I'm Father Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and this is the Rosary in the Year podcast.

We're through prayer and meditation, the Rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world.

The Rosary in the Year is brought to you by Ascension.

This is Day 40.

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The second sorrowful mystery.

The scourging at the pillar.

Matthew 27, verse 26. Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified. To begin, let us go ahead and set some context and make the transition from Jesus' agony

in the garden to hear his trial before Pilate and then has been handed over to be scourged.

So in the garden, Jesus is arrested by Jewish authorities and he goes before the Sanhedron,

which is this group of Jewish priests, elders, scribes, and they're looking for a reason to condemn Jesus.

And they, and in sense, they even have a conversation about whether or not they condemn him and what that looks like.

And so what they're ultimately going to condemn him for is blasphemy, for making himself equal to God. And the sentence for blasphemy for making himself equal to God.

And the sentence for blasphemy is death, but Jewish authorities don't have the authority to carry out a death sentence.

So they hand him over to Pilate. Pilot is the Roman governor. He was the governor of Judea from about the year 26, AD to the year 36.

And he is not a good guy. As we read in one of the Catholic commentary on sacred scripture,

he stole from the temple treasury. He had votive shields with emperor's name placed in the city. He

massacred Galilee and pilgrims because he feared a riot. So Pilate has this trial and it becomes very clear

that there's no reason for the Roman governor to condemn Jesus to death. He hasn't tried to instigate

some sort of uprising. He's clearly talking about his kingdom as something other,

...