There is Something About Mary Series – All Shall Be Well

Ponder:  We suffer in the world, but Jesus has conquered the world.

As we look at the final Sorrowful Mystery today, I hope your heart has been opened to Christ’s Passion in a new way. These are my favorite mysteries of the rosary. Many find them hard and difficult. I find them beautiful as they demonstrate God’s profound love for us and the lengths he will go to show us and assure us that all will be well.

After the opening prayers of the rosary, we announce the first mystery and read the relevant Scripture passage slowly with attention, a lectino divina style of praying the scriptures.  Pause for a few moments of silence and then recite the indicated prayers (#5 below) while meditating on that mystery.  You may make a prayer request at the beginning of each decade or offer a Hail Mary for a specific person. 

Pray:  The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery: The Crucifixion

Jesus is nailed to the Cross and dies.  Fruit of the Mystery: Salvation

Pray:  Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. The Crucifixion of Jesus. So they took Jesus, carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.” Now many of the Jews read this inscription because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier. They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down. So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be,” in order that the passage of scripture might be fulfilled [that says]: “They divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots.” This is what the soldiers did. Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he and from that hour the disciple took her into his home. After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.  Jn 19:16-30

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.  Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, who was crucified for us (who was crucified because of my sins).  Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Pray for us Mary, Mother of Sorrows, That That Christ’s death on the Cross may save us from sin and condemnation.   

Amen

Reflect: The crucifixion is the whole story of the Christian tradition. It is God’s judgment on the world and the fullest expression of divine anger at sin. We are meant to see on the cross our own ugliness, our stupidity, anger, mistrust, institutional injustice, betrayal of friends, denial, unspeakable cruelty, scapegoating and fear. All our dysfunction is revealed on the cross. When we think of it this way, can we honestly say, “I’m okay and you’re okay?” When we look at the face of Christ, we become at war with ourselves. God is not a cruel Father demanding a sacrifice to appease His anger. He found a way to be with us in our dysfunction. He stands with us drawing us to His divine heart so that we can see that no sin of ours can separate us from God. There is a time and place for everything in God’s plan, and every debt in the universe needs to be settled eventually. This was the day, Calvary was the place, two thousand years ago was the time, that God decided to settle our debts letting us know that all is well.

Act:  Is there an area of your life that lives in the darkness? Jesus became sin personified so we may never be afraid to come to Him – the one who will never reject us. All shall be well if we trust in Him.