The Second Sorrowful Mystery
The Scourging
1. Think about the manner in which Jesus was scourged. His chaste body
is stripped by the jeering soldiers, His hands are tied and He is bound
to a pillar. The soldiers come forward with their whips and begin to
beat Him mercilessly. As His blood flows freely to the ground, Jesus
quivers with pain and emits a half-suppressed groan. But fresh
blows continue to rain down on His bruised flesh. So the prophecy is
fulfilled in which Isaias described the punishment of the chosen people,
whose sins and whose chastisement the divine Redeemer has chosen to
take on Himself. “For the sole of the foot unto the top of the head,
there is no soundness therein: wounds and bruises and swelling sores…”
(Isaias 1:6)
By means of this fearful torment Jesus willed to
offer satisfaction in a special manner for the sins of the flesh. In
ancient times sins of impurity provoked the anger of God so much that
they were blotted out by the universal deluge. Now these sins are still
numberless both in the pagan and, unfortunately, in the Christian world,
but they are washed away by the saving blood of Jesus Christ, Who came
on earth to make reparation for all the iniquities of men.
Kiss
the wounds of Jesus, bleeding and suffering. Ask for pardon if you have
on occasions failed to preserve the purity of your body, the dwelling
of your immortal soul and the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit. Resolve to
die rather than stain again with impurity the soul which was redeemed
and sanctified by the precious blood of the Redeemer.
2. The
Saints voluntarily imposed on themselves floggings and other severe
penances, which would make us shudder in modern times, in order to
control their bodily impulses and to expiate along with Jesus the sins
of their fellow-men. Today the pleasure-loving world cries out against
such barbaric folly and extravagance. But you who are a Christian,
educated in the school of Christ crucified, know that suffering has a
mission in your life, that mortification is necessary for the control of
the body.
We must make sacrifices in order to combat our evil
impulses. We should avoid weakness and self-indulgence. Let us always
remember that we are followers of Christ crucified and should therefore
be prepared to chastise our bodies, even to the point of undergoing
martyrdom, if this is necessary in order to avoid sin and to preserve
our chastity.
3. Tradition holds that Mary followed Jesus
through the various stages of His passion. It is impossible to believe
that she would have abandoned Him in these tragic hours. She must at
least have known of the cruel flogging which He endured, and while His
body was being torn by lashes she was, most probably, not far away,
participating by her maternal sorrow in her Son’s torment. Here, then,
was a double martyrdom – the martyrdom of blood and the martyrdom of
tears. Life demands the shedding of blood and the shedding of tears.
What are the motives which cause you sorrow in life? Are yours the
tears of unsated ambition, of frustrated caprice, or of discouragement
in time of trouble? Such tears are not worthy of a Christian. His should
be tears of repentance for his sins and tears of love for Jesus and
Mary.
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