Fifth Reflection “Then Pilate took Jesus, and scourged Him.” (John 19:1) Pilate thought that, by scourging Jesus, he would satisfy the Jews and so be able to set Him free. This is how the weak always think: compromise, give in to evil so as to appease it. However, this only makes things worse. Help Remove … Read more
Seventh Reflection “Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led Him forth.” (John 19:16) In former times the cross was a humiliating, painful way of executing criminals. Thus, the word “cross” meant the same as “shame,” just as the word “handcuffs” today make us think of prison, condemnation … Read more
Ninth Reflection “And when they came to the place which is called Calvary, they crucified Him there.” (Luke 23:33) Prior to the crucifixion, we can imagine the infinite beauty of Our Lord, the beauty of His physique and the luminosity of His Sacred Face, where the aesthetic principles of the universe resided. The grace of His … Read more
Eleventh Reflection “At about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying: ‘Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?’” (Matthew 27:46) Our Lord shouted from the height of the Cross. That heart-wrenching cry was due to the extreme sense of abandonment in which, seemingly, God … Read more
Thirteenth Reflection “And taking Him down, he wrapped Him in fine linen, and laid Him in a sepulcher that was cut in stone, wherein no man had yet been laid.” (Luke 23:53) Lord Jesus, I contemplate Your body taken down from the cross, Your humanity seemingly crushed, and Your infinitely precious blood shed during Your … Read more
First Reflection “Jesus, knowing all that would happen to Him, went forth, and said to them: ‘Whom do you seek?’ They answered him: ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’ Jesus said to them: ‘I AM He.’ As soon as He had said to them: ‘I AM He’; they went backward, and fell to the ground. Again, He asked … Read more
Preparatory Remarks Though true piety can produce and stimulate emotion, piety is not, principally, emotion. Piety begins in a well-formed intelligence, that is, an intelligence schooled in catechetical study and an exact knowledge of our Faith. These truths should govern our interior life. Piety resides in the will. We should seriously desire what we know … Read more
It was March of 1585. After three exhausting years spent travelling halfway around the world, Julian and his friends, all Japanese converts to the Catholic Faith, looked out on Rome. They were the first Japanese to gaze on the Eternal City, which seemed like something out of a dream. As they arrived, a large crowd … Read more
The recent (January 30) statements by the Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, Robert Barron, that he will not fight for the abolition of the same-sex “marriage” ruling has scandalized even his admirers. He contends that revoking that decision “would probably cause much more problems and dissension and difficulty if we keep pressing it.” He doubles … Read more
Most people do not realize how the financial systems outside of Christendom were untrustworthy in pre-modern times. The moral structures of the Church created a climate of trust and honesty that was unknown to other civilizations. Historian Rodney Stark relates an astonishing example of the Turks after their defeat in the Battle of Lepanto in … Read more
