Category: study

The Scourging At The Pillar

On 2022-03-16

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; ⁹and 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

Lenten Reflection – 2022

By Mr. Mark Connolly, OP

On 2022-02-28

In Lent, Reflections, study

A 6 part series

BY: Mr. Mark Connolly, OP

I am writing this on Fat Tuesday. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and so I decided to do a personal Lenten reflection by doing a deep dive into the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. Since Lent is focused on Christ’s Passion, and the Sorrowful Mysteries are about Christ’s Passion, it just seemed to make sense. (Well, actually the Triduum is focused on the Passion and Lent leads into it. So, in preparation for the Triduum…)

I plan on an introduction (this post) and the 5 mysteries as subsequent posts, The Agony in the Garden, The Scourging at the Pillar, The Crowning with Thorns, The Carrying of the Cross, and finally the Death of Our Lord.

Have you ever wondered why the mysteries of the Rosary are called mysteries? What do we think of when we hear the word mystery? Usually, it depends on the context. In a mystery novel, we know that something has happened but the explanation is hidden. The hero/detective, a very observant and rational person, slowly figures out what is hidden through research and careful consideration of clues. In the best mystery novels, the clues are there for us as well as the detective in the novel, and when he or she figures it out, we think, “Ah hah!” and it all makes sense. Mystery solved. The key point is this: We know there is an answer, we know that the mystery can be solved. And, we enjoy the search and discovery. I think in the most successful mysteries, we figure it out at the same time as the protagonist, and when all the pieces fit together we feel satisfied and think, “That was a good mystery.”

When we think of mystery in the context of religion, we generally have a different experience. We hear or read something that we don’t understand, and when we ask about it, all too often we are told, “Well, it’s a mystery.” By this is meant, “I don’t know either, we can’t figure it out, we shouldn’t try to figure it out, so just accept it on faith.”

But, isn’t this dissatisfying? Why can’t we get answers to our religious questions? Why can’t they be solved? Are we really supposed to just turn off our brains and accept things on faith? This seems dangerous to me, but mostly it just seems wrong. If there is Truth with a capital T, shouldn’t we strive for understanding?

Now, don’t get me wrong, there is a hiddenness to reality. Let’s face it. Reality is mysterious. We probe reality—this is a defining human characteristic, and this is what drives all discovery—the desire to know, and equally, to understand.

And what do we want to know, what do we want to understand? While our minds and hearts are young, the answer to that question is “Everything.” But as we get older, we begin to suspect something troubling, something maybe even a bit scary.

Reality is too big.

Some are defeated by the fact that all of reality is beyond their grasp and stop questing. Losing their child-like wonder at the world, they live with a vague sense of loss and a certain weariness. Jaded and cynical, they dissipate themselves with idle diversions and ask, “What is the point?”

So, what is the point?

The point is just this: There is a point.

While we will never have complete grasp of the mystery that is life, we can always know and understand more. We can read the mystery book of life, and begin to see the clues. Rather, we can intentionally participate in this mystery. And while we may not figure it all out until the end of the story, we can always know more tomorrow than we do today.

Some recognize that this desire to know everything is simply the desire to know God. They understand that while reality is what we must work with, reality isn’t the goal.

Reality is the clue.

Mystery is the subject of knowledge. Mystery, the kind of religious mystery that we are talking about here, is not so different from that of a mystery novel. The clues are there, they need to be studied. Rather, they need to be lived. For in this particular mystery, we are not reading about characters. We are the characters.

As is always the case with mystery, the fact of mystery is the first clue. What do I mean by that? Oddly, mystery is in some ways self-revealing. It announces its presence, it says,

We will never be aware of all the mysteries, we will never see all the clues, but that’s OK. We can work with the clues we have, the ones we see in a sunset and find in the spring thaw, and the ones we have been given through Revelation. We can pursue these clues, study them, and hope to have those “Aha!” moments when we suddenly understand some piece of the grand and glorious Mystery of our lives. And what is this mystery? It is the Mystery of who we are in relation to God—it is the Mystery of Salvation. And it is this Mystery that is the subject of the Rosary.

