Christ: King and Victim
April 23, 2011 | XXXVII.Grace: A deep desire to have sorrow and compassion for Jesus, to suffer with Him because He is going to His Passion for me.
Text for Prayer: Mt. 27:27-50
Reflection: In today’s passage from Matthew’s Gospel, we are confronted by the scandal of a God who stoops so low as to allow Himself to be stripped naked before a crowd of soldiers, whipped and wounded without mercy, and then hung up on a tree to die.
Through all of this, what causes Jesus the most pain? Is it the physical suffering, which approaches the very limit of all that a human body can take before falling unconscious? Is it the shame of being completely naked before a host of one’s enemies, of feeling entirely vulnerable and helpless? Is it the pain of being abandoned by one’s closest friends, a group of men who all promised their unwavering fidelity only a few hours before?
Posted by Mr. Michael Wegenka, S.J. in XXXVII.