The Scourging at The Pillar

The Second Sorrowful Mystery.

Posted by dad.

They bound you to a post in Pilate's court and scrounged you mercilessly. Following each strike, wounds remained. Your blood flowed; you were loosing your strength and were in pain. You offered all this for us in order to free us from evil and sin.

How does one identify with this kind of suffering? Even if you tried you would come up miserly short. When I was asked to reflect on this decade of the rosary I found myself despairing because it brought to mind the greatest sorrow in my own life, the loss of my 3 year old son who was struck down by a station wagon in front of our home. The driver came around the corner of our street with a load of 2x4’s hanging out his rear window. My son and a young neighborhood boy were out front at the time. The neighbor boy took my son by the hand to take him across the street to play. The driver was watching the shifting lumber that was not tied down in his car and he did not see the boys crossing the street. At that instant our lives were forever dramatically changed. I could not forget or forgive that person.

For years I wished that moment would be taken away; my anger grew and this affected the rest of my family. The only thing that kept me going was to know my son was in a better place with his heavenly Father and that some day I would be with him in heaven.

Christ is always close to the broken hearted and in his infinite mercy he sent my father his own mother, Mary. Mary, who stood under the cross of her own Son with a heart full of anguish, who's faith was great even in her suffering, held dad close to here maternal heart and embraced his sorrow so that his heart would not grow cold.

Thank you Lord for giving us your son Jesus so that we may all be united together in
Heaven.

Lord, I offer my prayers for those who, in their hearts, carry the wounds they receive in their lives. Jesus, break those wounds that may cause them to fall into new evils, scourging themselves and others. Jesus, break the chains of evil and sin so that your peace, love and forgiveness may come to dwell in every heart. I offer my prayers to you for parents who have scourged their children with drunken behavior, faithlessness, drugs, gambling, fights and divorces. Please free families from these evils. Grant that all of their wounds be healed so that we may experience peace, joy and both spiritual and physical health. Amen. 1

1 Fr. Slavko Barbaric, O.F.M