Lay Dominicans of Dallas & Fort Worth | Southern Province ~ St. Martin de Porres

Month: March 2022

The Crowning With Thorns

Lent Reflection – Part 4 of 6

BY: Mr. Mark Connolly, OP

I suppose the easiest reflection to pull out of this mystery is the fact that the Roman soldiers were actually crowning Christ the King. We could spend a lot of pious time examining the irony. But, while in the first two mysteries we looked at Christ’s humanity, in this reflection I suggest we take an uncomfortable look at man’s inhumanity.

Our inhumanity.

It was common for the Roman soldiers to humiliate the condemned. They would often pick out a victim from among those sentenced to death and mock and abuse them. Think about the psychology here. No compassion, no empathy. They’re going to die anyway, so you can exercise your petty need for violence, your need for a sense of superiority, comfortable in the firm knowledge there will be no consequences for your actions. And perhaps that inner voice encouraging, “They deserve this.”

Think next about public executions in general, about how hangings were attended by men, women, and children; about how it was a social event, an afternoon’s entertainment with death the main attraction. The crowd dispersing, nodding and commenting to each other, “He got what he deserved.”

(AP File Photo)

Think about the horrific reality of lynching, a sordid thread woven into the tapestry of our country. Think about the jeering and mocking, the spitting and hitting, the deliberate and heightened animosity.

Yeah, but those were other people in other times. Surely we have grown beyond this.

But it is deeper and more insidious. Look at the Roman soldiers jeering at the helpless victim, and think about how many times we have seen someone that is helpless, scared, “not cool”, other, weird, a dork, being humiliated by a mob of people. Perhaps that someone was us.

Or perhaps we were in the crowd.

No way, you say?

Think about the idea of “mean girls” or the bullying by adolescents. The emotional violence on social media, the mob mentality of cancel culture; notice and ponder the figurative spitting and buffeting, jeering and smug self-satisfaction while participating in ruining someone’s life. Perhaps that inner thought, “They deserve this.”

Think now on the mockery of Crowning Christ the King.

Is it not mockery to go to Church, receive our Lord, hail him as king, leave church and continue in our small meannesses and our larger sins? And how many times have we mocked Christ the King only minutes or hours after leaving the confessional? Sing or shout or pray “Hail, King of the Jews,” from one side of our mouth while spitting out the other?

Why this short and ugly meditation? Because it is too easy to look at what the Romans did to Jesus and think, “They, not I.”

Think again.

We are the Romans.

Ponder this deeply for such pondering has resulted in many saints.

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Next: Jesus Carries The Cross

The Scourging At The Pillar

Lent Reflection – Part 3 of 6

BY: Mr. Mark Connolly, OP

Some short observations to start off this reflection. The Joyful Mysteries span approximately 12 years of Jesus’ life. The Luminous Mysteries approximately 3 years. The Glorious about 90 days.

The Sorrowful less than 24 hours.

I got to thinking about this when I was reading the Gospel accounts of the scourging. Here they are:

Then he released for them Barab’bas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

Mt 27:26

So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barab’bas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Mk 15:15

Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him.

Jn 19:1

The account from Luke does not say Pilot had Jesus scourged. Rather it describes him telling the Jewish authorities (twice) that he finds no wrongdoing and that he would have him flogged (or chastised), and then released.

So, I got to thinking about the compressed nature of the Sorrowful Mysteries, and the very minimal mentions of scourging. Why is it that this seeming afterthought in the account of the Passion of Our Lord is one of the Sorrowful Mysteries? I also wondered whether there was a difference between scourging and “chastising” or “flogging”.

Now, there are a lot of things to read about the scourging from sources outside the Bible, including whether or not it was a common practice, technical details as to how it was done, why it was done, etc. But, I did not want to understand why it was done, or how it was done. I wanted to understand, what is the mystery here; what am I supposed to learn and try to understand?

But, I realized that the how and the why are clues. That I would need to study the how and the why as a means to the end of understanding the mystery in this Mystery.

Some things I learned along the way. It is not explicitly stated how many lashes Jesus received. While many refer to Paul’s account in 2 Cor 11:24 of himself receiving “40 lashes less one”, we cannot rely on this. According to Dt 25:1-3, the maximum number stripes that can be given is 40. In order to ensure they did not exceed 40, they typically stopped at 39. An important point to hold in mind is that the 40 lashes were not a prelude to execution. They were a punishment that intentionally spared the life of the person being punished.

But, Jesus was not given lashes by the Jews. The Romans scourged him.

