The Crowning with Thorns.
A Rosary Meditation … The Third Sorrowful Mystery, the Crowning with Thorns. “Why, what evil has he done? But they kept crying out the more, ‘Crucify him!’ ” Mark 15:14. Standing there next to Pilate, having been crowned by the world as a “king”, guilty or innocent, it doesn’t really matter to the world, does it? The only thing that matters to the world is getting its own way. Getting its own way is what makes a thing right or wrong, good or bad. Relativism. The world shrugs its shoulders and mumbles “Whatever” while going on its way. The One, Holy, Apostolic Roman Catholic Church is innocent. Oh, yes, there are lots of people in it that aren’t so innocent. But by themselves they aren’t the Church are they? Holy Mother Church gets her share of “Crucify him!” regardless, doesn’t she? Does the crowd shouting down Pilate make Jesus guilty? Of course not. Does the world turning a blind eye to all the good that God has accomplished through His Church make all that good (the university system which was brought into being by the Church, orphanages, hospitals, clinics, food distribution, disaster relief, political activism of the correct kind, the defense of life and its right to exist because its God-given, its championing true marriage, the saints and their examples, her protecting and furthering the Bible which wouldn’t exist without God having used the Church to keep the printed Word alive, and etc. and etc. and etc. and … ) disappear? Hardly. But the world’s reaction to the Church does prove something. It proves one thing primarily. It proves that the Church IS His Church because they treated Him the same way. And without knowing it the world brings upon us a blessing even when it curses us.
Today … St. Felix. Felix is Latin for “happy”. He was a martyr of Vienne, France, with Achilleus and Fortunatus. Felix, a priest, was accompanied by Achilleus and Fortunatus, who were deacons, on a mission to evangelize the region around Vienne. They were martyred there. The world though that by killing Felix and his companions that it had won and that they had lost. But they brought a blessing upon these three in spite of the evil intent. They shed their blood for Christ and His cause and now spend eternity with Him in Glory. As Felix was being martyred do you think he was happy? Do you think he’s happy now? And what do you think about how the worldly ones that murdered him feel, and what do they think about it all now?
Jesus said … “Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake … ” Matthew 5:11.
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