cruel whip was for my sake.  Every vicious tear in His flesh, every drop of precious blood that flowed was for my healing.  Every agonizing moment of pain He endured was to secure my peace.  His punishment, my freedom.

My impurities are not beaten out of me; they were beaten out of Him.

God deals with me gently and patiently, always with love.

I can't even fathom the harsh treatment Jesus received in my stead.  He must have cried out in pain, but He never protested.  He never even tried to whisper a plea to the Father, "Stop!  Please stop!"

He would do anything to rescue a lost child.

Me.

You.

~~~~~

3rd Sorrowful Mystery:  The Crowning with Thorns

"They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.  And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!"  Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him.  Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him.  And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him.  Then they led him out to crucify him."  Mark 15:17-20

The fruit of the mystery is moral courage.

Humiliation, in one form or another, is part of the package.  It is only avoidable if we decide to deny Christ.  Every single day, we'll be presented with moments of choice:  either choose Christ and risk mockery and scorn, or deny Him and remain safe, comfortable, hidden.

In a shallow culture that reveres only the self and demands tolerance of all things while it is bitterly intolerant of Christ and His Church, we can't play both sides.

If we're truly following Jesus, we are going to be mocked.  We will be the object of scorn and ridicule.  We are going to be attacked as closed-minded, oppressive, backward, intellectually-stunted, bigoted, fanatical.  We're going to be hated and persecuted.  If we're not being treated as such, perhaps we'd better re-examine our lives and our faith.  If we don't stand out from the world, then we could be in serious trouble.

It will cost us dearly sometimes to stand firm in our faith, to go against the current societal tide, to defend the unchanging truth that others dismiss as merely religious belief.  But the Humble Savior listened to the vile mockery spewing from the soldiers' mouths and decided that your soul and my soul was worth the degradation.  He could have silenced them in an instant if He'd wanted, but He loved us - He loved them - so much that He submitted to their abuse quietly.  Like a lamb to the slaughter, He opened not His mouth.

Discipleship will exact a price -- at the very least, humiliation and scorn for His sake.  Someday it might even cost our lives.  But what is the cost of the alternative?

~~~~~

4th Sorrowful Mystery: The Carrying of the Cross

"Finally, Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.) John 19:16-17

The fruit of the mystery is perseverance and patience.

He was still standing after a brutal flogging that should have left him dead. His flesh is already mutilated and profusely bleeding, and His body is weak and shaky from the blood loss. Yet somehow, He withstands the pain and keeps going. I wonder if maybe the soldiers, besides being irked, weren't just a little impressed that He was still alive after all they'd done to Him.

Maybe that's why they enlisted some help for Him and made Simon carry the cross the rest of the way to Golgotha. "A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country and they forced him to carry the cross." Mark 15:21

But whether Jesus could walk or not, they were determined in their cause. Nothing was going to stop them from their final goal of execution.

Jesus persevered. So did Satan.

Satan was every bit as determined as Jesus that day and he was getting plenty of help from those blood-thirsty Roman soldiers. In this battle between Love and Evil, it was beginning to look like Satan would prevail.

Thus far he had succeeded in shredding Jesus' body and utterly humiliating Him. Not a bad day's work for a fallen angel.

(Ah, but things are not as they seem! Evil was about to be soundly, eternally defeated.)

I wonder if perhaps it was tempting for Jesus to just lie down on the dirt road and die right there. Completely sapped of strength and in agonizing pain, I wonder if He was tempted by the thought, "I can't take another step."

How many times have I had that thought? It seems to me that ...
- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Rosary, Sorrowful mysteries, suffering, death, crucifixion, sin, mercy, Jennifer Hartline

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