TENTH STATION     
JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

From the Gospel according to Matthew – 27.
And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull) they offered him wine to drink, mingled with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots; then they sat down and kept watch over him there.

Meditation
Jesus is stripped of his garments. Clothing shows a person’s social position; it shows a person’s place in society, it makes that person someone. His public stripping means that Jesus is no longer anything at all, he is simply an outcast, despised by all alike. The moment of the stripping reminds us of the expulsion from Paradise. God’s splendor has fallen away from humanity, who now stands naked and exposed, unclad and ashamed. And so Jesus once more takes on the condition of fallen humanity. Stripped of his garments, he reminds us that we have all lost the “first garment,” that is, God’s splendor. At the foot of the cross, the soldiers draw lots to divide his paltry possessions, his clothes…his tunic, “woven without seams from top to bottom” (Jn 19:23). We may consider this as a reference to the High Priest’s robe, which was “woven from a single thread,” without stitching. For he, the Crucified One, is the true High Priest.

Prayer
Lord Jesus, you were stripped of your garments, exposed to shame, cast out of society. You took upon yourself the shame of Adam, and you healed it. You also take upon yourself the sufferings and the needs of the poor, the outcasts of our world. And in the very way you fulfill the words of the prophets. This is how you bring meaning into apparent meaninglessness. This is how you make us realize that your Father hold you, us, and the whole world in his hands. Give us a profound respect for humanity at every stage of existence and in all the situations in which we encounter people. Clothe us in the light of your grace.

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.

Stabat Mater: Make me feel as you have felt, make my soul to glow and melt, with the love of Christ our Lord.