I was just wondering if anyone has heard of these notes on "The Passion" movie. I have not seen it yet, only due to being busy with my baby, but I do plan to go next week. Here are the notes (A homeschooling mother sent them to me):

This is awesome... Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our deaths......Amen....JMJ...Margaret

NOTES ON THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST SYMBOLISM

These are personal notes from a group discussion with a priest called Fr. Sean of the Legionaries of Christ. The discussion took place on Friday, February 27, 2004 at the St. Joseph Center in Alhambra. Fr. Sean said he has seen the movie 6 times and that his order had a priest on the set every day that Mel Gibson was shooting the movie. Because of this, he was privy to much information about the symbolism throughout the picture. Please forgive me if the notes seem to ramble. They are merely a guide to ideas brought up in discussion that night and are by no means a comprehensive list.

1) What was the meaning of the evil baby that Satan was holding? That image of Satan holding an ugly child is an anti-Madonna image. The child represents the future persecutions of the body of Christ, the Church. The child is ugly because evil is a deformation of good. The child is stroking the face of Satan because evil perverts what is good. The stroking symbolizes the love of evil, much like a child would love its mother, but in a perverted way. Remember this image happens when Jesus is being scourged. His body is being wounded. His body is being persecuted. It is an image used by Mel Gibson to show Satan flaunting his future plan of persecution of the Church in the face of the sacrifice of the Lord.

2) Why is this movie so violent? The violence you see Jim Caviezel endure as Jesus is really a reflection of the violence that sin does to our souls. Violence is the effect of sin on our souls. It destroys and disfigures us. It maims us. It makes us look inhuman, ugly and hideous before the Father. The violence also represents the price of our redemption. Since Jesus took on our sin, He was made sin for us according to St. Paul, He took on the punishment of that sin. For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21) This is the purpose of the violence in the film, to get people to realize the price that is paid by the body of Christ when people commit sin and the price paid by the Savior to set us free.

3) There was a discussion about the Agony in the Garden scene. Fr. Sean brought up the idea that the reason Jesus suffered in the Garden was because that is the moment He took on sin for us. St. Paul says that God the Father made Jesus to be sin. This is the moment when it happens in the Garden. Since Jesus is the Son of God and God is pure love, taking on the sin of the world, yours and mine, the sin of a Hitler, a Stalin, a Genghis Kahn, etc., was an excruciating experience for Him. At that moment, pure Love was forced to coexist with the evil effect of sin in the agony Jesus experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane.

4) In the Garden of Gethsemane, what is the snake a reference to? Genesis 3:15 "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. Notice that Jesus suffers immensely while Satan adds to His burden but then Jesus makes a decision to do the will and with that resolve he stomps on the snake to kill it.

5) There are plenty of Mass references in this picture. When Jesus is being stripped, the movie flashes back to the Last Supper when the bread is brought to the table and uncovered. When Jesus is being elevated on the cross after being nailed to it, we see a flashback to the Last Supper when Jesus raises the bread and says, This is my body. The apostle John is shown as the one who remembers these flashbacks and who makes the connection between the Bread of Life on the cross and the Breaking of the Bread at the Last Supper.

6) When is the first time we see Mary? Just as Jesus is arrested and put into chains. She wakes up saying, "Why is this night different than any other?" And Mary Magdalene responds that this is the night that they were set free from slavery. Where do these lines come from? They are the words that the youngest says to the oldest at a Jewish Passover/Seder supper ritual. In this case, the oldest was saying them to the youngest because this was THE night that would set in motion the plan of salvation to set us free from sin. The new Passover had begun with Jesus as the Lamb. Maia Morgenstern, a Jewess herself, had the idea to use these lines in the scene and when she explained them to Mel, he agreed they had to be included in the picture to tie everything together.

7) When is the first time we see a maggot? In the Garden of Gethsemane when you see one crawling in and out of the nostril of Satan. It is a very quick scene. When do we see a maggot again? When Judas finds himself sitting next to a maggot infested mule. The maggot represents death and corruption.

8) In this picture Pontius Pilate was portrayed sympathetically. Why so? Mel Gibson wanted him to represent the struggle of every man when faced with moral choices. It was obvious to Pilate that Jesus was an innocent man. It was obvious to Pilate that Barabbas was corrupt. (It was no accident that his makeup made Barabbas look even more evil and deranged.) To Pilate the right choice was obvious but he did not make it because of his own fears and the pressure from an unruly crowd he wanted to appease.

Mel's message was that every time we choose sin, the choice is always obvious like the choice between Barabbas and Jesus. Of course there are times when the temptation that approaches us is very beautiful in appearance, but down deep inside, we know what the choice should be and very often we do exactly what Pilate did and afterwards try to wash our hands to relieve our guilt.

9) Why was there a scene when Jesus falls over the bridge only to find Judas at the bottom? Judas has just denied Jesus in the Garden. At this moment, Judas represents every man who when faced with the truth denies it. In this scene, he represents every man who runs away from the truth and Mel Gibson wanted to remind the audience that you cannot run away and hide from the truth because the truth will always find you. In this case, Jesus has been arrested, is beaten and falls from the bridge while hanging in chains right in front of Judas. The Truth found Judas even though he had denied Him and tried to hide from Him.

