Day 81: Behold Your King

Summary

The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames)

Episode: Day 81: Behold Your King

Date: March 22, 2026
Host: Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR / Ascension
Main Theme:
A meditative reflection on the Third Sorrowful Mystery—the Crowning with Thorns—focused on the theme “Behold Your King.” Fr. Mark-Mary guides listeners through lectio divina, inviting a deeper encounter with Jesus as King in his suffering and a call to adoration and gratitude.

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Episode Overview

In this episode, listeners are drawn into a meditative prayer on Jesus’ crowning with thorns, emphasizing the paradoxical kingship of Christ as revealed in suffering, mockery, and love. Through scripture, imagination, and prayer, Fr. Mark-Mary challenges listeners to contemplate the cost of salvation, to respond with adoration, and to let their hearts become “a safe place” for Christ.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Scriptural Meditation: The Crowning with Thorns (Matthew 27:27–31)

Timestamps: 00:59–04:02

• The meditation opens with a reading of the passage where Jesus is mocked by Roman soldiers, clothed in a scarlet robe, crowned with thorns, and derided as “King of the Jews.”
• Fr. Mark-Mary invites listeners to enter the scene with their imagination, recognizing the physical crowd: “That’s a couple hundred soldiers. It’s this big audience and they’ve all come presumably to mock Jesus, to see this one who had been spoken of.” (02:29)
• Acknowledgement that perhaps some present are not of the same mocking mindset, “Admittedly, maybe there’s some souls there who weren’t of the same mindset, but overall, they’re there out of curiosity.” (02:50)
• The invitation:

  “Just to stay here, to sit before the reality. Here’s Jesus. The same Jesus born in Bethlehem, the same Jesus went about healing, loving, teaching, saving, shepherding.” (03:15)

2. Contemplating Our King in Suffering

Timestamps: 04:02–06:45

• The reflection stresses the universality of Christ’s sacrifice: “He’s come to save each and every one of these soldiers who spit upon him, who mock Him. All of it is for them.” (04:00)
• The paradoxical kingship:

  “This is our King. They mockingly say, ‘Hail, King of the Jews.’ But we with true worship and adoration, behold the true nature, the true love, the true sacrifice, the true dignity and royalty of our King.” (04:18)

• A calling for listeners to participate actively: “In your imagination as you see him stripped, mocked, crowned with thorns... truly say, behold our King. We worship you, our King.” (04:35)
• Visual details are highlighted to deepen impact: “If you’re comfortable, I’d encourage you just to really look into the details of what this crown of thorns looks like, how it rests upon his head, the new wounds it inflicts.” (06:18)
• Sin’s effects are visualized with the suffering of Christ: “Behold the true nature of sin and what sin does to the soul. But also behold your king again.” (06:38)

3. Praying with the Heart: Oratio—Receive, Respond, Request, Rejoice

Timestamps: 06:46–11:37

• Receive:
  “Behold your God. Behold your Savior. Behold your King. Behold the cost of your salvation, which again, I think it's so important to receive in the context of Jesus does this for us freely. No one takes his life from him. He lays it down freely.” (07:18)
• Respond:
  Adoration is underscored:

  “Lord, we adore you as King. Our victorious King, our crucified King, our meek King, our conquering King. We adore you. We love you. We bless you. We worship you.” (08:25)

• Listeners are prompted to let their hearts be a “safe place” for Jesus:

  “Lord, I'd love my heart to be a safe place for you... how often you are continuing to be mocked and dismissed in the world. Jesus, I want to receive you, I want to see you, I want to worship you as the true King. May you always find a home, Jesus, in my heart.” (09:26)

• Request:

  “I just ask, I ask for a heart of praise and a heart of worship and heart of adoration, a heart of obedience, a heart of gratitude as I see you, as you are, Lord, what type of king you are...” (10:03)

• Rejoice:
  Concluding thanksgiving:

  “We thank you, Jesus, for your love for us. We thank you for in fact being our king. And we thank you for this time of prayer and the grace that you have given us.” (10:55)

4. Contemplative Prayer – Decade of the Rosary

Timestamps: 11:37–15:01

• The episode transitions into praying one decade of the Rosary, focused on the Crowning with Thorns and the intention to “behold your King.”
• Listeners are invited to continue praying, if moved by the Spirit.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the mockery of Jesus:

  "They mockingly say, ‘Hail, King of the Jews.’ But we with true worship and adoration, behold the true nature, the true love, the true sacrifice, the true dignity and royalty of our King."
  (Mark Murray, 04:18)

• A call to imagine the scene:

  “Go ahead and take the time again with your imagination to see Jesus scourged, bloodied, beaten. Notice the scarlet robe on his shoulders, the reed in his hand. And the crown of thorns on his head.”
  (Mark Murray, 05:35)

• Invitation to make our hearts a home for Christ:

  “Lord, I’d love my heart to be a safe place for you as we see here. Like, you came into the world and you’re rejected. You came into the world and you’re mocked. And how often you are continuing to be mocked and dismissed in the world. Jesus, I want to receive you, I want to see you, I want to worship you as the true King. May you always find a home, Jesus, in my heart.”
  (Mark Murray, 09:26)

