At the risk of showing my age, I was in the seventh grade at Holy Name School in Windsor Terrace when I saw on VHS (remember that video format?) a film which, I believe, speaks for almost every person of my generation — John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club.

The film, which launched the careers of the “Brat Pack,” including Molly Ringwald and Emilio Estevez, was the example par excellence of teenage angst. These five very different youngsters were all placed in detention for various infractions in their local high school, which was set, as were almost all of John Hughes’ films, in Shermer, Illinois. These young teens were self-characterized as a “brain, a beauty, a jock, a criminal, and a basket case.” To use one of the film’s advertisement taglines: “Before the day was over, they broke the rules, bared their souls, and touched each other in a way they never dreamed possible.”

As maudlin and saccharine as that may sound today, for the 12- and 13-year old set, this was deep, rich drama. To use yet another of the film’s taglines, these teens were “Five strangers with nothing in common, except each other.”

What also united them was the fact that they came to the realization that everything that was wrong with them was ultimately not their fault! It was, of course, the fault of their teachers and their parents. As someone who now serves as a teacher, as someone who works daily in what Pete Townsend of The Who has called “teenage wasteland,” I have heard the sentiments echoed even in this new millennium by some of the young men whom I teach and work with in formation.

When I do hear these sentiments, I turn immediately and ask if the young person with whom I am speaking can take responsibility for anything that has happened in his life. Are all the problems caused by the oppressive authority of teachers and parents? Often, the young person will be open and honest enough to respond that at least part of the blame lies with himself.

The Gospel which we proclaim this day with which the Lord has blessed us, the only Sunday Gospel in which we hear of the physical Passion of our Lord, Jesus Christ, to me exemplifies the “Breakfast Club” mentality. By this phrase, I mean the total, complete failure to accept personal responsibility for anything.

Who is to blame for the suffering and death of the Savior of the world? Judas turns Jesus over to the Jewish religious authorities. They in turn hand Him over to the Roman governmental authorities and Pontius Pilate, whose wife warned him not to get involved, washed his hands literally of the whole affair and tries to let the crowd decide who will live and who will die. Each of the Apostles of the Lord runs away; they’re also to blame for not defending the innocent Lamb of God. To further exemplify my point, Judas even tries to give the 30 pieces of silver back, but the chief priests want no part of it! Even they consider it to be “blood money.”

This is a vicious little game of “hot potato” and no one will admit to being the one who has placed the Lord Jesus on the Cross. Who is to blame? Who hung Him on the Cross? Is it Pilate? Is it the Pharisees and the Scribes? Is it Annas and Caiphas and the Sanhedrin? Is it Judas? Is it Peter and the other cowardly Apostles?

The answer to all of the above questions is YES! It is all of them and, ultimately, it is us!

It is for “us men and our salvation” that Christ took up that cross. It is for us that Christ fell three times in the rocky and dusty streets. It is for us that Christ was battered, broken, bloodied, bruised at the hands of the Jewish Temple Guards and the Roman Centurions. It is for us that the nails pierce His hands and feet, that the spear rips open His side. It is our sins that Christ bears. It is our inequities which He carries. However, most importantly, it is by His wounds we have been healed.

Each and every one of us is a sinner, in little ways and in great. Each and every one of us is in need of the mercy and forgiveness of Christ. Do we recognize this fact? Do we embrace this fact? Do we seek out the healing grace offered to us by Christ the Divine Physician in the great Sacrament of Reconciliation? Do we live as men and women created in the image and likeness of Christ, sinners reconciled, justified and sanctified?

This Passion Sunday offers us a remarkable opportunity for self-reflection and growth. It can offer us two great realizations for our spiritual life: first, God is God, we’re not God and thank God for that, and second, we are all sinners in need of the loving embrace offered to us by Christ on the Cross. Christ knows our sinfulness; He also knows our worth. May we have the courage, strength and peace of mind to live in thanksgiving for the Passion of the Christ.