The Crucifixion

The Crucifixion

The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Lk 23:34)

When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son!” (Jn 19:26) 3:34)

Then Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. (Lk 23:46)

You commended Your spirit to the Father and died on the cross after You had taken the cup given to You by the Father, because You were ready to accept it.

My Jesus, thank You for having done all this for us. Do teach us to love and to forgive. Strengthen all those who, for the lack of their own love, cannot forgive and destroy each other in hatred. Help us all to accept the Father’s will as You did, because it is the only way to salvation. We pray to You also for the dying; give them strength to commend their spirit to the Father in peace. Take them into Your peace, O Lord Jesus. 1

“Dear children! Today, in a special way, I invite you to take the cross in the hands and to meditate on the wounds of Jesus. Ask of Jesus to heal your wounds, which you, dear children, during your life sustained because of your sins or the sins of your parents. Only in this way, dear children, you will understand that the world is in need of healing of faith in God the Creator. By Jesus' passion and death on the cross, you will understand that only through prayer you, too, can become true apostles of faith; when, in simplicity and prayer, you live faith which is a gift. Thank you for having responded to my call. ” BVM Monthly Message, March 25, 1997


1Fr. Slavko Barbaric, O.F.M., Pray With the Heart

The Carrying of the Cross

The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery


"And he said to all: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself …" (Luke 9:23)

This post was shared by my mother
a true woman of virtue.

Oh Loving Jesus, meek Lamb of God,I, a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy flesh and laid bear Thy Bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound of thy Most Blessed Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify Thee, and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain, and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy Cross to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins, and to lead me on towards Heaven along the Way of Thy Cross. Amen 1

1 Thomas D. Beven , Bishop of Springfield


We all carry many crosses. When I was five years old my father died. He was only thirty three years old. It was during World War II and my mother remarried. He was a Marine who had fought bravely in five major battles. The war had left him wounded inside and he was never able to talk about it.

When my mother was dating him he was nice to my brothers and I, but when they got married things changed. Where our home had been a home full of music and joy, it was now dark and lonely place.

My one brother David could not cope with this and at the age of eleven years started running away. He was deeply gifted. He could play almost any instrument and had a lovely voice. To support himself he started playing at bars at an early age. He also started drinking and this became his way of life. He joined the service for about three years and married, had two girls, got a mental discharge from the service and started running again.

He ended up in later years as a sick alcoholic living in a rented room with no friends. He was always telling me he would like to join the Catholic Church but I was afraid with his drinking, to bring a priest by.

Late one night my husband and I got a call from the hospital that my brother had had a massive heart attack and was in a coma and had only hours to live. We prayed for him and were led to bring holy water with us. When we got to the hospital and entered his room he was still in a coma, but we prayed for him and baptized him. He died two hours later.

He had left me a note in his possessions that he wanted to be buried at National Cemetery in Riverside and to read the Prodigal Son at his service. There were only four of us who went to his burial. When we arrived we where met by at least twelve fully uniformed military men. They led us like in a parade to his grave sight. They then proceeded to have a twenty one gun salute, folding of the flag and a full service. When they left I read the Prodigal Son in full tears of joy as I know my brother had carried his cross in his own way and Our Loving Father had showed His merciful love and taken him home.

The Crown of Thorns

The Third Sorrowful Mystery

So Pilate asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?" And He answered him and said, "It is as you say."

Luke 23:3

"And the soldiers led him away into the court of the palace, and they called together the whole band: And they clothe him with purple, and platting a crown of thorns, they put it upon him."

Mark 16:16,17

She was very guarded with her emotions when I met her at the clinic. If I had to guess her age, I would say she was either eighteen or nineteen years old. She had just broken up with her boyfriend of three months and she had been exceptionally nauseous for a while.

  She had come for a pregnancy test, and while we waited for the nurse to come in, we began to talk.
 