10) Notice that in the picture whenever Satan is shown, he is always in the background moving behind the scenes. Notice he is always in the background whenever there is intensity and anger in the foreground directed towards Jesus. This is symbolic of his actions motivating the aggression and intensity of persecution against the Body of Christ, the Church, and also is symbolic of his responsibility behind all evil motivations.

11) When Jesus is before Pilate, He notices a dove in the sky above Him. It represents a reminder of the vertical dimension, the relationship between man and God. We as human beings are often caught up in the horizontal dimension (relationships with men and worldly affairs) and forget there is a vertical dimension. The vertical dimension represents the spiritual life, the relationship of a soul with the Father. The vertical dimension is what is more important and the dove is a reminder to Jesus that the vertical dimension is in control despite the appearance of the situation.

12) Why do Mary and Mary Magdalene clean up the blood on the cobble stones after Jesus is scourged? It is because it is Jewish tradition to save the blood. Life is in the blood. Blood had to be collected. This is also representative of the cleaning of the vessels at Mass when a priest is done with the consecration and giving out the Eucharist. The blood was precious and Jesus' blood particularly is precious. Notice that they also collected the instruments that made Him bleed at the very end of the film when you see the crown of thorns, the nails and the hammer at the foot of the cross as they take down the body of Jesus.

13) There is a scene at the crucifixion where Mary Magdalene is the only one who sees a miracle happen. It is a very quick scene and it happens when she is on her knees (notice that the only ones on their knees are Mary, John and the Magdalene at the crucifixion). Jesus has been nailed to the cross and the Romans are turning it over. You expect Jesus to smash His face into the ground when the cross falls over but it does not happen. Instead what you see is the Magdalene looking up to see that the cross is floating above the ground. She is the only one to see that Jesus is floating a few inches above the ground the entire time that they are hammering the nails on the back of the cross to secure them. It is a representation of God still in control of the whole crucifixion process.

14) Every time that Jesus meets His mother Mary along His Passion He is strengthened and has new resolve. This is especially noticeable after Jesus is scourged the first time. The Romans have beat him over 70 times and He has collapsed. He sees Mary and finds the strength to stand up much to the dismay and surprise of the Roman soldiers who then decide to use a more vicious whip with metal tips. This scene represents the idea that Mary is living proof to Jesus that the sacrifice He is about to make for mankind is not in vain. The film shows that Jesus comes to a decision to continue on the path to Calvary each time they look at each other. Some say it reinforces the idea of Mary as co-redemptrix.

15) Simon of Cyrene represents every man who is faced with the cross and does not want to carry it. He also represents those who do not want to help others carry their crosses. Yet, in this film he also represents the person who is forced to carry the cross and then becomes so engaged with Christ that he wants a deeper relationship with Him. The arms of Jesus and Simon the Cyrene are intertwined as they carry the cross together and that image represents the efforts of each soul carrying its cross with the help of the Savior. That final look that Simon gives Jesus after he has finished helping Him, represents the longing of every soul to have a deeper relationship with the Lord after coming face to face with Him. It was through carrying the cross that Simon came to have a desire to have an intimate relationship with Jesus much like that of the soul who longs to know Christ better in the midst of suffering.

16) Notice in the Garden of Gethsemane scene when Judas denies Jesus that the Lord never takes His eyes off of him when he denies Him. The Lord never takes His eyes off of Judas even when Judas runs away. That is representative of the Lord's own relationship with us. Jesus never takes His eyes off of us when we deny Him or turn away from Him. What do you think of those? God bless.

-- Sonya (johnsonya2003@hotmail.com), April 02, 2004

Answers

Very beautiful - amazing. God truley has given us everything ! When you think of all the grace .. in what Jesus did for each of us and what he still does.. Blessed be the Holy Trinity - Father, Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit with Our Lady, Mary, mother of God !

Thanks Sonya !

-- Dora W (dvw28@hotmail.com), April 03, 2004.

WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL. I am going to print it out and keep it!

-- Gail (rothfarms@socket.net), April 03, 2004.

sonya, they are all good, but i had a contention with number 3:

3) There was a discussion about the Agony in the Garden scene. Fr. Sean brought up the idea that the reason Jesus suffered in the Garden was because that is the moment He took on sin for us. St. Paul says that God the Father made Jesus to be sin. This is the moment when it happens in the Garden. Since Jesus is the Son of God and God is pure love, taking on the sin of the world, yours and mine, the sin of a Hitler, a Stalin, a Genghis Kahn, etc., was an excruciating experience for Him. At that moment, pure Love was forced to coexist with the evil effect of sin in the agony Jesus experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane.

theologically and historically speaking we can see that indeed Jesus did NOT take on the sins of man to himself. In fact, it is an itegral fact that Jesus was pure at the time of his death. The idea that Jesus somehow became covered in our sins is a recent fallacy started by the protestants.

