Archives
May 18, 2010
The Mysteries of Sorrow
The Agony in the Garden
The Scourging at the Pillar
The Crowning with Thorns
The Carrying of the Cross
The Crucifixion
THE CRUCIFIXION
Our Lady will give us a deeper understanding of the crucifixion through the five Mysteries of Sorrow.
“Then going out He went, as was His custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed Him.”
Luke 22:39
DURING Jesus’ public life, He often took the road less traveled and did the unexpected. Jesus had multiplied five barley loaves into a banquet for thousands. When His grateful guests called Him their Christ and their king, Jesus slipped away to a mountain alone. In Mark’s gospel, the crowds exulted and children sang as Jesus rode on an ass into Jerusalem. But even though the stones were ready to break out in Hosannas, Jesus would not be a king. Yet in Gethsemane, at the mercy of those with murder in their hearts, Jesus is content to let the crowd have its way with Him.
Deliberately, Jesus tried to show His followers that success in this life was not His goal. He never gained material things as a result of doing God’s will.
II. THE SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR
“Again Pilate addressed them, still wishing to release Jesus, but they continued their shouting.”
Luke 23:20
JESUS had come to preach to Israel’s lost sheep, but His good news was for the Gentiles as well. And from the beginning, their lives touched. The prophet Isaiah tells us “a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse.” King Herod directed pagan Magi to His birthplace. Exiled from Jewish Palestine, the Christ Child hallowed Egypt by His hidden presence. Jesus found no faith in Israel like the ready trust of a Roman centurion; and while His brethren sought to kill Him, a Gentile woman begged His mercy. But in Christ’s Passion, Pilate, with a coward’s strange logic, declared, “I find no fault in Him, therefore will I scourge Him.”
Jesus was a failure in everybody’s eyes, except His Father’s. Jesus wanted only to be true to what God the Father expected of Him. Who do I choose to impress by my actions?
III. THE CROWNING WITH THORNS
“Pilate handed Jesus over to them to deal with as they wished.”
Luke 23:25
JESUS knew the end was near. The road had been long and filled with disappointments. Remember how He was received in His hometown. “Impudent son of Joseph!” He continuously warned His disciples to beware and to expect the same fate that awaited Him. He even said, “Woe upon you, when men speak well of you!” It was too much for this world that God should walk among us. Sceptered, robed and crowned, the captive King of the Jews sat enthroned on the praetorium pavement while the cohort bowed low before Him and spat at His face.
My days are also filled with disappointments. But I am not alone. Jesus stands with me as others mock me.
IV. THE CARRYING OF THE CROSS
“They pressed into service a passerby Simon, a Cyrenian.”
Mark 15:21
WERE his opponents pleased by the sight of this tortured man? Surely the Pharisees must have recalled the day when Jesus proclaimed His great challenge: “Will you be on My side? Then take up the cross and follow after Me.” And now, “This man who lays a heavy burden on other men’s backs” – the Pharisees, often accused of this crime by Jesus, must have taunted Him with His own words as Simon seized the heavy cross – “and will not lift a finger to carry it Himself!”
How we can turn words around and make them mean what was never intended? Jesus help me curb my tongue.
V. THE CRUCIFIXION
“At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.”
Mark 15:33
AS the world judges, Jesus was defeated. Betrayed and deserted by His friends; declared a criminal and crucified with two revolutionaries. His miraculous powers hushed, His good name gone, even His clothing snatched away; thrown against the cross while Pharisees made crude remarks about nailing the carpenter to His wood; hoisted up for all to laugh at; giving His Mother away; then feeling abandoned by His Father; and while the black fires of hell overshadowed Him, Jesus Christ died.
When the trials of my life cause me to feel abandoned by those who love me and by God, help me to remember Jesus is always with me.