Being a pro-life clinic, we talked to her about her options for parenting and adoption, but it was easy to see her mind was closed to this. As the client advocate I was working with spoke to her further, I began to pray, begging our Blessed Mother to intercede on this baby’s behalf. Surprisingly, I began to tell her about a crisis pregnancy that I had had when I was only 16, a story I have told few people. I told her that even though it was a very difficult time for me at the beginning; it turned out to be such a wonderful blessing because that beautiful son of mine is now a father of two himself, and they are all joys of my heart. I also told her about my son in law, a big loveable guy, who had recently joined our family. He had been adopted and now, not only did my daughter get to experience the joy and love that his life offers, but my entire family and I get to share the joy of his life too!
 
The staff nurse came in and greeted the young woman warmly, and she began to talk to her about her pregnancy, her family, and her thoughts on keeping her baby. After the young girl’s responses, the nurse answered all her questions in detail. Things did not look promising; but, she did agree to an ultra sound.

As she reclined on the table, the nurse began the procedure. The image on the screen was very clear and the precious little heart was beating away. The nurse asked her if she would like to take a look and with wide eyed curiosity she said, “Yes". As she looked at her child’s image on the screen she smiled and when she left, she took the picture with her, along with some prenatal vitamins.
 
A few weeks passed and one afternoon while on my volunteer shift, the staff nurse asked me to give her a follow-up call, just to see how this young girl was doing. My anxiety level must have shot up 150%. I was scared to call, I don’t think I wanted to hear the worst.
 
But when I called her cell and she answered, I told her who I was and why I had called, her voice sounded happy and joyous. She said she had been thinking about us all and was planning on coming in to see us.
 

The opportunity never gave way for us to meet again, though she was always in my prayers. My prayer for her was for courage.


My Jesus, they crowned You with the crown of thorns after the scourging. They wrapped You in a scarlet military cloak and made a fool of You-those who were near You. For, Your friends were far away!

When hatred starts forging evil plans, then it is not likely to stop. It was not enough for them to have scourged You so murderously and now they go on mocking You and crowning You with the crown of thorns. But this time, to hatred and evil were surprised before You. You remained calm in all Your suffering. They saw in Your behavior that You understood even those who treated You like that. And even more: that You loved them and that You did not condemn them. But their wickedness had no limits. That is what happens when evil has affected a man or woman, a family, a community. Then it never stops destroying. Jesus, look upon all the offended and the humiliated, the scorned and the rejected. Redeem them with Your crown of thorns and under the grindstone of torturers and oppressors. Cleanse their heart of every hatred. Do not let them plan revenge and return evil with evil. Jesus, in Your name, let forgiveness spread. 1

1 Fr. Slavko Barbaric, O.F.M, Pray With the Heart

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

The Agony in The Garden

The First Sorrowful Mystery

They went to a place called Gethsemane…And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. (Mk 14:32, 33)

Posted by my dad; a man that walks with God.

My daughter has asked me to share my thoughts with you during this time of lent on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. I chose to share “The Agony in the Garden.”

I have been struggling with cancer for many years now. And the story I want to share with you began about six years ago after I had my third major operation for colon cancer.

These operations were taking place as frequently as every six months even though I had undergone an incredibly painful chemotherapy treatment following my first surgery.

It was after the third surgery, with my family gathered by my side to hear the news, that my doctors told me that they wanted to attack the cancer more aggressively by surgically implanting a stint inside of me so that I could take larger doses of chemo on a daily basis. I told the doctors that I did not want to subject myself to anymore of this torturous treatment and that my wife and I had purchased tickets to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Lands. We were scheduled to leave in six months and we were going with a Carmelite order of priests. My oncologist informed me that I would be dead in six months if I did not submit to the treatment. I asked how much time I would have if I submitted to the treatments; he said I could probably add up to two years.

Six months later I found myself in the Garden of Gethsemane, possibly under the same olive trees that our Lord Jesus Christ knelt to ask his father to take this cup from him. We know that this was the cup of forgiveness of  our sins and most importantly our salvation. Yet we know he said “Not my will be done but yours be done”.

As I knelt under these olive trees, I asked our Lord to take this cup (cancer) from me and if not, then please accept my pain and suffering in atonement for my sins and the suffering of others that may be so afflicted.

