The Scourging at the Pillar

The Second Sorrowful Mystery:
Our Lord is Scourged at the Pillar

"Then Pilate set Barabbas free, but had Jesus scourged, and handed Him over to be crucified." - Matthew 27:26

Just a few hours before this, Jesus was before the Jewish elders, questioned before the high priest Caiaphas. They demanded answers from Him, but all they were really looking for were reasons to hand Him over to the romans. They made fun of Him and spit at Him, while Jesus accepted what was happening. Then, He is before Pilate, who didn't really want to crucify Him, but had no choice since the crowds were asking for Jesus' death. So, they took our Lord and tied Him to a pillar. The roman soldiers took turns whipping His back. The whips had pieces of bone attached to the ends that were designed to rip away at pieces of flesh and bone upon contact. There was our Lord, an innocent man, our God, tied to a pillar while His body was mutilated. I can imagine that they missed His back a lot of times and instead, the whips ripped away at the sides of His ribs, probably His face, His arms, His legs. And He accepted all of this because at the end, you and I could ask God for forgiveness with a repented heart, and He will forgive us. No longer would we die, but we will have eternal life.

If He wanted to, Jesus could have resisted, ordered the angels to save Him, or made it so He didn't feel pain, but He didn't. You see, how could we ever serve a God who doesn't know what it is like to suffer the things we suffer? Jesus knew this and wanted to show His love by accepting this fate. We can't ever say God doesn't understand our hurt. Sometimes it can feel like people are killing us when we discover betrayal, deceit, or that someone has said horrible things behind our backs. It can feel like the air was sucked right out of us and pieces of our heart were torn out - well, each time Jesus was spit at, betrayed, with each lashing tearing away at His flesh and muscle, He is right there with you in your suffering… and not because He has to be, but because He wants to be.

Today's Prayer:
Mary, you watched in great sorrow as your son was beaten and put to death for our sins. Please pray for us so that this Holy Week does not pass without our fully realizing how much God loves us and how much we need Him every day of our lives.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

O, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell; lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy. Amen.

Taking a Life

"You have heard that it was said to our people in the past: Do not commit murder; anyone who does kill will have to face trial. But now I tell you: whoever gets angry with his brother will have to face trial. Whoever insults his brother deserves to be brought before the council, whoever humiliates his brother deserves to be thrown into the fire of hell." - Matthew 5:21-22

After reading this verse I'm sure a good number of us are thinking we're going to be thrown in hell! Yes, we know murdering someone is wrong, but here, Jesus is warning that insulting someone is the same thing as murder. The act of murder is obviously terribly violent, but when we insult someone else, there is a lack of love that takes place. As a result of this, we fail to see the life of God in that person and therefore we are rejecting God. Murder has irrevocable consequences and similarly, think of times you have been seriously angry at someone, or them at you, has the relationship been fully mended or are there remnants of hurt and pain? All of this goes against the love and abundance of life God wants to give us, which is why to Jesus, insults and ill-managed anger are the same as taking someone's life. And many times, to the people we hurt, it feels like their lives have been taken away.

Watch yourselves and how you act. The bar has been set high, but not too high so that we can't reach it.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, forgive me for lacking in love for my brother. Forgive me for all offenses I've committed consciously and unconsciously. I have so much to learn but pray that You show me. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Wanted

"God chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and without sin in His presence. From eternity He destined us in love to be His adopted sons through Christ Jesus." - Ephesians 1:4-5

There are many people that carry the pain of not being wanted or loved by their parents. Many children are born as "mistakes" and many are abandoned when they're young. A lot of people also grow with the feeling that they're just not good enough and won't amount to anything. My own father was told by his father that he would never be anything special in life. These children grow up feeling neglected and seldom know what real love is or how to express and accept it as adults.

If you carry this pain in your heart, the feeling that you weren't loved enough by a parent or were neglected when you needed them, you must remember one thing, although your parents provided the natural way for you to come into the world, it was God that took His time to think about you, design your life, and plan for you way before the world was even created. God chose you before the creation of the world. You are no accident and although neglect from your parents hurts, you are loved and taken care of by your Father in Heaven. Your life might seem small at times and insignificant, but God Almighty has bigger plans for you. You are special, you are loved and you need to pick up your head and carry on with life knowing that God, your Father, planned for you, created you and will do great things for you, no matter who else doesn't love you or appreciate you.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, it's so hard for me to accept and believe Your love at times, but I know You did in fact choose me. Help me to accept this love and begin to change my heart to let go of the pain I hold inside. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Love Hurts

"O, Ephraim, what shall I do with you? O, Judah, how shall I deal with you? This love of yours is like morning mist, like morning dew that quickly disappears. This is why I smote you through the prophets, and have slain you by the words of my mouth. For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice; it is knowledge of God, not burnt offerings." - Hosea 6:4-6

I have a couple of friends that are going through trouble in their relationships. Why is it that when we really love someone, sometimes they just don't correspond to our feelings? There is this one person who fell in love with someone who really seemed to care, but whenever he really needed her, she was gone and not there for him. To retaliate because he was hurt, he would say mean things to her, but only because he wanted her to feel the pain he was feeling. Sometimes she'd come back around when she was lonely, or needed something. He knew this, but he loved her so much, he'd take her back, although he knew her love wasn't sincere.

