Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, Priest
“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)
WEDNESDAY, May 26th Mk. 10:28-31 “Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
- At the Last Supper, Jesus taught by example—washing the feet of His disciples, the work of a slave.
- Afterwards Jesus asked them: “Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example, that you should do, as I have done for you.”
- The two hallmarks of the Christian life are humility and charity. Humility is the first in operation, charity is the fruit. Fr. Ed gives a striking example of humility’s triumph over pride in the following meditation/contemplation.
HUMILITY THROUGH THE PATH OF HUMILIATIONS by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
HUMILITY indeed is a very difficult virtue for all of us to practice. However, it is essential for us to grow in holiness. A humble person recognizes that all the good he can do comes from God, but all the evil he has done is his own choice and his own doing. Saint Teresa of Avila says that humility is the truth.
ROYAL PATHWAY TO HUMILITY. Although it be exceedingly painful, the royal and most efficacious pathway for us to grow in humility is through the pathway of humiliations. However, it must be highlighted, humiliations that are accepted as part of God’s Divine Providential Plan. In other words, humiliations not accepted in the light of God’s Divine Providential Plan can actually make us more proud, arrogant, and even bitter. Thus, humiliations can make us either better or bitter!
CALL TO SANCTIFY OUR SUFFERINGS. Undoubtedly humiliations can cause very intense pain in the depths of our soul. The key is to humbly recognize that humiliations will definitely come our way, maybe sooner than we are aware, and we should strive to recognize them as sent by God and accept them.
SUFFERINGS AND HUMILIATIONS WASTED! It is all too common that many people, even those who call themselves believers in Christ, waste their sufferings, do not take advantage of the sufferings and humiliations that God sends them. These are graces wasted! Graces that could save souls!
A GREAT EXAMPLE IS JESUS, THE SUFFERING SERVANT OF YAHWEH. In all the various aspects and circumstances of our lives, Jesus is our supreme and sublime example. He Himself said: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. (Jn. 14:6) To help us understand humiliations and how to react to them, Jesus is always our best example! This is true most especially in His Passion and death.
ONE EXAMPLE FOR OUR INSTRUCTION: CROWNING WITH THORNS! One of the most enlightening examples in the Passion and death of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was when He suffered the crowning with thorns. This humiliating event was prophesied by the great Prophet Isaiah in these words: “He was like a lamb led to the slaughter and He did not even open up His mouth. By His wounds we are healed. (Is. 53: 5,7) For our edification, instruction, and motivation, let us unravel, step by step, the excruciating pains, sufferings, and humiliations that Jesus willingly accepted in His crowning with thorns.
HUMILIATIONS IN THE CROWNING OF JESUS WITH THORNS
1. BOUND AND DRAGGED. After being brutally scourged at the pillar, in which Jesus lost huge quantities of blood, He is bound and dragged into a little room, very much like a prison cell. He who came to set the captives free, allows Himself to be a captive, even a slave of the whims, insults, and mockeries of men.
2. THE KING’S THRONE. Jesus was, is, and always will be the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Despite His kingly royalty, He is dragged into this little chamber and forced to sit on a huge and uncomfortable stone. The mystic, Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich stated that pieces of sharp glass were embedded in the huge stone causing even more intense pain as Jesus undergoes a night of tortures and humiliations.
3. SMACKED IN THE FACE. The torturers smack Jesus in His Sacred Face. Of course this results in multiple bruises and bleeding. Yet His face becomes like flint and He opens not His mouth, as the Prophet Isaiah reminds us.
4. PUNCHED. Above and beyond the smacking is added fierce and violent blows to His Sacred Face. Still Jesus remains silent, like a lamb led to the slaughter.
5. PLUCKED HIS BEARD. Once again, as the Prophet Isaiah reminds us, these cruel men grab onto and pluck His beard. We can imagine how much pain this causes Jesus, but He willingly suffers this further humiliation!
6. THE CROWNING WITH THORNS. One of the torturers has an insidious and diabolic idea, given that Jesus was proclaimed King, why not give Him a crown??? Not royal crown fit for a King, but a derisive, mocking, and insulting crown made of thorns.
7. WEAVING A CROWN. Therefore, thorns are taken from nearby thorn-bushes and woven into a crown, a crown of thorns for a mock-ceremony for a mock-king, who indeed is the King of the Universe!
8. THE PAINFUL CROWNING. Then the painful and humiliating ceremony takes place. With mockery and utmost cruelty, the torturers press the crown of thorns on the Sacred Head of Jesus. In the film of Gibson, The Passion of the Christ, Jesus is insultingly proclaimed: Hail, King of the worms! In all of this Jesus, the gentle Lamb of God being led to the slaughter, remains silent.
9. PRECIOUS BLOOD ISSUES FORTH. With sharp and penetrating thorns pressing deep into the skull of Jesus, His Blood spurts forth with drops falling to the ground. Amidst this torture, the men surrounding Jesus laugh with glee and mock Him all the more. The cruel and uncouth words that issue forth from their lips cause Jesus as much pain as the thorns that pierce His Sacred Brow.
10. BOWING DOWN AND GENUFLECTING. Mocking Jesus as king, the torturers now take their turns bowing and genuflecting before Him, the mock-king. In all this, Jesus willingly accepts the humiliations as the will of the Eternal Father, endured for love of us and for our eternal salvation.
11. A STICK AS A SCEPTER. To further humiliate Jesus as mock-king, they find a stick, and after first striking Jesus over the head with the stick, further embedding the crown of thorns in His Sacred Head, they place the stick in His hands, His royal scepter! This is the way they treat The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
12. SPIT IN HIS SACRED FACE. To intensify His sufferings and humiliations, the torturers proceed with one of the most humiliating actions that can be done to a human person—they take turns spitting in His Sacred Face.
13. JESUS IS BLINDFOLD. The mockery continues with new insults. Now it is time to find a cloth and cover Jesus’ eyes, thereby blinding Him. He who is the Light of the world and who gave sight to the blind, is Himself made blind. More insults, mockeries, and deprecation’s descend upon Him. Yet in all this, Jesus is silent!
14. PUNCHES, SLAPS, BLOWS, AND SPITS. Still more do they punch Jesus, strike Him on the Face, spit on Him, pull at His beard, mock and make sport of Him. Jesus, our Lord and our King!
15. EXTENSION OF TIME. These humiliations—and there were many more—went on the whole night, Holy Thursday into Good Friday morning. Long, cruel and tortuous hours— all endured for love of you and me and our eternal salvation. How precious we are to Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
In conclusion, for us to grow in the virtue of humility, the royal path is through humiliations. None of us will suffer the intensity and atrocity of the humiliations that Jesus underwent for us. However, when you are visited by any form, type, size, or color of humiliation, do not waste it! Rather think of the sufferings and humiliations that Jesus underwent for your salvation, and unite your sufferings to His for your conversion and sanctification, and for the salvation of the whole world.
For the sake of His sorrowful and humiliating Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!
Copyright 2021 Oblates of the Virgin Mary – St. Peter Chanel Church, Hawaiian Gardens, CA
