The Fruit of the Third Sorrowful Mystery: Moral Courage

Last month, in the second sorrowful mystery, we contemplated Jesus’ lacerated body.  Now, in the third sorrowful mystery, our focus shifts to His lacerated heart.  Our Saviour is clothed in a purple garment and a crown of thorns is cruelly pressed into His head – a mock king for the jeering pleasure of an obnoxious crowd of Roman soldiers.  The Sacred Heart is assaulted with insults, ridicule, and outrages.  Yet, in His meek acceptance of this humiliation, He remains Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe.  What would Jesus have us learn from this chapter in His Passion? 

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’  If they persecuted me, they will persecute you” (Jn 15:18-20).

Persecution is a Christian normal.  In times of persecution – including this present age of godlessness – we need moral courage, for we are called to preach the Good News both in season and out of season (2 Tim 4:2).  Being heralds of the Word of God is hard when that Word is despised in popular culture.  Today, Christianity is not only scorned as being outdated and naïve through the prevalence of atheism and materialism.  Those who profess perennial moral truths are cancelled under the charge of ‘discrimination’ and ‘hate speech’ because their devotion to truth stands to offend the moral license of a society that has turned its back on God.  Good is seen as bad and bad is seen as good.  For instance: Abortion is applauded as ‘health care’ and ‘women’s rights’, while generously welcoming children into this world is frowned upon as ‘selfishness’ and ‘a burden on the planet’.  Medical interventions aimed at changing one’s biological sex are justified as ‘compassion’ and ‘affirming care’, whereas teaching children to embrace their God-given identity is censored as a lack of ‘love’ and ‘support’.  Dressing provocatively is promoted as ‘liberation’ and ‘empowerment’ for women, whereas Christian modesty is judged as ‘prudishness’ and an indication of ‘poor body-image’.  Proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ is regarded as ‘arrogance’ and ‘audacity’, while removing Christ from public life is praised as ‘inclusivity’ and ‘tolerance’. 

When it comes to tolerance, the spirit of the world can only tolerate so much Truth.  Jesus was ‘a sign of contradiction’ revealing the thoughts of many hearts, and His true disciples will be the same (Luke 2:34).  Of course, we should strive to share the Gospel with great charity for our brothers and sisters who walk in darkness, so as to win their hearts and lessen the occasion to offend.  Nevertheless, if we announce and live the Gospel without compromise, we are sure to make some people feel uncomfortable.  If, in the recesses of their hearts, the people around us are resisting the voice of God and of their conscience, they will feel judged by our message and our witness.  The light shining within us will be perceived as a threat to their self-deception, and they, in turn, will seek to stamp it out.  We may be rejected and deeply hurt by the people closest to us – our friends and members of our families – who don’t understand who we are or what we stand for.  We may forfeit our social acceptance and popularity.  We may stand to lose our job, our reputation, our financial security, and perhaps even our freedom.  While we are not yet being fed to the lions as the first Christians were, many faithful Catholics in Canada suffer the reality of a ‘white’ martyrdom.  We need the power of the Holy Spirit to endure this unbloody yet painful laceration of the heart – the same Spirit that upheld Jesus in His crowning with thorns, whose gifts we received at our Confirmation.  And so, we must ask for the grace!  In the moments we most feel our weakness, we can always pray, “Come Holy Spirit!”

In order for our hearts to sustain social rejection, we need to know, deep down, that we’re loved.  Jesus was able to endure such rejection and humiliation from human beings because of His communion with His Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit, who is Love personified.  In the same way, it becomes possible for us to endure rejection and humiliation from men through our union with Christ and the whole Trinity – a union that reaches its climax in Holy Communion, the consummation of God’s profound love for us.  Think about that word: Comm – union.  It not only expresses our union with Christ, but with the whole of His Mystical Body, the Church!  In every Eucharist, we are spiritually united with whole community of believers – our brothers and sisters throughout the world, who were born into the same baptism and are fed at the same table.  We are spiritually united with the entire Communion of Saints, including the suffering souls in Purgatory and the glorious saints and martyrs in Heaven.  My dear brothers and sisters, take courage: we are not alone, even when we feel alone because of the world’s hatred!  Nourished by the Body and Blood of the King of the Universe, we are of royal blood.  Our home is in Heaven, where those faithful to Christ will reign with Him forever.