This is My Body, Broken for You

These first days of Holy Week confirm: there are some things worth living for, even if we find ourselves having to die for them as well. ~ Joan Chittister

Today is Passion Sunday. It is also my dad’s 78th birthday. This has made me think about these two events together.

First of all, I love both Passion Sunday and my dad. I cannot wait for the long readings, the songs, the palm waving, and the joy that naively permeates this celebration. The church is usually pretty packed tonight.

Many years ago, the pastor of my church gave a superb homily at a spring wedding I attended. He spoke of the marriage covenant as the body of Christ, constantly being broken for the married couple. If we were to think about each decision we make in a shared life, we would see that dying to one’s needs has similarities to the Passion story. He talked about how a woman “breaks” her body to bear a child and how a husband might break his body to provide for his family.

Upon hearing this image, I thought of my father. Dad, shown here with three of us, worked hard for his family. First, as a young man, he left his home, and worked in the mines and in logging camps, exposing himself earlier to hard labour and toxicity that has probably given him Parkinson’s Disease. Later in married life, he worked for a meatpacking company and endured cold temperatures for 25 years, which could well be the cause of his arthritis and hip problems. My dad is physically one of the strongest men I know. I think he could move mountains if he had to if one of us needed him to.

Dad has never been a man to express his love with his words but some days when I look at his broken body, I know that he has used it as a gift for us, much the same way Jesus suffered for us. Dad, without knowing it, has provided me with a model of how to give or serve. There are some things with living for, even if we find ourselves having to die for them.

Happy Birthday, Dad! May the coming year be filled with gentle blessings for you. Thank you for the gift of your life and for the broken body that you have shared.

For those who believe, wave your palm branches well today and be ready to die in the week ahead for that which is most important to you.

Peace,

Suzanne