The Rosary offers several mysteries for our consideration. Think of them as clues, insights into Revelation, insights into reality. Traditionally there have been 15 mysteries, three sets of five, known as the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries. These mysteries date back at least 400 years. In brief, they in turn focus our attention on the Incarnation, the Passion, and The Resurrection of our Lord. In 2002, Pope St. John Paul II offered a fourth set, the Luminous mysteries. These mysteries focus on Christ’s public ministry, aka the Gospel.

Succinctly, these four sets of mysteries offer us opportunities for meditations and contemplations on the birth of Christ, the life of Christ, the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ. As Jesus is God made Man, they also offer us an opportunity to reflect on our own birth, our own life, our own death and our own resurrection. And in solidarity with our fellow man, we can enter into the births, lives, deaths, and yes, the resurrections of our family and friends. One more thought on mystery and knowledge: there is no theoretical limit to how much we can know. And, if to know someone is to love someone, then there is no theoretical limit to how much we can love God. Yet the question remains, “How can we know God?” The answer is obvious when you understand it—we can know God because he has revealed Himself to us.

He has revealed Himself to us.

Join me, if you will, and over the next 5 weeks we will dig into the Passion of Our Lord, beginning with next week’s post: The Agony In The Garden.

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As Dominicans we contemplate and bring the fruits of our contemplation to those we know. I don’t know about you, but my contemplation is helped by the thoughts of others. Please share your thoughts in the Comments.

Four Causes, Four Pillars

By Mr. Mark Connolly, OP

On 2021-04-16

In study

A Fullness of Description

How can we know Love.” “Let me count the ways.”

(ST. ALBERT THE GREAT PRIORY – Irving) If you want to give someone a complete description of something, what kind of information do you need to provide? You would want to make sure you explained what it was for, right? But is that enough? If you say, “This thing is used to hold other things,” have you fully explained it? You could be talking about a basket, a hook, a drawer, a cupboard, a wallet, a bowl, etc.

What if you simply described its shape. “This thing is roughly a square, with an empty area, it has wheels and a sort of handle that you use to direct it.” Ok, that could be a shopping cart, a rolling suitcase, a car, or a wagon. Or maybe something else.

What if you wanted to emphasize what it is made out of? You could say, “This thing is made of metal.” But, why metal and not some other material. Does it matter if it is wood or sugar or ice or reeds or plastic? Maybe, maybe not.

What if you explained that it was made by a line worker at the local factory? Is that important? Does it matter where it was made? What if you need to make one? Do you need to understand how it was made?

The Four Causes:
The notion of Four Causes arises from Aristotle’s efforts to explain change, which is part of a different topic involving Act and Potency, and which we need not explore at present. But, as Aristotle worked out how to account for change, he developed these Four Causes. Please note, he uses the term “cause” in a broader sense than most of us do today. We can gain some insight by using the term “explanations” or “descriptions” along with “causes.” You can also think of “cause” as that which answers the question, “Why?” or “How?”

I described these four causes in the beginning of this article though I did not designate them as such. They are, Formal (loosely, what is it’s shape, what form does it take), Material (what is it made of), Efficient (how it came to actually exist), and Final (why it was made, what it does.)

N.B. The formal cause is easily overlooked because it seems obvious. If you want to carry things, you obviously need something shaped in a way that will carry them. Also we are not used to thinking of a shape as a cause. Yet, when we describe something, its form is part of a complete description.

The object I have in mind is in fact a shopping cart. I want an actual thing that is well made for holding things and moving them about easily, and which can do so over and over again reliably. This is the Final Cause. This is why it is in the shape of a lidless box with wheels, the Formal Cause. To be reusable and sturdy it is to be made of steel and rubber, the Material Cause. And then in some manner it needs to come into existence, which is the Efficient Cause.

You may have noted that I began my description of this thing with its Final Cause. That’s because when someone is going to make something, they start with an end in mind. There is a Greek word, “telos”, which means “end”, “purpose”, or “goal”. The study of ultimate ends is called teleology.

