"And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and striking him on the face. Pilate went out again and said to them, ‘Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.’ So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Here is the man!’ When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.’ "

John 19: 2-6 (NRSV)

Was Mary in the crowd that saw Jesus being brought out publicly degraded and humiliated? What were her feelings as she heard the cries baying for his blood?

Public humiliation is something many people dread. Even innocents are not safe - things in their lives can be hauled into the public domain and distorted with no means of defence. Those associated with people who have committed offences can find themselves treated as pariahs - their own reputations ruined.
Sometimes, the humiliation can be done by someone close - and the results can be devastating. Self esteem is destroyed and the person becomes a shadow of the person they were created to be.

Pray for those who are the subject of humiliation and degradation.

     Mary, sorrowful mother of one dragged before a mob,
     witness to his tortured body,
     seeing your Son despised and rejected
     by the people he came to save.
     Pray for all who are subject to degradation,
     whose dignity and integrity is assaulted
     by those who seek to destroy them. 

    

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