The Second Sorrowful Mystery ~ The Scourging at the Pillar

 

Father Karl Rahner, S.J. wrote that angels are the entourage of Jesus. Angels filled the night sky when Jesus was born. Angels ministered to Jesus at the end of his desert-fasting and in the Garden of Gethsemane. Angels announced Jesus' Resurrection to the Myrrh-Bearing Women and called the apostles to attention at the Ascension.

In this image five angels surround Jesus.We see the wounds of his hands, side and head clearly. The wounds of his back are hidden from us, but the angels have seen and know. They have covered Jesus' back to comfort him. The cloth is white on the outside and blood-red underneath.

G.K. Chesterton wrote, Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair. We can read the account of the Scourging at the Pillar in Matthew 27:27-31

Our Father, Who art in heaven...

Pilate has Jesus beaten and whipped severely, hoping this will satisfy the people's lusts. Am I a compromiser? Then I am no better off than Pilate, who couldn't stand by Jesus bravely.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Pilate doesn't believe that Jesus is guilty. He is a coward, intent on saving his own skin: his safety, power, position. He hands Jesus over to death. How far do I go, Pilate-like, to protect myself?

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Scourging was an official part of a man's execution. It was used to weaken a criminal and speed up his death. Here, a prophecy is fulfilled, and Jesus suffers alongside those who endure every kind of violence and degradation.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

This scourging at the pillar officially begins the process of Jesus' crucifixion. It has a saving value. And Jesus expects me to carry my own cross alongside him. Often his cross-carrying is fearsome. But I can't have Jesus without the cross.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

The exhausted Jesus is abused by furious soldiers who are sadistic bullies. Some men died from this beating. I must simply look and not turn away. Oh Jesus, that I would be less fearful of what God asks of me.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

This scene is all about power. Jesus asks me to divest myself of power, except love's power, which washes feet and shares burdens.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

There is a great loneliness in this scourging scene. No friends, no family nearby. Jesus understands what it is to be all alone. I might consider those who suffer the loneliness of slavery, prison, hospice, exile, refugee camp, orphanage.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

We have turned God's paradise into a human slaughterhouse. And am I to think that we don't deserve punishment for all of this blasphemy? But God spares us the punishment as Jesus takes it upon himself in love. How ridiculous, some might say. The things of  love are often incomprehensible, aren't they?

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Pope Paul VI said that the world's great sin is that it has lost all sense of sin. We're afraid to announce sin anymore - it might hurt someone's self-esteem. But it was my sin that tied Jesus, whipped Jesus, crowned him with thorns, spat at him, gave him vinegar to drink and nailed him to the cross. Pride has to be dropped to understand this.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

In silence I stand with those who watched Jesus being shredded with sharp whips. This is reason for me to hate sin and to love virtue. And I will imitate these virtues of Jesus: getting free of resentment, anger and harsh judgments, and the opening of my heart.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Glory be to the Father...



Wild Strawberry ~ Fruitfulness of Mary



The First Sorrowful Mystery - The Agony in the Garden

The apostles are sleeping in the darkness somewhere, a stone's throw, from Jesus. The full Passover moon and the angel keep Jesus company in his grief. Jesus is wearing red, so we can find him in the night's darkness, but also to signify his bleeding for us. Doesn't the Red Cross have a saying: Give the gift of life; give blood. Here Jesus' gift of life-blood is beyond our comprehending.

This consoling angel appears with a towel over the left arm, a towel to absorb Jesus' blood, sweat and tears. Until the 1960's the priest wore a vestment at Mass over his arm called a maniple. It signified a handkerchief or waiter's towel. The maniple was eliminated in the name of modern simplicity. But in putting it on, the priest was reminded to take the world's tears and sufferings with him to the altar.

The account of the Jesus' prayer and arrest in Gethsemane can be found in Matthew26:36ff; Mark 14:32ff; Luke 22:39ff and John 18:1ff  ~  (ff means and what follows).

Our Father, Who art in heaven...

The gospels tell us that when Jesus prayed in the garden, he knelt. Kneeling says silently, God, you are God, not I. The humility of Jesus!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Jesus asked the apostles to pray with him in the garden. He knows they will be tempted to lose faith in him when they see him arrested and abused. But they fall asleep. And I?

