Tag: Rosary

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

The Agony In The Garden

By Mr. Mark Connolly, OP

On 2022-03-09

In Lent, Reflections

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.

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.

The Visitation

By Mr. Mark Connolly, OP

On 2021-12-17

In Advent, Reflections

4th Sunday of Advent

BY: Mr. Mark Connolly, OP

The reading for this coming Sunday is from Luke and is commonly referred to as “The Visitation.” It is in the Visitation that we find the second Joyful Mystery of the Holy Rosary and also part of the prayer known simply as the “Hail Mary.” What can we find in this mystery? Reflection will provide much food for thought. Mary has just been told by Gabriel that her kinswoman, Elizabeth who was called barren, was in her sixth month, “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Lk 1:37). Straightaway Mary hastens to her. And something amazing happens.

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. (Lk 1:39-44)

There is a lot happening here. When Elizabeth heard the greeting, so did her son, John the Baptist. Consider that John, at around 24 week’s gestation, leapt at the sound of the voice of the mother of God. How could he possibly know that voice, given that this would be the first time he had heard Mary’s voice? Consider that part of the Annunciation story is that Mary left straightaway to visit her kinswoman. She could only have been a week or so into her pregnancy. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit asks, “And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” What tipped her off? Mary would not have been visibly pregnant.

What tipped Elizabeth off was John leaping for joy in her womb. John recognized Jesus, even though Jesus Incarnate was less than a handful of cells.

Pause and let that burrow into your mind and heart.

Suffice it to say that this was not one “blob of tissue” responding to another “blob of tissue.” This was a creature recognizing his Creator and responding in joy! Elizabeth is “filled with the Holy Spirit” and shouts what she cannot otherwise have known, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”

How fitting this is the second line in the Hail Mary. We first have the announcement of the Incarnation by the angel Gabriel. Then we have the first recognition by Creation (Elizabeth and John) that their Creator has entered into His Creation. Next, Mary responds with a song of praise. We will look at the first two verses. Depending on the translation that is read, you will hear different versions, and, because words matter, they will have different flavors. In the King James Version we have:

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. (Lk 1:46-47)

Other translations will use “proclaims the greatness” instead of “doth magnify” or “magnifies.” Since Latin is the root of most English multi-syllable words, it is sometimes useful to look at the Latin for some clues to depth of meaning. In Latin it goes like this:

Magnificat anima mea Dominum,
et exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo salvatore meo,

We can see where magnify comes from. Dominum is a form of Deo which is God. We can see where spirit comes from. One can see the idea of salvation in salvatore and perhaps pick up the idea of “God my Saviour.”[1] But where does “rejoice” come from? Perhaps you can see the idea of exultation in exsultavit? What about “soul”? The Latin word is anima[2].

Coupled with anima, the interesting words are magnificat and exsultavit. Mary says her soul magnifies the Lord. If God is so great, how can any puny human magnify God?

Think about what happens when you use a magnifying glass. You see details you could not see before. Remember the hiddenness of reality? The magnifying glass is the iconic tool of Sherlock Holmes, used to bring the hidden into the open. Mary’s soul is just such a lens, and what does her soul do? Participates in making God visible. Jesus is coming into the world as living flesh and blood.

All through the Old Testament we hear that no one can look on the face of God and live; that no one has seen God. Later, we have this exchange in the Gospel of John:

If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father? (Jn 14:7-9)

If we see Jesus, we see the Father. “My soul doth magnify” indeed.

That translation seems much more appropriate than “My soul proclaims the greatness…” Why do I say this? Because “proclaiming greatness” does not require or even suggest active participation. Proclaiming greatness is simply acknowledging a truth. But Mary’s soul magnifying the Lord is a visceral earthy participation and how else can you describe giving birth? To make God visible, to make God present to the world, requires active participation in God’s plan. Let’s face it, how many saying “God is great” are viscerally making Jesus present to the world? There is a difference between a cheerleader on the sidelines and a player on the field.

Mary also says her spirit rejoices. The Latin word is exsultavit. It is the source of the word “exult”, which is to show or feel elation or jubilation. The Latin means to leap up, and the context is one of excitement. Mary’s soul leaps for joy as does John the Baptist’s. What for?

“…for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever.” (Lk 1:48-55)

That’s what for. This song of praise, Lk 1:46-55 and known as the Magnificat, is both prophecy and fulfillment of prophecy. There is cause for great joy. A leaping exultation at centuries of prophecy coming, literally, to fruition. And, as with all new life, the hope for the future.

What else can we learn from thinking about Mary visiting Elizabeth? How about solidarity, how about selflessness? Mary had just been told, in practically the same breath, that she was to carry the Lord even though she knew not man, and that her kinswoman, thought to be barren, was with child. Of all the things a young woman might do in such a situation, she immediately went to Elizabeth? Why?

Perhaps she sensed that Elizabeth would be the only one that could understand her unique situation? Perhaps she knew that Elizabeth, an old pregnant woman, would need help? Perhaps because they both knew this news would be jarring to the public at large? Perhaps the simple need for loving companionship? Perhaps because they both had something to celebrate?

Perhaps the simple instinct for family.

[1] Please note, Mary also required salvation.

[2] Permit a very brief and inadequate excursion into Greek and Latin and overlapping concepts along with some related philosophy. All of this can be found googling the words, and usual warnings about reliability of the internet apply. But, just consider the interrelated ideas. The Latin word anima and the Greek words pneuma and psyche, all translatable in English as soul all also have the concept of wind or breath in common. What separates the living from non-living, oversimplified, is an exchange of air. Even plants do this exchange despite the fact they have no lungs. In this way you can perhaps see how the Latin anima becomes the basis for words like animated, animal, etc. It is the animating principle. For the Ancient Greeks, there were three kinds of animating principles: vegetative, sensitive, and rational. By this they distinguished between plant, animal and human life. This animating principle, this life force, is what we call the soul and it is God breathed (Gen 2:7).

Life from life.

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