Day 80: His Blood For You

I'm Fr. Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast,

where through prayer and meditation, the rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus

and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to

you by Ascension. This is day 80.
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And if you haven't already, please consider supporting us at ascensionpress.com forward slash support. For today's Lectio Divina, we'll be praying with the second sorrowful mystery, the scourging at the pillar, Matthew 27, verse 26.
And our emphasis is going to be for you. This is my body given for you.
This is my blood poured out for you. We'll begin with our Lectio.
Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified. Insofar as a shorter verse, we can get a little bit more into the details for our meditatio as we engage the scripture here.
The he, of course pontius pilot released for them barabbas this is a a criminal who'd been arrested most notably the name barabbas means right son of the father we have this way in which the world we see is choosing this false son of the father instead of jesus the true son of the father. And then he is scourged.
And after he's scourged, he's delivered to be crucified. And so we can reflect here, knowing what we know about the scourging of Jesus.
We can understand that the weapon of this whip, which would be leather, would have hooks, would have perhaps stones. The scourging, which is going to be so severe, the attempt of it is actually to appease the people so they don't ask him to be crucified.
So it's a severe, severe beating. And I'll invite you to engage this reality, this scripture with your imagination as much as you're able,

as much as you feel comfortable,

but I'm gonna ask you as you do so to keep a particular,

like a focus on the eyes of Jesus, the face of Jesus.

I've placed myself there in this scene

and I'm gonna invite you to reflect on it in this way

as with each scourging, each whipping of Jesus. and I'm going to invite you to reflect on it in this way.

With each scourging, each whipping of Jesus,

can you experience him finding you in the crowd?

His eyes locking on yours.

And communicated in this is his love of you, his choice of you. And perhaps Jesus actually mouths these words, or perhaps it's just what's communicated.
This is my body given for you. And as his blood is shed and pours out on the stone ground, he looks at you with love and determination.
This is my blood poured out for you. And I experienced Jesus as well saying, no one takes my life from me.
I lay it down freely for you. I freely choose to endure this for you.
So much does he love us. So much does he long for us.
So much does he long to save us? He freely endures this for you. I'm going to invite you to continue to remain here.
How much do we go searching for a sign of our worth out there? When our true worth, we can be found in here. Look at what Jesus does for you.
Because he thinks you are good. Because he wants to be with you.
Because of his love for you. We'll have our time of Lexu again.
Then he released for them Barabbas. And having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.
I'll invite you back into the scene for ongoing meditatio. Perhaps at this point, Jesus has been beaten so severely that he falls to the ground, but then he fights to look up again to find your eyes, almost seeking to comfort you.
No one takes my life from me, I lay it down freely. This is my body given for you.

This is my blood poured out for you.

Behold the heart of God.

Behold the heart of Jesus.

Behold his heart of God. Behold the heart of Jesus.
Behold his heart for you.

And again, Alexio, then he released for them Barabbas

and having scourged Jesus,

delivered him to be crucified.

Behold Jesus as he continues to be scourged,

perhaps even now falling all the way to the ground,

struggling to lift himself up to see you again.

It's for love of you that he does this. And he wants you to receive the gift of his love for you.

So behold, behold the heart of Jesus for you. We'll transition to our time here of Oratio.
Following the template, receive, respond, request, rejoice, receive. What is the good news? news behold the heart of Jesus behold the heart of God the one who gives everything for you behold the cost of our salvation also again remember again, remember the truth.

No one takes Jesus's life.

No one does this to him, but he gives it freely.

And what's the response to begin by adoration

and praise of God and his goodness

and Jesus and his goodness.

Jesus, we just adore you for your love,

for the ways in which you've persevered in fighting for us, for loving us even to the point of being scourged for us. We adore your goodness, Lord.
We see your goodness, adore your goodness. And now what's our invitation?

I'm going to invite us to really ask to receive here,

to behold Jesus scourged,

like the sign of our worth.

Jesus, may we repent from trying to prove our worth,

to find our worth, to establish our worth somewhere apart from you. When we have these experiences of self-doubt, self-accusation, disappointment, and the particularities of who we are, of our situation in life.
May we come here and behold you, Jesus. You scourge for us out of love for us.
Move by the goodness that you see in us. May we remember what it means to be purchased by the blood of the Lamb.
And request. All right, Jesus, we just ask for the grace of prayer, fidelity to prayer.
Because, again, it's so easy to get distracted. It's so easy to forget who we are and whose we are.
And to be honest, Lord, sometimes it's difficult to come here and to receive this grace. It's a difficult grace to receive.
It's a heavy grace to receive. May your Holy Spirit give us the strength to remain here, to remain here with Mary, to receive the gift offered.

And you, the Lamb of God,

scourged for our sins.

And now we end with a time of rejoicing.

We just thank you, Jesus,

for your love for us.

We thank you for the free gift you make for us,

even though it costs you everything.

We thank you for this time of prayer, and we thank you for the Holy Gospels, which communicate your word and your life to us. Now let us conclude our Flexa Divina with our contemplation by praying one decade of the rosary.

And I'm going to invite you in particular, if you're able,

to keep in your imagination the scene of Jesus crucified,

his eyes looking at you with love,

with encouragement, asking you to receive this gift.

This is my body given for you.

This is my blood poured out for you. No one takes my life from me.
I lay it down freely for you, for you, for you, and behold the heart of Jesus for you. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen Hail Mary, full grace the lord is with thee blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb jesus holy mary mother of god pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen. All right, friends, well, that's going to conclude our time of Lexu Divina here today.
Certainly encourage you, if you've been moved in prayer, to continue in prayer with our Lord in the silence of your own heart. But thank you for joining me and praying with me today.
And

I look forward to continuing this journey again with you tomorrow. Poco Poco.
All right. God bless y'all.