There will be suffering along the way

By Lou Occhi

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022021.cfm
Isaiah 58:9-14
Luke 5:27-32

Just a few weeks ago John told us how the Jews would have heifer ashes sprinkled on our heads. This was done to purify a person from Adam’s sin. This Ash Wednesday they will sprinkle palm ashes on our heads instead of making a cross on our foreheads. This is something that hasn’t been done in my three quarter of a century of life. Of course we do not do animal sacrifice today so we use the burned remains of palm leaves left over from the last Palm Sunday. The words are the same today as they always were, “From dust you came and from dust you shall return”, although they will not be spoken aloud this year.

Since I am doing the reflection today, on Ash Wednesday, I had the option of talking about either the reading from today or from this coming Saturday. As it turns out the reading from Saturday is the same one I had last time I did the reflection and it ties in nicely with our reminder of our impending deaths in the first few lines of the Gospel of Luke 5. It says, “Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him ‘Follow Me’, and leaving everything behind, got up and followed Him.” Isn’t that exactly what happens when our earthly bodies die?

Through scripture and our faith we are asked to follow Jesus starting at birth, continuing on through our earthly life until we finally arrive at our eternal reward. Since we are following Jesus we know that there will be suffering along the way. So, this is an opportunity to reflect on Jesus’ suffering. As we travel through the forty days of lent leading up to Good Friday, I thought I would do a meditation on the suffering of Jesus. A good way of doing that is to go through the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary.

The first mystery is ‘The agony in the Garden’. We read that Jesus was in torment over what was going to happen to Him and that He was sweating great drops of blood. This is a condition called Hematidrosis. Under great physical or emotional stress the capillaries under the surface of the skin rupture and cause blood to ooze out from the pores of the skin. One side effect of Hematidrosis is that the skin of the victim becomes hyper sensitive to the touch. When Jesus turned to His companions for consolation they had fallen asleep. He asked them if they could spend an hour to pray with Him. They had all had a big meal with wine and their tiredness had caught up with them, so Jesus was left alone in His agony. They had no idea what was about to happen. Scripture does not tell us what was going through Jesus’ mind. I can imagine that He knew exactly what He would be going through and suffered from the same fears and anxiety that we would suffer. I can also imagine that He knew what tremendous suffering His mother would have to bear and that His closest disciple’s hopes and dreams of the future would be crushed. He also suffered knowing what would happen to His people. As He was carrying the cross He told the women to not weep for Him but for their children. When the mob showed up to bring Jesus in to the Pharisees they were filled with venom. They came with torches, clubs and swords. I am sure that Jesus was manhandled and beaten on the way in. Jesus was probably bound up in chains or ropes and his hands bound. As He is shoved around he would be made to fall. With His hands bound there is no way to protect Himself from a fall. We know that he was taken to Annas first to be interrogated. There He was beaten, verbally abused and spit upon. After that He was taken to Caiaphas for more questioning and beatings. Since it was late Jesus was lowered into a subterranean dungeon which today is known as the Sacred Pit. The only way into the pit was to be lowered with ropes. The only way out was to be pulled up with ropes. This is where the worst criminals were kept. The dungeon was never cleaned so you can only imagine the filth that Jesus had live in for that one night.

The second mystery is ‘Jesus is scourged at the pillars’. The next morning He was taken to Pontius Pilate. After being questioned Pilate found no guilt in Him and sent Him off to Herod. There He was again beaten and ridiculed and sent back to Pilate. Pilate then had Jesus scourged hoping that the punishment would satisfy those seeking His execution. The Romans were masters at inflicting pain and prolonging death. In a scourging the victim is shackled so that there is no escape. From the shroud of Turin we know that there were at least two people that scourged Jesus. They used a flagrum which consisted of three strips of leather tipped with metal or bone. When the whip struck the force of the leather would hit the victim on the back and the metal tip would tear the skin. Remember that the Hematidrosis caused Jesus skin to be hyper sensitive to pain. Again, from the shroud we know that there were hundreds of stripes on the back of Jesus. When they were filming the scourging in the Passion of the Christ one of the leather strips missed the protective plate on the back of the actor, Jim Caviezel, and left him with a 14 in gash on his side. He said the pain was so intense that it knocked the wind out of him. Can you even begin to comprehend the pain Jesus must have suffered and the amount of blood that must have flowed from the tears in His skin? Try to see this from His mother’s eyes and try to imagine how she suffered along with her son with each blow of the flagrum.

