On the Threshold

(Originally published in The Catholic Register, http://www.catholicregister.org, March 25, 2018)

By Glen Argan

Nicodemus is the organization man who realizes his organization does not have the answers. So, he looks further afield. You are not supposed to do that, but he does it anyway. His heart hungers for more than arid policies, and what do you know, but he finds that something more.

The sub-plot of Nicodemus story comes to a beautiful conclusion in St. John’s Passion read every year on Good Friday. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea assume responsibility for the burial of Jesus’ body, and Nicodemus lavishes that body with 45 kilograms of myrrh and aloes.

Jesus, John tells us, was crucified at the Place of the Skull, a stark, desolate place on a barren hillside. Suddenly, after Jesus’ death, after the blood and water have run from his side, there emerges a garden with a new tomb…