Scourging is to be distinguished from whipping. The scourge would have balls made of lead and bits of bone designed to both bruise and tear flesh down to the bone. In short, it was a savage beating designed to inflict pain and weaken through blood loss. Scourging was the beginning of an execution. People being punished for less than capital crimes were whipped with leather whips or caned with rods; they were not scourged.

Jesus was given the Roman treatment reserved for the very worst criminals. Worthy of note is the fact that Roman citizens could not be scourged. In other words, even a Roman citizen sentenced to death would be spared the humiliation and degradation of scourging.

Jesus was sentenced to death under Roman law, for the crime of insurrection. Crucifixion was used to degrade the criminal, and was a hideous public spectacle designed to deter future enemies of the state.

It is good here to recall some biblical verses:

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

MT 4:8-9

Note, Jesus did not counter that the kingdoms of the world were not Satan’s to give. As prince (ruler) of this world, they were Satan’s to give. Otherwise this temptation would not really be a temptation.

I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me;

Jn 14:30

Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out;

Jn 12:31

A question: Are we citizens of this world, loyal to the prince of this world?

So, what is the mystery in the Mystery of The Scourging At The Pillar?

Understand three things, and then ponder. First, scourging and crucifixion go together, it is a package deal. Second, this sentence of death was imposed on Christ as a non-citizen enemy of the state. This execution is specifically designed to deter people from following Christ. Third, when Christ says, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me,” (Lk 9:23) understand that he is inviting us to insurrection against the devil.

Ask, “Am I a citizen of the State and loyal to the prince of this world?”

The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.

GK Chesterton

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Next: The Crowning With Thorns

The Agony In The Garden

Lent 2022 Reflection – Part 2 of 6

BY: Mr. Mark Connolly, OP

Deep calls to deep at the thunder of thy cataracts; all thy waves and thy billows have gone over me.

Psalm 42:7

As a child, the Agony in the Garden held a special mystery. If Jesus is God, and God knows everything, and is all-powerful, then what was he worried about?

It took many years for me to realize he was not worried. This mystery is not called The Worrier in the Garden. Jesus demonstrated many emotions throughout the Gospels. Anger. Sorrow. Compassion. But never worry.

Ok, so if Jesus is God, and God knows everything, and is all-powerful, then what was He in agony about?

I think the answer to my question is found through the contemplation of the First Sorrowful Mystery. As I mentioned in the introduction to this series, the fact of mystery is the first clue toward understanding the mystery. One of the first things we glean from studying this Mystery is its relation to the mystery of the Incarnation. The Incarnation is God’s response to The Fall. Careful contemplation of the Agony in the Garden will give us some insight into the visceral consequences of that response.

Think about The Incarnation for a moment. Try to think of it as if hearing it for the first time, not having been taught it as a child, not simply accepting an astonishing claim. Let me quote a lengthy passage from GK Chesterton:

We should have a worse shock if we really imagined the nature of Christ named for the first time. What should we feel at the first whisper of a certain suggestion about a certain man? Certainly it is not for us to blame anybody who should find that first wild whisper merely impious and insane. On the contrary, stumbling on that rock of scandal is the first step. Stark staring incredulity is a far more loyal tribute to that truth than a modernist metaphysic that would make it out merely a matter of degree. It were better to rend our robes with a great cry against blasphemy, like Caiaphas in the judgement, or to lay hold of the man as a maniac possessed of devils like the kinsmen and the crowd, rather than to stand stupidly debating fine shades of pantheism in the presence of so catastrophic a claim. There is more of the wisdom that is one with surprise in any simple person, full of the sensitiveness of simplicity, who should expect the grass to wither and the birds to drop dead out of the air, when a strolling carpenter’s apprentice said calmly and almost carelessly, like one looking over his shoulder: ‘Before Abraham was, I am.’

“Everlasting Man” – GK Chesterton

To aid in our study, the readings for the First Sunday of Lent from Cycle A are worth a short review. They can be found here.

Gn 2:7-9; 3:1-7 recounts the Fall. Main points to recall:

  • Adam and Eve were created, man from earth, woman from man.
  • They were tempted by Satan.
  • They fell and were expelled from the Garden.

In Rom 5:12-19, Paul explains the consequences of the Fall, and what is necessary to set things right. Main points to recall:

  • Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin death.
  • Death reigned, even over those who had not sinned through direct disobedience as had Adam.*
  • Just as through the disobedience of one man, the rest were made sinners, through the obedience of one, the many will be made righteous

Mt 4:1-11 tells us of the first temptation of Christ by Satan. Main points to recall:

  • Jesus was led into the desert by The Spirit – to be tested by the devil
  • Hungry, he was first tested with food – a basic human need. Subsequent tests addressed the human need for recognition and power. (It is worth pondering how these human needs are perverted by the Devil.)
  • Jesus sends him away. Luke tells us that Satan left “until an opportune time.” (Lk 4:13)

This is a pretty complete backdrop for the Sorrowful Mysteries, and will be referred to throughout this series.