The third mystery is ‘Jesus is crowned with thorns’. The crown was not a simple ring around His head. It was more like a cap. The branches that were used to form the crown had thorns that were one to two inches long. We know from scripture that the crown was secured to Jesus’ head by means of driving it into his scalp with a mock scepter made of reeds. After that the scepter was put in His hand and then He was mocked, beaten, and spat upon. If you have ever been to training for treating wounds you would know that head wounds cause a tremendous amount of bleeding. Jesus face would probably be unrecognizable at this point.

The fourth mystery is ‘Jesus carries the cross up mount Golgotha’. Jesus, cloaked in a purple robe was then presented to those seeking His execution in hope that their thirst for His blood would be quenched. Pilate finally succumbs and washes his hands of the innocent man’s blood. Jesus is turned over to the soldiers for crucifixion. Here we see Jesus carrying a heavy wooden beam up a hill. Remember that His back was severely injured from the scourging so the beam had to be rubbing on His wounds and reopening them. The crown driven into His scalp had to be driven further into His scalp by the beam. At this point Jesus has not had anything to eat or drink since the Passover meal, and was suffering from extreme pain and loss of blood. It is a wonder that He was still alive. When He fell under the beam the full weight of the beam would fall on His injured back tearing all His wounds open. Also, the crown of thorns beating against the beam would further drive the thorns into His skull. Again, try to see this through His mother’s eyes and the eyes of the women who loved Him.

The fifth mystery is ‘Jesus dies on the cross.’ The cross was laid on the ground. The victim was placed onto the cross and His arms were stretched out so that the executioners would know where to drill the holes for the nails. When this was done the holes were drilled further apart than the actual span of the arms. The first nail driven into the hand was at the base of the palm so that it would force the bones apart and provide a hold that would not tear loose. In the process, the nerve going to the thumb is severed and the thumb would collapse into the palm. In modern day injuries where that never is severed, the pain is so intense that there are no drugs that will provide any relief. When the second nail is to be driven into the hand the arm has to be stretched enough so that the nail can go into the pre-drilled hole. The Shroud of Turin shows one shoulder significantly dislocated. This probably occurred when Jesus’ arm was stretched out. 

A nail was then driven through both feet into a pre-drilled hole. Just as the arms had to be stretched to align with the hole, so too must the body have been stretched to drive the nail in. The nail had to be driven into the cup of the heel so that it would not pull through. Then the cross is lifted and dropped into a hole in the ground. The body on the cross is jarred as the cross hits bottom. Jesus then cries out “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”. Because of the way the body is suspended, the victim inhales as he hangs from the nails but must push up with his feet to exhale. Eventually fluid builds up in the lungs and the victim eventually dies from drowning on his own body fluids. Because of the blood loss from the scourging and complete lack of anything to eat or drink Jesus did not last very long on the cross. Jesus’ last words were “It is finished’. Because the Sabbath was about to begin, Jesus’ disciples wanted to take Him down from the cross and prepare Him for burial. To make sure Jesus was dead one of the soldiers drove a spear into His chest. We are told that blood and water poured out of the wound. There was Jesus, Son of God, drained of all His body fluids and disfigured beyond recognition. There was nothing left for Him to give. Truly He emptied Himself for us.

During lent let us remember what Jesus did for each of us. Let us also remember that we can join whatever suffering, inconvenience, aggravation, disappointment and any other misfortune in our lives to the suffering of Jesus on the cross for the reparation of sins. It is customary to make sacrifices and abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays during lent. Let us join those sacrifices to Jesus on the cross. It takes courage and determination to remember what Jesus has done for us every moment of every day. We also need to remember to thank God every time things go well for us, even the little things like a hug by a grandchild. Let us ask ourselves, as we begin lent, how badly do we want to follow Jesus and how grateful are we for all the good He has given us in our lives. One excellent way of doing this is to say the traditional Catholic prayer, the Morning Offering, as soon as possible after we wake up. In case you are unfamiliar with the prayer I will include it in the Homeless Catholic site along with this meditation. If we join our suffering to Jesus’ suffering and make reparation for our sins through confession then we can truly rejoice with Jesus in the celebration of His resurrection on Easter Sunday.

In closing I would like us to reflect on Jesus’ plea “Father to forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”. Who exactly is the “them” that Jesus referred to?

When we finish our discussion I would like us to recite the Morning Offering instead of the Our Father this one time. 

Supplement

A good way to start the day is with the Morning offering shown below. It is a traditional Catholic prayer in which we daily consecrate ourselves to Jesus Christ Through the Immaculate Heart of Mary by giving to Jesus everything we may encounter during the upcoming day.

O Jesus, 
through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, 
I offer You my prayers, works, 
joys and sufferings
of this day for all the intentions
of Your Sacred Heart, 
in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
throughout the world, 
in reparation for my sins, 
for the intentions of all my relatives and friends, 
and in particular
for the intentions of the Holy Father.

Amen.