Meditatio

Once in a blue moon I have a good idea. I'm sure about a million people have had the same idea, but this is the first time I have heard about this meditation.

I have been told a melancholic must view all things from the perspective of the Foot of the Cross. I was viewing the Joyful Mysteries from said vantage point and came to a very simple realization.

What horror would it be to take a whip to an infants back! Scourging a baby is one of the most despicable, nauseating thoughts I can come up with. Yet, it is basically what happened 2000 years ago. Let me ask you, what difference was there in the man, Christ Jesus, and the little baby born in Bethlehem.
Was it okay to whip Christ because he learned how to talk? Was it because he grew facial hair that allowed the Romans to gasp for air in between lashings? No. Well then what was different? The answer is really nothing.

Not one thing was different between the man and the child Jesus, but age! He never merrited the whip. Not for one instance in His life did He transgress. It would be okay to punish any other man by the whip, but not Our Lord. I have earned this punishment. Not He who did nothing wrong. Justice is rendering to God what is His due. This act was unjust! Never did God need to shed His blood. He should not have had to go through the torment. A convict must make reparation for his past faults. I convict myself of sin. A baby who grows up and sins just once owes Almighty God penance. But He was a Lamb, pure and white. The Lamb that made us, and we slayed the Victim in a humiliating, hot, red sacrifice.

He was equally as mild as the bambino in swaddle. Christ was equally as obedient as the baby presented in the temple for circumcision. He was as innocent as the infant who nursed on Our Lady's breast. He was as forgiving as the Lord who knew Peter would deny him thrice. Literally, nothing but growth changed in Our Lord on his way to Mount Calvary.

It is haneous to think of the crimes against Our Lord after one comes to this understanding. And we did that to Him. We woke a toddler up, took him out of his crib, took his pajamas and diaper off, and lashed his back to the bone with nine-tails. Spit on his opened body, and crowned his once adorable, now unrecognizable head with thorns.

Jesus Christ, crucified, have mercy on us.
Our Lady, refuge of sinners, pray for us.

Pray the Rosary. It helps!