Some of these olive trees have lived well over 2000 years; and as I looked over the Valley of Kidron I could see the walls of Jerusalem where Jesus traveled to his agonizing torture and death on the cross for you and me.

Six years later I am here to thank God for this miraculous healing and to thank my fellow pilgrims, my family and friends that prayed for me constantly and the priest that gave me the Holy Sacrament of Healing of the Sick; I will feel forever indebted.


I pray to You to look upon all those who are seeking the Father's will now, for the sake of Your bitter agony. Help also those who have learnt the Father's will, but are too weak to accept it. May all the agony be redeemed through a renewed acceptance of the Father's will.1


Dear children! In this time of grace I call you to take the cross of my beloved Son Jesus in your hands and to meditate on his passion and death. May your suffering be united in his suffering and love will win, because he who is love gave himself out of love to save each of you. Thank you for having responded to my call. Medjugorje Message. March 25, 2013


Fr. Slavko Barbaric, O.F.M  Pray with the Heart

It has been 3 years since my dad posted this, though his health has taken a turn for the worst, his faith in God shines through. He spends most days upstairs in the comfort of his bedroom and he prays for us and he prays for you too!

 

The Crucifixion

The Crucifixion

The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Lk 23:34)

When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son!” (Jn 19:26) 3:34)

Then Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. (Lk 23:46)

You commended Your spirit to the Father and died on the cross after You had taken the cup given to You by the Father, because You were ready to accept it.

My Jesus, thank You for having done all this for us. Do teach us to love and to forgive. Strengthen all those who, for the lack of their own love, cannot forgive and destroy each other in hatred. Help us all to accept the Father’s will as You did, because it is the only way to salvation. We pray to You also for the dying; give them strength to commend their spirit to the Father in peace. Take them into Your peace, O Lord Jesus. 1

“Dear children! Today, in a special way, I invite you to take the cross in the hands and to meditate on the wounds of Jesus. Ask of Jesus to heal your wounds, which you, dear children, during your life sustained because of your sins or the sins of your parents. Only in this way, dear children, you will understand that the world is in need of healing of faith in God the Creator. By Jesus' passion and death on the cross, you will understand that only through prayer you, too, can become true apostles of faith; when, in simplicity and prayer, you live faith which is a gift. Thank you for having responded to my call. ” BVM Monthly Message, March 25, 1997

 
1Fr. Slavko Barbaric, O.F.M., Pray With the Heart

The Carrying of the Cross

  The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery


"And he said to all: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself …" (Luke 9:23)

This post was shared by my mother
 a true woman of virtue.

Oh Loving Jesus, meek Lamb of God, I miserable sinner, salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy flesh and laid bear Thy Bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound of thy Most Blessed Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify Thee, and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain, and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy Cross to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins, and to lead me on towards Heaven along the Way of Thy Cross. Amen 1

1 Thomas D. Beven , Bishop of Springfield


We all carry many crosses. When I was five years old my father died. He was only thirty three years old. It was during World War II and my mother remarried. He was a Marine who had fought bravely in five major battles. The war had left him wounded inside and he was never able to talk about it.

When my mother was dating him he was nice to my brothers and I, but when they got married things changed. Where our home had been a home full of music and joy, it was now dark and lonely place.

My one brother David could not cope with this and at the age of eleven years started running away. He was deeply gifted. He could play almost any instrument and had a lovely voice. To support himself he started playing at bars at an early age. He also started drinking and this became his way of life. He joined the service for about three years and married, had two girls, got a mental discharge from the service and started running again.

He ended up in later years as a sick alcoholic living in a rented room with no friends. He was always telling me he would like to join the Catholic Church but I was afraid with his drinking, to bring a priest by.

Late one night my husband and I got a call from the hospital that my brother had had a massive heart attack and was in a coma and had only hours to live. We prayed for him and were led to bring holy water with us. When we got to the hospital and entered his room he was still in a coma, but we prayed for him and baptized him. He died two hours later.

