get any better than that?

Image credits: feature by Kelly Neil. For more on J.S. Bach’s oratorio, St. Matthew Passion, click here. Want more? Go to Robert Brancatelli. The Brancatelli Blog is a member of The Free Media Alliance, which promotes “alternatives to software, culture, and hardware monopolies.”