V. Adoramus te Christe et benedicimus tibi (We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee)
R. Quia per Crucem tuam redemisti mundum (For by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.)
It was not enough for the executioners charged with killing Jesus to crucify Him. They wanted to humiliate Him even more by stripping Him of His clothes.
We men are stripped of our dignity when we sin. While grace envelops us with God’s light and transforms us with divine life, sin tears the robe of grace and dishonours us, so that we are left naked and unprotected, endangering our dignity.
Jesus suffers this humiliation for us, even though in His case it is not a consequence of sin. Wherever people denigrate themselves or are stripped by others, He again suffers this affront for us.
When we suffer humiliation at the hands of others, in the end it is only an apparent victory of darkness. In the example of Jesus, violence only dominates outwardly. Inwardly, the Lord allows all this out of love. He, who at every moment could call legions of angels to His aid, does not defend Himself (cf. Mt 26:53).
But no one can deprive the Lord of His inner dignity!
When others inflict suffering on us, we can share in the dishonour and despoilment that the Lord suffered, knowing that no one can rob us of our deepest dignity as children of God.
If we join our pain to that of Jesus, suffering is ennobled and God inserts it into His work of salvation.
Prayer: “Lord, graciously grant us salvation and peace, that your Church, having overcome all obstacles and errors, may serve you in full freedom, through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit and is God for ever and ever. Amen.”
Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be