• On the essence of Christian worship:

  “I ask for a heart of praise and a heart of worship and heart of adoration, a heart of obedience, a heart of gratitude as I see you, as you are, Lord, what type of king you are, what time the cost of your victory.”
  (Mark Murray, 10:03)

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Segment Timestamps

• Opening meditation on Scripture: 00:59–04:02
• Imaginative contemplation of the Passion scene: 04:02–06:45
• Oratio (Receive, Respond, Request, Rejoice): 06:46–11:37
• Praying a decade of the Rosary: 11:37–15:01

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Conclusion

Fr. Mark-Mary’s gentle, reverent tone invites listeners not only to meditate on Christ’s suffering and kingship but also to respond with adoration and a renewed desire to let their hearts be a home for Jesus. The episode closes with a decade of the Rosary, solidifying the prayerful insights gained and anchoring the day in contemplative trust and gratitude.

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For further resources or the complete prayer plan, visit ascensionpress.com/riy.

Transcript

[Mark Murray]

Foreign.

[Franciscan Friar]

Mark Murray with Franciscan Friars of the 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 becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension.

[Mark Murray]

This is day 81.

[Franciscan Friar]

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 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. No matter what app you're listening in, remember to tap, follow or subscribe for your daily notifications. I encourage you to pick up a copy of the Rosary in a 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 full page

[Mark Murray]

images of the sacred art will be reflecting on.

[Franciscan Friar]

For today's Lectio Divina, we'll be praying

[Mark Murray]

with the third sorrowful mystery, the crowning with thorns. Matthew chapter 27, verses 27 to 31 and our point of emphasis will be Behold your King, starting with our Alexio. Then the soldiers of the Governor took

[Franciscan Friar]

Jesus in the praetorium and they gathered

[Mark Murray]

the whole battalion before him, and they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him, and plating a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand, and kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, Hail King of the Jews. And they spat upon him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify Him. Let's go ahead and engage the Scripture here for our meditation or meditatio, if you remember. So we have the whole battalion here

[Franciscan Friar]

gathered in the praetorium, so that's a couple hundred soldiers.

[Mark Murray]

So it's this big audience and they've all come presumably to mock Jesus, to see this one who had been spoken of. Admittedly, maybe there's some souls there who

[Franciscan Friar]

weren't of the same mindset, but overall they're there out of curiosity.

[Prayer Leader]

They're there to mock.

[Mark Murray]

And before this crowd of soldiers, they strip him and they mock him with a scarlet robe, crown of thorns,

[Prayer Participant 1]

a

[Prayer Leader]

reed, and then they they Mock him,

[Mark Murray]

kneeling before him, saying, hail, King of the Jews. And really the. The invitation for I would say our. Our meditation is. Is just to stay here, to sit before the reality. Here's Jesus. The same Jesus born in Bethlehem, the same Jesus went about healing, loving, teaching, saving, shepherding.

[Franciscan Friar]

And he's come to save each and

[Mark Murray]

every one of these soldiers who spit upon him, who mock Him. All of it is for them, like the. For your includes each of them. But he came to his own home, in his own. Knew him not. Here he is rejected by the Roman soldiers, mocked by the Roman soldiers. But this is our King. They mockingly say, hail, King of the Jews. But we with true worship and adoration, behold the true nature, the true love, the true sacrifice, the true dignity and royalty of our King. So in your imagination as you see him stripped, mocked, crowned with thorns, As the rest of the battalion kneels and shouts with mockery, truly say, behold our King. We worship you, our King. We adore you, our King. We'll return to our Alexio. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, hail, King of the Jews. Go ahead and take the time again with your imagination to see Jesus scourged, bloodied, beaten. Notice the scarlet robe on his shoulders, the reed in his hand. And the crown of thorns on his head. If you're comfortable, I'd encourage you just to really look into the details of what this crown of thorns looks like, how it rests upon his head, the new wounds it inflicts. Behold the true nature of sin and what sin does to the soul. But also behold your king again. Behold the one who asks for your trust. Behold his goodness

[Prayer Participant 2]

in him.

[Mark Murray]

Behold your dignity. Okay, we'll return with to our. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, hail, King of the Jews. Hail, King of the Jews. Let us transition to our oratio. Our prayer following the template. Receive. Respond. Request. Rejoice. What is the good news here offered for us to receive? What is God revealing but himself? Again, behold. Behold your God. Behold your Savior. Behold your King. Behold the cost of your salvation, which again, I think it's so important to receive in the context of Jesus does this for us freely. No one takes his life from him. He lays it down freely. Receive the good news of who it is that we worship and who it is that asks for your fidelity and obedience. Respond. We begin with adoration and praise. Lord, we adore you as King. Our victorious King, our crucified King,

[Prayer Leader]

Our

[Mark Murray]

meek King, our conquering King. We adore you. We love you. We bless you. We worship you. Thank you, for your heart revealed here. We thank you for your fidelity to

[Prayer Leader]

the Father, That even here, even now,

[Mark Murray]

you know who you are, his beloved son. And you know who he is, his faithful Father. And go ahead and pay attention now to like. What's the movement in your heart? Is there an invitation for a type of action, any form of repentance? Lord, in particular, I'm just feeling a.