Back to my original questions, “Why was He in agony?”

First, what is “agony?” The word comes to us from ancient Greek, and means struggle. It is the final struggle of a person at the point of death. The struggle to stay alive.

Consider that Jesus was the first complete human since Adam. After the Fall, all creation was out of balance. But Christ, born of an immaculately conceived woman, born of The Holy Spirit and not sinful Man, was perfect. A man in as complete a union with God as a living human being can be.

How much more attuned would Jesus be to the needs of the body? How much more precious would be the gift of life? The gift of existence? How much stronger the human desire to live?! In his hour of suffering He prays in the Garden to His Father. Abba. He calls him Daddy. Please Daddy, he asks, let this cup pass from me.

Consider that death, brought into the world by sin, is an unnatural state. We all sense this. Most people want to live at all costs. The urge to survive is seen all through nature. How much more would this urge, this need, this yearning, be in someone fully and completely alive?

It is thought that Christ, being God and Man, could have suppressed his human suffering, or simply taken it away. Go through the motions, so to speak, but experience no discomfort.

But what kind of cheap God is that?

Jesus experienced agony because He was fully human. He would die as humans do. He would pay the price. He chose to experience it completely and possibly more fully than any human before him. Add in his divine nature, with foreknowledge of what was about to happen, and you can see, this was no mindless fear due to imagination. This was complete recognition, precognition, of what was to happen.

There is another piece to this. Recall that after Christ was led into the desert, specifically by the Spirit to be tested, he passes the test, and as Luke tells us, the Devil left for an opportune time. That opportune time is in the Garden.

As a side note, Gethsemane, the name of the garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives, means olive press. The place where pressure is put on olives to yield olive oil. The place where Jesus felt so much pressure he sweat blood.

You will recall that Jesus prays in the Garden. Perhaps you missed the same thing I missed all these years until I stopped to consider this mystery deeply. There is more to the request of Jesus than the simple ask to let this cup pass. We see in Lk 22:42-43 that Jesus says “…nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.”

I never recognized this part of his prayer, “not my will, but thine, be done,” as Jesus asking for help. But see how his prayer was answered. Jesus prayed, and his Daddy sent an angel to strengthen him. Just like after his first test in the desert.

In closing this reflection, please consider that Jesus Christ, God made Man, suffered, and when he suffered he asked for help. There is no shame in suffering, no shame in being overwhelmed, no shame in asking for help. Consider that He experienced a complete suffering, mind, body, and soul. When we break our arm, we go to the doctor for help, and we don’t count it as weakness. When we break our union with God, break our souls, if you will, we go to the priest who in the person of Christ repairs that break, and we should not count that as weakness. When we have any brokenness of any kind, we can and should ask for help, and never count it as weakness. Jesus asked for help in his hour of need. So too should we.

Next up: The Scourging At The Pillar

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It is a Dominican practice to contemplate the mysteries of God, and to share the fruits of our contemplation. I hope you found this fruit tasty and good to eat. But I ask for your help. If contemplation is the nurturing and harvesting of this fruit, then the comments and additional thoughts of others are the fertilizer, the water, the weeding. This is part of the pillar of Community. Please help deepen my understanding of this mystery with your comments.

*This will be explored further in the subsequent mysteries.

Invitation to Pray for Peace from fr. Gerard

Dear brothers and sisters:

As we begin the great season of Lent, the Master of the Order, fr. Gerard Timoner, OP, has issued a Lenten message asking us to continue to offer our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving for peace where there is war, unrest, and persecution, particularly for Ukraine, and to remember that we are part of a global Dominican Family.  He also invites us to pray the Litany of Dominican Saints at least once a week until the First Week of Easter.

– Click here to read the Master’s letter
– Click here to view the Litany of Dominican Saints and Blesseds in English (or Latin

In addition, the Polish Dominican friars are working to provide assistance to Ukrainian friars and refugees.  If you’d like to donate, you can donate funds through the Western Dominican Province, who will then transfer the funds to the Polish Dominican Province.  You can help by clicking here: https://opwest.org/ukraine

Grace to you and Peace,
– Mr. Alan Phipps, OP
– Lay Provincial Secretary, Province of St. Martin de Porres

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