The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) - Day 141: Render Unto God

Episode Date: May 21, 2025

As  we see the bust of Tiberius Caesar at the top of today’s painting, Christ Crowned with Thorns by Titian, the phrase “render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and render to God what is God’s” may come to mind. Fr. Mark-Mary asks us to consider whether we are rendering our worship and love unto God, or unto the world. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Crowning with Thorns and we will be praying one decade of the Rosary. All of the Sacred Art we’ll be meditating with can be found in the Rosary in a Year Prayer Guide, for free linked in the complete prayer plan, or for free in the Ascension App. For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.

Hi, I'm Fr. Mark Mary with the Franciscan Friars of Renewal and this is the Rosary in a 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 a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is Day 141. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a Year, visit ascensionpress.com forward slash

rosary in a year or text R-I-Y to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to preach month and it's a great way to track your progress. The best place to listen to the podcast is in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full rosary with myself and other friars. I encourage you to pick up a copy of the Rosary in the Year Prayer Guide, a book published by Ascension that was designed to complement this podcast.

You'll find all the daily readings from Scripture, St. Reflections, and beautiful images of the sacred art we'll be reflecting on. Today we will be praying with the third sorrowful mystery, the crowning with thorns with help from a painting by the artist Titian entitled Christ Crowned with Thorns. Okay now brief introduction to our artist and the artwork. Titian was born Tiziano Vecchelio between the years 1488 and 1490 in Italy. And he was one of the leading artists in the Italian Renaissance and the most important member

of the 16th century Venetian movement. He would die in the year 1576 in Venice. This particular piece of art, again entitled Christ Crowned with Thorns, is of the Italian Renaissance style. It's an oil painting on a panel altarpiece that was originally in the chapel of Santa Corona of the Church Santa Maria delle Grazie,

which is in Milan. Some interesting details of the painting is that there's explicit references to antiquity, right? The figure of Christ here, it derives from the celebrated Lao Koon, an antique statue discovered in Rome in the year 1506, an archetypal exemplum delores, meaning example of pain. And another famous antique sculptural fragment, the Belvedere Torso,

it provides the model for the upper body of the torture on the left. And now a description of our painting. And now a description of our painting. Against the building of cold, gray stone, five strong men lunge towards Jesus' wrinkling poles to twist the crown of thorns onto Jesus' head. Jesus' body is stripped except for a loose, rose-colored cloak. His bare body reveals a muscular frame that bears down in pain onto the slabs of the stone steps. His powerful arm with defined biceps rests on his lap.

His thickly bearded jaw is a jar, as his eyebrows contort in pain. A marble bust with the Latin inscription Tiberius Caesar looms overhead. Titian's painting really is a masterpiece. As I sit before it, immediately Jesus' words spoken to the Pharisees come to mind. Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." We see the large bust of Tiberius Caesar at the top right of the painting. This is a direct reference to the Roman authorities which condemned Jesus.

And we see in the painting, in a sense, the Roman soldiers rendering to Caesar, what is Caesar's? Maybe not in like the literal sense, according to Jesus' words from the gospel, but in the sense that they're here, they're punishing Jesus. Here they are punishing one deemed to be an enemy to Caesar. And here their homage takes the form of mockery and violence. And then we look at Jesus.

We look at our King, the actual King of the universe, the King of love, who has come to serve and not to be served. Who undergoes violence and humiliation and great suffering under the unaffected gaze of Caesar and at the hand of Roman soldiers who are drunk with anger and hate. hand of Roman soldiers who are drunk with anger and hate. Ece homo, behold the man, behold our king. He who has a right to our adoration and our worship and our total obedience

is freely and willingly crowned with thorns spit upon and mocked. Now notice at the step just below Jesus, on the step there is a solitary wooden pole. And this is the tool that's being used by the Roman soldiers in the painting to press deeply into the crown of Jesus, the crown of thorns. And as I, the viewer here, look at Jesus and look at the wooden stick at His feet, I can't help but think of the ways in which I too have added to the humiliation and mockery, and if you will, pain of Jesus through a variety of sins.

The ways in which I have shared in the Spirit, and you can see even the actions of these Roman soldiers. I think of sins of indifference towards Jesus, and the times in which I have prioritized the things of this world over the things of the spiritual life, especially the esteem of men, the concern of men over the will of God. These times in which I have rendered to Caesar the things proper to God. Or I think of the times in which I've been neglectful or impatient with the poor and the suffering in my midst. The lonely, the addicted, the homeless, but also those who I live amongst, right? Family members, brothers, my Franciscan brothers.

These sins committed against those who have also been made in the image and likeness of God. I think about my sins of presumption, right? Sins that we commit, right? Knowing, well, I can always go to confession. Or I think of the sins of distrust, Sins that we commit, knowing, well, I can always go to confession. Or I think of the sins of distrust, the times that I or we have doubted. The Lord even rejected the truth of who He is. The times we don't trust in His love.

And therefore we don't trust in His plan. And therefore we don't trust in His plan. For all of these sins we have committed, as we look here upon our King, let us ask for the grace of true and deep contrition, and true and total repentance. Also, as we pray today, a meditation I'll invite you to is this, to help this painting help us to see the true nature of temptation and to see temptation as an invitation from one of these Roman soldiers to pick up that wooden stick, that wooden pole, that wooden tool of torture.

And the voice of the tempter says, come join us. My hope is that this is a helpful reflection on the nature of sin. Right, we wouldn't be like indifferent. We wouldn't be nonchalant before Jesus crowned with thorns. And if we were there seeing Jesus, like we wouldn't just sort of casually pick up that stick and join in. And yet with our sins, how often is this exactly spiritually what we're doing?

As we conclude here in prayer with our sorrowful mother, let's ask for the grace of true sorrow and contrition for our sins, and also for greater strength and greater fidelity before future temptation. May we who have, in a sense, shared in these events in the past, by God's help and strengthened by Mary's prayers, commit to never doing so again. And now with Mary let us pray, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. All right, friends, thanks so much for joining me and praying with me again today. I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow.

Alright, Poco Poco friends. God bless you all.