The prophets had already foretold that our Redeemer was to be treated as the vilest of men on earth and that He was to be overwhelmed with insults. How much contempt Jesus would suffer for men! He was called a drunkard, a trickster, a blasphemer and a heretic.

What ignominies He endured in His Passion! His own disciples abandoned Him; one of them sold Him for 30 pieces of silver, and another denied having ever known Him. He was led in bonds through the streets like a criminal; He was scourged like a slave, ridiculed as a fool, crowned with thorns as a mock king, buffeted and spat upon, and finally left to die, hanging on a cross between two thieves, as the worst criminal in the world.

The more I see Thee, my Jesus, despised and put to shame, the more dear and worthy of my love dost Thou become to me.

From the Novena to the Christ Child

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