Day 141: Render Unto God

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Rosary in a Year (Day 141: Render Unto God)

Host: Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR
Publisher: Ascension
Release Date: May 21, 2025

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Introduction

In Day 141 of "The Rosary in a Year" podcast, titled "Render Unto God," Fr. Mark-Mary Ames leads listeners through a profound meditation on the Third Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary: The Crowning with Thorns. This episode intertwines art, scripture, and personal reflection to deepen the listener's prayer life and relationship with Jesus and Mary.

Exploration of Titian’s "Christ Crowned with Thorns"

[02:30] Fr. Ames begins by introducing the artwork by Titian, a master of the Italian Renaissance:

"Titian's painting truly is a masterpiece. As I sit before it, immediately Jesus' words spoken to the Pharisees come to mind: 'Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.'"

He provides a detailed description of the painting, highlighting its historical and artistic significance:

• Artist Background: Titian, born Tiziano Vecellio between 1488 and 1490 in Italy, was a pivotal figure in the 16th-century Venetian Renaissance. His masterpiece, "Christ Crowned with Thorns," originally adorned the chapel of Santa Corona in Milan’s Santa Maria delle Grazie.

• Artistic Elements: The painting features Christ being crowned with thorns by five Roman soldiers against a backdrop of cold gray stone. Notable elements include references to antiquity, such as the Laocoon statue and the Belvedere Torso, which influence the portrayal of Christ's suffering.

[04:45] Fr. Ames emphasizes the emotional and spiritual impact of the artwork:

"We see in the painting, in a sense, the Roman soldiers rendering to Caesar what is Caesar's. Maybe not in the literal sense, according to Jesus' words from the Gospel, but in the sense that they're here, they're punishing Jesus."

He connects the historical scene to contemporary spiritual struggles, inviting listeners to reflect on their own lives in relation to Christ's suffering.

Spiritual Reflection: Sin, Temptation, and Repentance

[06:15] Transitioning from art to personal introspection, Fr. Ames delves into the nature of sin and temptation:

"As I look at Jesus and 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 mocking pain of Jesus through a variety of sins."

He categorizes sins into several types, encouraging listeners to examine areas of indifference, misplaced priorities, neglect of the needy, presumption, and distrust in God. This introspection is aimed at fostering genuine contrition and repentance.

[08:50] Fr. Ames introduces a meditation exercise inspired by the painting:

"Is this likeness to help us 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?"

This metaphor serves to help listeners understand how subtle and pervasive temptation can be, urging vigilance and steadfastness in their spiritual lives.

Prayer and Conclusion

[12:00] Concluding the episode, Fr. Ames leads the listeners in the Rosary, specifically focusing on the Third Sorrowful Mystery. He emphasizes the importance of combining prayer with reflection to achieve a deeper communion with Jesus and Mary.

He offers a final blessing and encourages continued commitment to the journey of the Rosary:

"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."

Key Takeaways

• Integration of Art and Faith: Fr. Ames effectively uses Titian’s "Christ Crowned with Thorns" to bridge the gap between historical art and contemporary spiritual practice.

• Personal Reflection: The episode encourages listeners to actively engage in self-examination, identifying personal sins and areas needing repentance.

• Understanding Temptation: By likening temptation to the soldiers in the painting, Fr. Ames provides a relatable framework for understanding and resisting sinful inclinations.

• Commitment to Prayer: Emphasizing the Rosary as a source of grace, the episode reinforces the importance of daily prayer habits in fostering a deeper relationship with the divine.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Introduction to Titian’s Painting:

  "Titian's painting really is a masterpiece. As I sit before it, immediately Jesus' words spoken to the Pharisees come to mind."
  [02:30]

• Reflection on Sin:

  "I can't help but think of the ways in which I, too, have added to the humiliation and mocking pain of Jesus through a variety of sins."
  [06:15]

• Understanding Temptation:

  "Is this likeness to help us 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?"
  [08:50]

• Final Commitment:

  "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."
  [12:00]

Conclusion

Day 141 of "The Rosary in a Year" offers a rich tapestry of art, scripture, and personal reflection. Fr. Mark-Mary Ames adeptly guides listeners through a meaningful meditation on suffering, sin, and redemption, encouraging a deeper commitment to the Rosary and a more profound relationship with Jesus and Mary. This episode serves as both an educational and transformative experience, ideal for anyone seeking to enrich their spiritual life through the powerful devotion of the Rosary.

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Additional Resources:

• Prayer Plan: Download the complete prayer plan at Ascension Press.
• Podcast Access: Available on the Ascension app, featuring special content and full Rosary recordings.
• Prayer Guide: "Rosary in a Year Prayer Guide" by Ascension complements the podcast with daily readings, saint reflections, and sacred art images.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars of Renewal and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast where 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/rosary in a year or text RIY to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to pray each 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, Saint 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 a brief introduction to our artist and the artwork. Titian I was born to Tiano Vecellio 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 we can 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 is it derives from the celebrated Laocoon, an antique statue discovered in Rome in the year 1506. An archetypal exemplum Dolores meaning example of pain and another famous antique sculptural fragment, the Belvedere Torso. It provides the model for the upper body of the Torturer on the left. And now a description of our painting. Against the building of cold gray stone, five strong men lunge towards Jesus, wrangling 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, right? And 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. Ecce 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 mockering, if you will, pain of Jesus through a variety of sins, the ways in which I have shared in the spirit and you can save in 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, right? 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 the 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, 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. 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 in true and total repentance. Also, as we pray today, a meditation I'll invite you to Is this like 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 like 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, 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.

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Amen.

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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.

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Amen.

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Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the 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.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the 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.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the 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.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the 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.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the 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.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the 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.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

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.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the 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.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the 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.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the 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.

[B]

Amen.

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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.

[B]

Amen.

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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[B]

Amen.

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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.

[B]

All right.

[A]

Poco poco. Friends, God bless you all.