"Sticks and stones may break my bones..... " Remember how you would say that when you were much younger and somebody was taunting you and making fun of you? Usually there were too many for you to fight back or they were too big to take on yourself or you had been taught that it was not proper for you to retaliate. So you said this if you had enough courage to say it or you just closed your mouth and said nothing. How we handle trauma such as this varies among all of us - and for many silence is the only way to cope. The prisons of our fears binds us to a loneliness.
It is not surprising that Jesus made the decision to remain silent as He was being beaten and abused by the soldiers. He could have spoken out or made threats against His attackers - He could have offered all sorts of information - but at that point He had already spoken the truth time after time. At some point in time it is always better to not say anything at all. Jesus became silent and so today as we walk the Stations of the Cross it is we who should speak out - about unjust treatment of others - about discrimination - about poor living conditions - about unfair treatment of workers - about mandates by government that go against religious beliefs - about anything that does not come from God. Today - with the strength of God - we break free from the bars of our fears as we face the Passion of Christ.
Deacon Dale
Deacon Dale