He had left me a note in his possessions that he wanted to be buried at National Cemetery in Riverside and to read the Prodigal Son at his service. There were only four of us who went to his burial. When we arrived we where met by at least twelve fully uniformed military men. They led us like in a parade to his grave sight. They then proceeded to have a twenty one gun salute, folding of the flag and a full service. When they left I read the Prodigal Son in full tears of joy as I know my brother had carried his cross in his own way and Our Loving Father had showed His merciful love and taken him home.

The Crowning With Thorns

The Third Sorrowful Mystery

So Pilate asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?" And He answered him and said, "It is as you say."

 Luke 23:3

"And the soldiers led him away into the court of the palace, and they called together the whole band: And they clothe him with purple, and platting a crown of thorns, they put it upon him."

Mark 16:16,17

My Jesus, they crowned You with the crown of thorns after the scourging. They wrapped You in a scarlet military cloak and made a fool of You-those who were near You. For, Your friends were far away!

When hatred starts forging evil plans, then it is not likely to stop. It was not enough for them to have scourged You so murderously and now they go on mocking You and crowning You with the crown of thorns. But this time, to hatred and evil were surprised before You. You remained calm in all Your suffering. They saw in Your behavior that You understood even those who treated You like that. And even more: that You loved them and that You did not condemn them. But their wickedness had no limits. That is what happens when evil has affected a man or woman, a family, a community. Then it never stops destroying. Jesus, look upon all the offended and the humiliated, the scorned and the rejected. Redeem them with Your crown of thorns and under the grindstone of torturers and oppressors. Cleanse their heart of every hatred. Do not let them plan revenge and return evil with evil. Jesus, in Your name, let forgiveness spread. 1

1 Fr. Slavko Barbaric, O.F.M, Pray With the Heart

For Moral Courage:
I ask prayers this day for an 18 year old girl I met yesterday who is considering an abortion. May all the mighty prayer warriors in heaven and earth protect her and her unborn child through intercessory prayer today. In Jesus name, Amen

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.

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

The Agony in the Garden

The First Sorrowful Mystery

They went to a place called Gethsemane…And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. (Mk 14:32, 33)

Posted by my dad; a man that walks with God.

My daughter has asked me to share my thoughts with you during this time of lent on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. I chose to share “The Agony in the Garden.”

I have been struggling with cancer for many years now. And the story I want to share with you began about six years ago after I had my third major operation for colon cancer.

These operations were taking place as frequently as every six months even though I had undergone an incredibly painful chemotherapy treatment following my first surgery.

It was after the third surgery, with my family gathered by my side to hear the news, that my doctors told me that they wanted to attack the cancer more aggressively by surgically implanting a stint inside of me so that I could take larger doses of chemo on a daily basis. I told the doctors that I did not want to subject myself to anymore of this torturous treatment and that my wife and I had purchased tickets to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Lands. We were scheduled to leave in six months and we were going with a Carmelite order of priests. My oncologist informed me that I would be dead in six months if I did not submit to the treatment. I asked how much time I would have if I submitted to the treatments; he said I could probably add up to two years.

Six months later I found myself in the Garden of Gethsemane, possibly under the same olive trees that our Lord Jesus Christ knelt to ask his father to take this cup from him. We know that this was the cup of forgiveness of  our sins and most importantly our salvation. Yet we know he said “Not my will be done but yours be done”.

As I knelt under these olive trees, I asked our Lord to take this cup (cancer) from me and if not, then please accept my pain and suffering in atonement for my sins and the suffering of others that may be so afflicted.

Some of these olive trees have lived well over 2000 years; and as I looked over the Valley of Kidron I could see the walls of Jerusalem where Jesus traveled to his agonizing torture and death on the cross for you and me.

Six years later I am here to thank God for this miraculous healing and to thank my fellow pilgrims, my family and friends that prayed for me constantly and the priest that gave me the Holy Sacrament of Healing of the Sick; I will feel forever indebted.


I pray to You to look upon all those who are seeking the Father's will now, for the sake of Your bitter agony. Help also those who have learnt the Father's will, but are too weak to accept it. May all the agony be redeemed through a renewed acceptance of the Father's will.1


Fr. Slavko Barbaric, O.F.M  Pray with the Heart