Mary Vitamin for March 18th
Topic: Tuesday of Holy Week
Quote:
"The soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort. They clothed him in purple and, weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him. They began to salute him with, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him. They knelt before him in homage. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him out to crucify him."
Mark 15: 16-20
Meditation:
What kind of justice is this? Where is the God-Man who in the Garden of Gethsemane, caused the soldiers to fall on the ground in homage upon entering? Where is He who raised Lazarus, the Widow of Naim's son, and Jairus' daughter from the dead? Where is He who had crowds follow Him that He had to preach from a boat on the seashore? Where is He who fed the 5,000 and still had 12 baskets left over? Where is the One of whom it was said:
"Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?" MT 13:54
He is now in the Praetorium, clothed in purple, wearing thorns for His crown, with soldiers kneeling in mock homage. What is the God-Man doing? Why aren't the soldiers forced to fall prostrate before the God who created them? Why are they not impelled to give proper reverence due to the King of All Kings? Why doesn't He shout "STOP! This is enough!" Why does He silently accept each strike to His head, each thorn digging deeper with each blow? Why does He accept the spittle? The human heart can't bear to think of it.
The answer: The Justice of God
How can this be just? He is innocent.
The Lord is upholding Justice. Every single sin must be atoned for. Every single offense against God must have restitution. Justice calls for this. Man is incapable of recompensing God for the infinite offense of original sin and all subsequent sins. In Our Lord's silent total expression of love during the Passion, the Divine makes restitution to the Divine to satisfy the demands of Justice.
St. Ephraim (a Doctor of the Church d.373 ) poetically says about Our Lady:
"Shadowed forth in thy beauty is the beauty of the Son, Who clothed Himself with suffering when the nails passed through Him. The awl passed in thee since they handled thee roughly, as they did His hands; and because He suffered He reigned, as by thy sufferings thy beauty increased." The Pearl
Our Lady reflects as a mirror all that Her Son embodies. Our Lady personifies suffering in silence, in humility, and in innocence for the sake of others.
Resolution:
Today I will repeat Mirror of Justice and I will think of this horrible crowning with thorns and I will see the Immaculate Heart united to the Sacred Heart mirroring this humility and love.
Marian Vow:
"The Immaculate Mediatrix is a leaven of grace making the life of the souls ferment when she enters them. This is the task of the M.I.M. All members of M.I.M. are committed to carry the Immaculate in themselves, in their own souls, and to give the Immaculate to others, facilitating her entry into souls so that Christian life which "prolongs the life of Jesus nourished and raised, educated and formed by the Madonna" might flourish there."
Marian Seraphic Pathways, Statutes, #73
I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Thanks be to God for graces received.
Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate & AirMaria
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