New Passions for an Old Play : Priest’s Commentary Links Christ’s Suffering to Modern Social Ills

Every year on Good Friday, thousands of devout Catholics congregate outside Christ the King church in Oxnard’s neighborhood of La Colonia to watch a re-creation of the trial, torture and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

The Passion play is a grand spectacle, captivating even the most restless teen-agers with graphic portrayals of Roman soldiers whipping Jesus at various stations of the cross.

And the play’s director, Father Jesus Vega, adds his own touch to the performance with a running commentary that draws parallels between the plight of Jesus and a myriad of modern-day social ills.

“It’s the same story over and over again,” Vega said, broadcasting his political message in Spanish. “If Christ were here today he would see so much misery, so much injustice, so many innocent people lost in a war over oil.”

For the past 18 years, 50 or more parishioners have dressed in elaborate costumes to stage the play. The sets are realistic, with three large, wooden crosses for Jesus and the two thieves who are crucified with him and a throne for the Roman magistrate who does him in. The actors follow a careful choreography based on the four Gospels of the Holy Scripture.

The audience has swelled every year, with about 4,000 in attendance on Friday. The overwhelming majority were low-income Latino families--grandmothers with embroidered shawls muttering prayers, fathers carrying children on their shoulders, mothers clutching babies.

“Jesus was condemned unjustly, he had done no wrong,” Vega told the audience. “The people were good, they believed in him, but the high priests were jealous, and one of Jesus’ disciples, Judas, sold out and betrayed them,” Vega said.

“We will see how a lot of bad women sell out too. The high priests bribe them to ask for Jesus’ head and they do,” Vega said. And sure enough, a dozen “bad women” in traditional Arab dress took the stage. They spent the rest of the performance ridiculing Jesus and calling for his death.

“These days, we still have women who sell themselves, selling their bodies to prostitution,” Vega said. “They are bad women that have sold themselves to rich businessmen. They try to trick the men with false, hypocritical words and empty sensations through those 900, dial-a-babe numbers. We must not sell ourselves to them.”

There were “good women” in the play, too. But this group, headed by the Virgin Mary, was smaller and less vocal. For the most part, these women wept.

Pontius Pilate, the Roman magistrate, came out wearing a golden crown and sat down on his throne. “He says he had nothing to do with the crucifixion, but he did,” Vega told the crowd. “He was the authority and if he were just, he would have returned Jesus to the people.”

At first, Pilate couldn’t make up his mind about what to do with Jesus. The high priests whispered in his ear.

“They’re bribing Pontius Pilate,” Father Vega said.

Condemned to die, Jesus is taken away for a beating. While the crowd listened to cracking whips and the cries of Jesus, Vega interpreted the scene: “When we think of the video of that young man who was beaten by the police, of all the poor people that are exploited by the rich, it’s important to remember that Jesus carried himself with dignity and was always full of love.”

A six-block procession followed. Jesus carried his cross while a Roman soldier whipped him. The crowd followed the actors down Cooper Road to the back yard of Our Lady of Guadalupe church, where Jesus was nailed to a cross.

Seizing the moment, Vega invited the faithful to reflect: “We’ve heard about this war in the Gulf. Think about all the hunger, all the misfortune, all the poverty in those lands.”

Finally, Jesus’ dead body was taken from the cross. Some children cried. Jose Estrada, 5, looked away, terrified by the drama of the performance. “I’m scared,” he told his brother Alfonso, 12.

“Don’t worry,” Alfonso told him. “Jesus gets well on Easter Sunday.”