I'll start historically: In order to attempt to pay God for their sins, the jews would sacrifice a lamb. Why a lamb? Lambs are animals, as such they cannot sin. Furthermore, they are incable of being an immoral creature. They represent a sacrifice of something pure in order to pay for sin. Jesus is the Lamb of God. Ultimately pure. Jesus' sacrifice was likewise pure in that it was complete innocence being offered up for the sins of man. That is the redeeming grace of the crucifixion

2) Jesus could have no sin on Him, be it committed by himself or anyone else. Being God, (pure good) there could be no sin. Furthermore, the theological arguements for a pure sacrifice show that this would be the case. Also, there are many verses calling Jesus the pure sacrifice or the Lamb of God (the sacrifice so pure that only God could give it to man).

So, if Jesus is going through agony in the garden, why? Jesus was fully man. As such he could feel pain and torture just as any other man. If you watched the rest of the movie, you know what Jesus went through. being divine, Jesus knew ahead of time the pain and torture he would be going through. The agony in the garden is also scriptural. the pain that Jesus felt, however, was blessed, in that every ounce of it went to our salvation.

-- paul h (dontSendMeMail@notAnAddress.com), April 03, 2004.

Thanks for your responses. I looked up where my friend got the info at and I think it is at: http://members4.boardhost.com/cathtelecom/msg/128507.html

A Fr. Rob sent them to a discussion board at CN CathNews, but I didn't realize that. I have posted a question to him on what he means by number 3, because I didn't really understand it. Paul, you seem to know a lot.

God bless you. Thanks again.

-- Sonya (johnsonya2003@hotmail.com), April 03, 2004.

Wow, I am so impressed. I, too, am going to print this out and pass it on to my friends.

I do have a question about the cleaning up of the blood in the Jewish tradition ("Because there is life in the blood")? What do they do with the blood once it is collected, and what did they do with the instruments once they were collected, the nails, hammer, thorns, etc..do these things get buried with the dead?

-- MaryLu (mlc327@juno.com), April 03, 2004.

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5: 21)

"For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:3)

Here are two Bible verses that go along with number 3. Paul, if you would like, could you explain a little more about what these verses mean in the Catholic way. I am still trying to understand what Saint Paul means by saying Jesus was in the "likeness of sinful flesh and for sin" and then because of this "he condemned sin in the flesh". The Father made Jesus "to be sin who knew no sin".

Paul you said that Jesus didn't take on our sins because Jesus couldn't be pure and still take on our sins? It would be too contradictary, right? I really am asking a question in a calm manner, not in sarcastic way. Thanks for being patient with me.

Fr. Sean said that He did take on our sins and pure love was still pure, but forced to coexist with evil.

I really do want to understand, but sometimes these thing confuse me. So if Father had said that Jesus was not pure, than this would be a fallacy? Since he said he was still pure and took on sin, is it o.k.?

God bless. Sorry it was so long, but ever since I wrote on that other forum, I really haven't got in touch with Father Rob. It has been on my mind and it really is driving me crazy. I don't know why, but it is. I really want to learn the whole truth.

-- Sonya (johnsonya2003@hotmail.com), April 04, 2004.

Apart from being a magnificent explanation of things we see in the movie I think these commentaries will help people to reflecto on the meaning of the Passion in their lives.

Sonya: you write:

The Father made Jesus "to be sin who knew no sin".

The way I see it maybe could be explained with an example from daily life. Suppose that some criminal is condemned by a judge to go to jail for a year for some crime committed, but in the court there is an honest man who offers himself to go to jail instead of the criminal. Once again suppose the judge accepts this generous offer and sets free the criminal and sends the the honest man to jail instead. Could we say that the innocent man "juridically" was made a criminal, even though his innocence is known to everyone. Of course I know the proverb that all comparisons are lame, but perhaps this could help us understand what happened. Our sins were "juridically" laid upon Jesus without any stain of evil for Him. Could we say in that case that Jesus becomes "sin" without knowing no sin? Our sins were really forgiven by the Father and they were not just "covered" by Jesus' Sacrifice.

Your commentaries will be very welcome.

Enrique

-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), April 04, 2004.

yes, enrique, that would be a better way of explaining it.

without having sin on him, he took on the penalty of our sin. that is a most appropriate way to describe it. God was never not pure, nor was Jesus. The idea is that he was in the LIKENESS of sinful flesh (a human body) but not THE SAME AS. this presence of human death as a pure sacrifice for all is what saves us. Just as it was believed that a lamb could be made to pay the penalty for the sins of people, so Jesus, the True Lamb could pay our penalty of sin.

-- paul h (dontSendMeMail@notAnAddress.com), April 04, 2004.

Yes, I understand. However, I was just trying to ask if Father Sean had said that Jesus was impure in number 3, or was he trying to say what you are saying in a different way? After all he does say that Jesus coexisted with evil yet was still "pure love".

-- Sonya (johnsonya2003@hotmail.com), April 04, 2004.

well, he may have been trying to say the same thing, but he missed by a landslide

there was no "Coexistance" with evil. Its more like "coexisted" with the guilt of our evil. Jesus was not just pure love, He was absolutely pure, but bore the GUILT of our sin, not the sin itself.

-- paul h (dontSendMeMail@notAnAddress.com), April 05, 2004.