The Mocking of Christ

Number of rosaries said in reparation for the desecration of the Eucharist: 10

Number of people signed up to say rosaries: 1

Gospel of Mark, Chapter 15:15-41

¹⁵ So Pilate, anxious to placate the crowd, released Barabbas for them and, after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.¹⁶ The soldiers led Him away to the inner part of the palace, that is, the Praetorium, and called the whole cohort together.¹⁷ They dressed Him up in purple, twisted some thorns into a crown and put it on Him.¹⁸ And they began saluting Him, 'Hail, king of the Jews!' ¹⁹ They struck his head with a reed and spat on Him; and they went down on their knees to do Him homage.²⁰ And when they had finished making fun of Him, they took off the purple and dressed Him in His own clothes. They led Him out to crucify him.²¹ They enlisted a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, father of Alexander and Rufus, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross. ²² They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull.²³ They offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He refused it.²⁴ Then they crucified Him, and shared out His clothing, casting lots to decide what each should get.²⁵ It was the third hour when they crucified Him.
²⁶ The inscription giving the charge against Him read, 'The King of the Jews'.²⁷ And they crucified two bandits with Him, one on His right and one on His left.²⁸²⁹ The passers-by jeered at Him; they shook their heads and said, 'Aha! So you would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days!³⁰ Then save yourself; come down from the cross!'³¹ The chief priests and the scribes mocked Him among themselves in the same way with the words, 'He saved others, He cannot save Himself.³² Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, for us to see it and believe.' Even those who were crucified with Him taunted Him.³³ When the sixth hour came there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.³⁴ And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani?' which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'³⁵ When some of those who stood by heard this, they said, 'Listen, He is calling on Elijah.'³⁶ Someone ran and soaked a sponge in vinegar and, putting it on a reed, gave it to Him to drink saying, 'Wait! And see if Elijah will come to take Him down.'³⁷ But Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed His last.³⁸ And the veil of the Sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.³⁹ The centurion, who was standing in front of him, had seen how He had died, and He said, 'In truth this man was Son of God.'
⁴⁰ There were some women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary of Magdala, Mary who was the mother of James the younger and Joset, and Salome.⁴¹ These used to follow him and look after Him when He was in Galilee. And many other women were there who had come up to Jerusalem with him.

Gospel of Luke Chapter 23: 25-49 

[25] And he released unto them him who for murder and sedition, had been cast into prison, whom they had desired; but Jesus He delivered up to their will.[26] And as they led Him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country; and they laid the cross on him to carry after Jesus. [27] And there followed Him a great multitude of people, and of women, who bewailed and lamented Him. [28] But Jesus turning to them, said: Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me; but weep for yourselves, and for your children. [29] For behold, the days shall come, wherein they will say: Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the paps that have not given suck. [30] Then shall they begin to say to the mountains: Fall upon us; and to the hills: Cover us.[31] For if in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry? [32] And there were also two other malefactors led with Him to be put to death. [33] And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, they crucified Him there; and the robbers, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. [34] And Jesus said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. But they, dividing His garments, cast lots. [35] And the people stood beholding, and the rulers with them derided Him, saying: He saved others; let Him save himself, if He be Christ, the elect of God.[36] And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him, and offering Him vinegar, [37] And saying: If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. [38] And there was also a superscription written over Him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. [39] And one of those robbers who were hanged, blasphemed him, saying: If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. [40] But the other answering, rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God, seeing thou art condemned under the same condemnation?[41] And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man hath done no evil. [42] And he said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom. [43] And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise. [44] And it was almost the sixth hour; and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. [45] And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.[46] And Jesus crying out with a loud voice, said: Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And saying this, He gave up the ghost. [47] Now the centurion, seeing what was done, glorified God, saying: Indeed this was a just man. [48] And all the multitude of them that were come together to that sight, and saw the things that were done, returned striking their breasts. [49] And all his acquaintance, and the women that had followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.

The Current State of the Church

 

I provided these 2 Gospel passages because I was thinking about something (if this analysis has ANY validity, I give full credit to the Holy Spirit for inspiration) after looking at various pieces of religious art, I came across of 19th century copy of an earlier work with the topic - The Mocking of Christ.  I looked at this piece, which was well done, and I began to really think about the topic and the scene that I was looking at. Then my mind wandered to various topics that I have been writing about here and worked out a thesis that I would like to share.

On the Cross, Our Lord was mocked by Roman soldiers, Pharisees, residents of Jerusalem and others.  He was challenged to save Himself, to prove the He was the Messiah or that He was the Son of God. From a certain pov, they didn't believe in Him and challenged Him to prove otherwise.  I connect that attitude to what I have been writing about recently regarding what so many, and specifically Pope Francis, seems to value in the Church and what they don't.  I came to the conclusion that they have no supernatural faith.  Could not the same be said of those who mocked Christ on the Cross?  And isn't Christ always on the Cross, engaging in the truly ultimate sacrifice for our sins?

Also, Christ is on Earth right now in every tabernacle in every Catholic Church in the world.  The Eucharist is the living presence of God on Earth just as he was when we has crucified.  The current state of our desecration of the Eucharist is at least equal to the mocking of Christ that He experienced on the Cross, is it not?  Do we not, by receiving Him improperly in the hand, without due deference (on our knees) and by unconsecrated hands ("extraordinary ministers") just mocking His Divinity like those in 33AD did on Golgotha?  

So for those of us who cannot receive Him in anything but the proper way, who are we in this scene?  Well, what has Pope Francis recently called us - "fundamentalists", right?  Are we not being called out by Pope Francis and other clerics and Catholics who think like him as the problem instead of the solution?  And aren't we all sinners and don't we admit it without qualification?

I would suggest that we, the ones faithful to Christ, who recognize His Divinity and pray that He will look kindly upon us and are attacked by those in power for actively defending Christ and His Will, are the good thief crucified alongside Our Lord who sees Christ for who He is and asks to be accepted into Heaven.  The Church Militant is being crucified alongside Our Lord by those who don't believe in Him.  I would also suggest that those of us who pray unceasingly, engaging in spiritual battle with the forces of darkness covering the Earth currently are the women who see the crucifixion from a distance and come upon the Lord dead on the Cross.  

I have very strong feelings regarding the desecration of the Eucharist and I subscribe to the belief that the only way you can desecrate the Eucharist is through non-belief, either through ignorance or willfulness.  Given the extreme presence of this desecration, I personally conclude that very few people in the world recognize the Lord in the Eucharist and offer due deference.  Only supernatural faith can bring you to the conclusion that Our Lord is present in the Eucharist.

This is what the Church is lacking now.  This is what our current batch of clerics is encouraging in the Church.  This is our challenge: to defend His Divinity, before, now and forever.