Stations of the Cross Day 10- Jesus is Stripped of His Garments

In today's society, it really is true that "clothes make the man". If you see two people, one dressed in nice business casual clothes versus someone dressed in rags, who are you more likely to go and talk to? I think most of us, if we're being honest, would be more likely to talk to the nicely dressed person. Clothes are what symbolize our stance in society as well as who we are on the inside. For example, if you wear sweatpants to Mass every Sunday, you will most likely be seen as irreverent and as not caring about our Lord*. However, if you dress nicely and in a modest fashion, you will be seen as reverent and having a deep respect and love for the Lord, as well as the people around you. If you wear t- shirts with inappropriate words, symbols, or that are cut in a revealing manner on them, you will not be revealing your true dignity and beliefs to the world. This is why it's so important that we, as followers and lovers of Christ, make sure that our clothing reflects who we are and who we belong to. Although clothing isn't everything, and it's certainly nothing to stress over, it is important to make sure that we always reflect Christ in our appearance and actions since that is what our secular world seems to thrive on.

Since clothes have mostly always been a large part of societal standards, this action of the soldiers symbolized something much more than their just preparing Jesus to be crucified. They stripped away all that He had left to His name. He couldn't speak up and preach at that time, so He wouldn't have been seen as a Rabbi or Prophet by people passing by, He wouldn't have had any of His few possessions with Him, and once He was stripped of all His clothing, He wouldn't have had anything. The soldiers took all that He had. They took it and left Him vulnerable and exposed. He had nothing left to defend himself. There was nothing He could do about His situation. It seems to me that it was at this point that Christ could only be helped by his Heavenly Father. This station marks a turning point in Christ's Passion. He has stopped carrying his cross, and the crucifixion has begun.

* If sweatpants are all you have then it's okay!!