The end of something just is the reason it was made. So, when you need to make something, you start at the end, that is to say, you have in mind, before you start, the purpose of the device, the goal you mean to achieve by making this thing. You have in mind what the final product of your efforts will be.

This end or final cause then leads to the formal cause. We have to figure out how best to carry a large amount of products and move them about easily. The formal cause next determines what material cause is needed in order to have something sturdy, reliable and reusable. And then we need the efficient cause, we have to figure out how to make it, or hire someone to make it for us, so that we can in fact have it.

Consideration of things in the context of the Four Causes is a very useful way to explore the world. Why was this made? Why was it made in this shape? Why was it made from these materials? How did it come to be made? Because I am a Lay Dominican I am driven to apply this Aristotelian/Thomistic world view to, well, almost everything. And so why not apply to Dominican Spirituality?

The Four Pillars:
Dominican Spirituality is best described by the Four Pillars. They are Prayer, Study, Preaching, and Community. We have a framework here that can be set in terms of the Four Causes. Dominican Spirituality has as its goal The Beatific Vision, Communion with God. This is a precise way of saying “salvation.”

The Formal Cause is Prayer. It is what Communion looks like. In order to commune with God we have to communicate with God. Seem obvious? Remember, I said the formal cause is easy to overlook because it seems obvious. Prayer is the shape of Dominican Spirituality.

The Material Cause is Study. Can you truly commune with (love) someone you don’t know? We study and contemplate what we have studied so that we can more fully know God that we may more perfectly love God. Study is the raw material of Dominican Spirituality.

The Efficient Cause is Preaching. We take our prayer and our study and we bring forward the fruits of our contemplation to build up our Community, both Dominican and our extended community, the family of man. Preaching is how we make Dominican Spirituality.

The Final Cause is Community. Communion with God and Man. Our Dominican Community prepares us for Communion with God. It is the proper goal of all legitimate spiritualities. Union with God is the End or Purpose of Dominican Spirituality.

Mark C. is a permanently professed Lay Dominican and our Treasurer.

On Knowledge…

By Roy Johnston

On 2019-07-20

In Lay Dominican, Reflections, study

Gaining Knowledge

How does a good Catholic gain knowledge? What, in that case, is knowledge. There is a lot of data. Is having lots of data the same as having lots of knowledge? Am I going to answer any of these questions?

Let’s play with koans. Koans are a Zen Buddhist thing. No, I am not Thomas Merton blending and confusing mysticisms. Koans are a tool used by Zen monks to test their apprentices. They are designed to challenge the status quo, to instill a doubt, to possibly confuse. We don’t like confusion. Our natural inclination is to seek a resolution,and sometimes this creates the environment for a breakthrough.

Probably the one everyone has heard is, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”

Not all koans are questions. One koan goes something like this: “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.”

I seem to gravitate to the statement version. I made some up. You should try it, it’s fun!

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him think.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach him to think and he will always be hungry. (At least, I think I made that up. When I google searched it, it came back with me.)
Give a man a book of zen koans with answers if you hate him.

Data is data, not knowledge. If you just give someone the answers, you specifically teach them not to think. But we have rational souls, and the best teachers teach you to think. And why should we think? To know truth.

The value of a zen koan consists in the relationship between the master and the student. It’s not a test, per se. It is a challenge to one’s mind. The right challenge at the right time is the genius of the master. One may never be asked if they can describe the sound of one hand clapping because the master may not find that particular koan useful for this particular student. That a book exists with the “answers” is both funny and sad.

In some traditions, a student is given one thought to ponder for the rest of his life. It makes sense, if everything is in fact interrelated. So, what does he do for the rest of his life if he finds the answer one day in the stacks at a library?

I will wager that some of the best and most productive koans have been lost to history because they were developed on the spot by the master for a specific student, and then were set aside.

And probably many glimpses of truth simply go unrecognized or are just ignored.

Here is a koan: “I am to be crucified. Follow me.”

*All posts are the thoughts and expressions of the original author. Please do not cite, copy, or share without their express permission. The views expressed in this post are the author’s alone.*