I've mentioned before that God not only loves us as a Father, but also in the way in which a husband loves his wife. This story I just mentioned is God's love for us as told through the prophet Hosea. God saw His people as His spouse and became so angry when He'd see His people not pay attention to Him and putting things such as wine, money, and sex before Him. He considered them all cheaters. Although He called them all adulterers, He was so hurt that He'd curse them but He wanted them all back. That's why in this passage, the Lord sighs in pain as we do when our relationship isn't going right. "O, Ephraim, what shall I do with you?" Think of the despair you go through when that person you love doesn't call you or answer your calls. They say they love you, but they don't show it. As God says, their love is "like morning dew that quickly disappears." And deep down, even when the one you love does answer you, you want them to be sincere and really love you back, not just because they need something as we do with God.

I picked this passage because sometimes we don't realize how strong God's love for us is and how easily we brush Him aside to focus on other things. The bible is full of verses comparing His love to the love of boyfriend/ girlfriend, husband/ wife. He knows fully well the anguish and despair we feel when we're hurt by love, and by using this comparison through the prophet Hosea, He shows us that His pain is that real.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, I'm sorry for not loving You or giving You the time You deserve. I could never repay You for Your love but I seek to please You from now on. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Gossiping, First Impressions and Talking Behind Backs

"Do not let them wink maliciously - those who hate me without cause. But it is You, O Lord, who see the truth. Do not keep silent. Do not stand afar off." - Psalm 35:19,22

Although I try to keep a thick skin, something that really hurts me is to hear when people say things behind my back, or I hear they have a different impression of me than who I really am. I've heard so many people say about me that I'm conceited when the truth is that I'm actually really shy and feel intimidated in groups of 3 or more people. Gossiping is something we've all been guilty of but ever since I've been trying to move closer to God, it's something I want to let go of completely. God keeps reinforcing that each and every one of us is His child and until we accept that, we put up walls that prevent us from forming true friendships with people. It's so easy to meet someone and just think "uhg, I can't stand this person," but a lot of times, there is someone really great behind that first impression, or first few impressions. People change, for the better or the worst. Someone you probably couldn't stand in the past has learned from their mistakes and is now a great person. We should always give someone a shot because God could be bringing a great friendship into your life that you're not being open to. And if you're the one right now being brushed off by someone, remember that God loves you and if your intentions are good, no matter how you are perceived, God will clear your name.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, You know how my heart hurts when others judge me negatively. And I know You feel the same way when I judge others. Please open the eyes of our hearts so that we could see past these layers around a person and into who they really are. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Be The Belt Around God's Waist

""For just as a belt is to be bound around a man's waist so was the people of Israel and Judah bound to me - it is the Lord who speaks - to be my people, my glory and my honor; but they would not listen.'" - Jeremiah 13:11

I have to admit that I feel so sad right now. As you know, I've been keeping all of these emails in a blog (http://tres-lumineux.blogspot.com/) and today I decided to do some research into videos and news about God, Christianity, or even some cool websites to blog about. My search results were pretty sad. Then I went into the social bookmarking site del.icio.us and searched for words like God, Jesus and Christianity and I found that some of the top sites bookmarked were articles talking about how God doesn't exist, or sites making fun of Christianity.

So many people ask what's wrong with the world when the problem is that mostly all have abandoned God. Nobody listens. Religion is now whatever people want it to be. They justify their own desires and then believe in whatever philosophy backs up their own selfishness. Then there are those that see the poverty, violence and hurt in the world and ask "Why would God allow this!". Well, in all honesty, a person who asks this kind of question does NOT know God or they'd know that our Creator is a God of love. Just like the belt Jeremiah had around his waist, God told him He wanted us to be, so close to Him. God is a nurturer, all goodness comes from Him and He wanted to hold us right there with Him. We're the ones that stray and abandon Him, and for what? To go out to parties? To go out and get drunk? To spend a whole day in front of a video game? Or spend hours gossiping about people? Or holding on to hate in our hearts that propagate even more sin? What do you have left after you've done these things? Emptiness. This is what's wrong with the world. So much pain exists because nobody invites God in anymore and the only thing He does not do is interfere with our free will. We do this to ourselves. Think about this - when was the last time you prayed? And when you prayed, what did you pray for? Did you only pray because you needed something? Did you pray in a way to test God to see IF He's really there? Or did you pray because you recognize He is your creator and you need Him in your life? We should always ask Him for things, but more importantly, instead of just asking and asking when we're in a bind, we need to find a way to get back around His waist.

Today's Prayer:
My Lord, forgive me and forgive others for our lack of love and attention for You. I am so sorry for having strayed but please have mercy on us and help us to win back Your favor and be Your people. In Jesus' Name, Amen.