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Jesus is God; equal to the Father. But as a man he needs to pray. In his terrible sorrow and suffering, Jesus speaks to the Father in intimacy. He see everything he will suffer. He sees the world's sin. I want to kneel next to Jesus, reassuring him of my repentance and love.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

The sensitivity of Jesus: he feels the world's abandonment and rejection. He sweats blood. Oh Jesus, sensitize me to the world's sorrow, to the pain of other people.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Not my will, but yours be done. Jesus is utterly abandoned to the Father. His human will is in harmony with God's will. Is there some of this harmony in my own prayer, especially times of difficulty and suffering?

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Judas twists up the sign of respect and affection, the kiss, into a sign of betrayal. But Jesus is gentle and calls him friend. And Jesus calls me friend too. Oh, that I would be a friend to Jesus in truth.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

The garden quickly becomes a place of chaotic violence. But Jesus is in control. An arresting soldier has his ear cut off. Jesus restores and heals him. Imagine: healing an enemy!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Jesus goes to the cross in obedience to the Father. He does not allow violence, even in his own defense. This is very difficult for us today. I might begin drawing near to the non-violent Jesus by recognizing and dropping even one of my clutched defenses.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

So often we think in self-pity, I'm having such a hard time of it. Then pray: May the will of God, who is just and loving, be done and fulfilled in me above everything else.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

As there were angels at Bethlehem and in the wilderness where Jesus was tempted, now I see an angel who comforts Jesus in the loneliness of the night-time garden. God's consolation and help are near to me always. Many people feel this deeply!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Glory be to the Father...

Lily of the Valley ~ Mary's Tears

The Fifth Joyful Mystery ~ Finding the Young Jesus in the Temple

This scene of Mary and Joseph finding the twelve year old Jesus in the Jerusalem temple is very beautiful on a number of levels. These men arranged on Jesus left and right are Israel's teachers and scholars. They seem to be listening to Jesus. But the gospel is clear, Jesus is asking them questions. Jesus always asks questions throughout the gospel. Questions draw us out and cause us to reflect. Jesus is quite animated; maybe he's asking them something about God they have never considered before.

To the left of the image we see Joseph and Mary. Joseph looks kind of tight. Perhaps he's just tired after searching for three days and is annoyed that Jesus doesn't seem to be giving a thought to what they've been through. But Mary is reaching out, slightly inclined and softer. Perhaps she is aware that this loss of three days portends something else; something even more dreadful.

It's good to pause a little while before the image - allowing Jesus, if he so desires, to ask me a question or two. Not questions about what I've done wrong, but questions that come from a place of deep concern for my welfare and the things that are on my mind.

I can read the account of Mary and Joseph finding the young Jesus in Luke 2:41-52.

Our Father, Who art in heaven...

To live on this planet is sometimes to lose. I can lose sleep, lose a friend, lose an opportunity, lose sobriety, lose virginity, lose a loved one to death, lose the house, lose my health. I can feel as if I'm losing my mind. Pity the person, pity the world...no, pity me, when I lose Jesus.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

How human this scene is. Mary and Joseph have been looking frantically for Jesus over three days. But in joy they find him again. And I can find him again too. Actually he has been looking for me all the while. I must simply pick up my head and see!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Sometimes Jesus may withdraw from my soul a bit, but never in anger. He wants that I will search for him diligently, so that my love for him will grow.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

When Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the temple, Jesus said, Didn't you know I had to be about my Father's business? I want to be obedient as God's child too. I will do what God proposes; to be faithful to God, to love him, to grow well.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Jesus isn't teaching in the temple, he's listening to the teachers and asking them questions. Humility means I know I have a lot to learn. I open my ears; I open my heart. I will follow the young Jesus in this humble proposal.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Here in this scene, Jesus is twelve years old. I was twelve once. And in his love, God has brought me to today. And furthermore, God wants to bring me to fullness, restored dignity, maturity and holiness.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Jesus returned to Nazareth with Mary and Joseph. What would it have been like to live with this Holy Family? I will be still now for a moment and consider what message they would have for me today.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

In all the stories of Mary's pregnancy and Jesus' infancy, there's a lot of traveling, by foot or by donkey. And Jesus will travel to Jerusalem at the end and ride a donkey into the ancient city as the conflict with death, sin and fear culminates on the cross.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

People often ask, Did the young Jesus know that he was God? Maybe more importantly we should all ask of ourselves, Do I know that I am God's child? And am I living as God's child?

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Looking for a lost twelve year old in a big city: it is a scene for tears. Mary and Joseph are frantic and sorrowful. Have I ever shed a tear for the times I lost Jesus through my own fault? Or shed tears for our world and its terrible losses?

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Glory be to the Father...

Our Lady's Slippers