[Prayer Leader]

Like a desire in my own heart.

[Mark Murray]

I'm going to offer this to you, the listener, to Lord, I'd love my heart to be a safe place for you as we see here. Like, you came into the world and you're rejected. You came into the world and you're mocked. And how often you are continuing to be mocked and dismissed in the world. Jesus, I want to receive you, I want to see you, I want to worship you as the true King. May you always find a home. Jesus, in my heart. I see you, Lord, and I know that you are king, that you are good, that you are Savior, that you are Creator, that you are the light. I repent of any ways and I'm going to offer you an invitation of any ways in which we reject him. We don't trust him, Lord, we repent. Jesus, I just ask, I ask for a heart of praise and a heart of worship and heart of adoration, a heart of obedience, a heart of gratitude as I see you, as you are, Lord, what type of king you are, what time the cost of your victory. May I be rooted in this reality, in this truth, Lord, and my heart, may my heart overflow with gratitude through the power of your spirit, Lord. We're going to ask for grateful hearts. And I will end with our rejoicing. We thank you, Jesus, for your love for us. We thank you for in fact being our king. And we thank you for this time of prayer and the grace that you have given us. Thank you, Lord, for this time. Okay, we'll conclude now with our time of contemplato or contemplation, praying one decade of the rosary. With that particular intention, I'm going to ask you to just really keep before you like Jesus crowns with thorns and behold your king.

[Prayer Leader]

Now with Our Lady.

[Mark Murray]

Let us pray.

[Prayer Leader]

In the name of the Father and

[Mark Murray]

of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

[Prayer Leader]

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

[Mark Murray]

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.

[Prayer Participant 3]

Hail Mary, full of grace.

[Mark Murray]

The Lord is with the blessed art

[Prayer Participant 2]

thou among women, and blessed is the

[Prayer Participant 1]

fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Prayer Leader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Mark Murray]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[Prayer Participant 3]

Hail Mary, full of grace.

[Mark Murray]

The Lord is with the blessed art

[Prayer Participant 2]

thou among women and blessed is the

[Prayer Participant 1]

fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Prayer Leader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Mark Murray]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[Prayer Participant 3]

Hail Mary, full of grace.

[Mark Murray]

The Lord is with the blessed art

[Prayer Participant 2]

thou among women, and blessed is the

[Prayer Participant 1]

fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Prayer Leader]

Holy, Holy Mary, mother of God, pray

[Mark Murray]

for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[Prayer Participant 3]

Hail Mary, full of grace.

[Mark Murray]

The Lord is with the blessed art

[Prayer Participant 2]

thou among women, and blessed is the

[Prayer Participant 1]

fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Prayer Leader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Mark Murray]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

[Prayer Leader]

Amen.

[Prayer Participant 3]

Hail Mary, full of grace.

[Mark Murray]

The Lord is with the blessed art

[Prayer Participant 2]

thou among women, and blessed is the

[Prayer Participant 1]

fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Prayer Leader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Mark Murray]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

[Prayer Leader]

Amen.

[Prayer Participant 3]

Hail Mary, full of grace.

[Mark Murray]

The Lord is with the blessed art

[Prayer Participant 2]

thou among women, and blessed is the

[Prayer Participant 1]

fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Prayer Leader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Mark Murray]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[Prayer Participant 3]

Hail Mary, full of grace.

[Mark Murray]

The Lord is with the blessed art

[Prayer Participant 2]

thou among women, and blessed is the

[Prayer Participant 1]

fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Prayer Leader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Mark Murray]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[Prayer Participant 3]

Hail Mary, full of grace.

[Mark Murray]

The Lord is with the blessed art

[Prayer Participant 2]

thou among women, and blessed is the

[Prayer Participant 1]

fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Prayer Leader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Mark Murray]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[Prayer Participant 3]

Hail Mary, full of grace.

[Mark Murray]

The Lord is with the blessed art

[Prayer Participant 2]

thou among women, and blessed is the

[Prayer Participant 1]

fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Prayer Leader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Mark Murray]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[Prayer Participant 3]

Hail Mary, full of grace.

[Mark Murray]

The Lord is with the blessed art

[Prayer Participant 2]

thou among women, and blessed is the

[Prayer Participant 1]

fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Prayer Leader]

Holy, Holy Mary, mother of God, pray

[Mark Murray]

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.

[Prayer Leader]

In the name of the Father and

[Mark Murray]

of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. That's going to conclude our time of doing lectio divina. Certainly if the Lord's been speaking to your heart and you'd like to continue to pray, you're very encouraged to do so. Get a little extra time of silence. But for us, that will be our time. Thank you so much for joining me and praying with me today. I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow. All right, Poco poco. Friends, God bless y'. All.