Things happened very, very fast.
Immediately after declaring Jesus’ innocence,
Pilate sent him away for a brutal scourging
and then left him to the cruel devices
of the Roman soldiers.
The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns,
set it on his head, and mocked him,
“striking him on the head with a staff
and spitting on him” (Mark 15:19).
It looks like things couldn’t get
any worse than that–
but we know:
It does–very soon.
But just for now,
unexpectedly
there is this brief moment
that you can spend with the Lord.
He is waiting to be led away
to his crucifixion.
He sits there,
blood trickling down
from his crown of thorns.
Though he is shaking
with exhaustion and fear,
he is trying his best
to stay strong and brave,
to brace himself
for the horrors to come.
For some reason,
you find yourself there with him.
You have very little time left.
Is there something at all that you can do?
You cannot save him from the crucifixion,
but perhaps you can at least keep him company,
pray with him, do something?
There is something.
You could ease a little bit of his pain.
When we think about it,
we can remove some of the thorns
on his crown.
Each time we choose good
and each time we reject evil–
no matter how insignificant
it may seem to us–
there is one thorn less
on his crown.
Each time we decide to extend a hand
to help those in need–
even and especially when it’s inconvenient…
Each time we choose not to be negative,
not to speak ill of others
or to spread fear, anger, or despair
especially during these days
of uncertainty and danger…
Each time we refuse
to be governed by our appetites
and we instead respond more generously
and more lovingly to others–
even and especially when it’s hardest.
Each time we spend more time in prayer…
Each time we resist hurting others
and harming ourselves…
With each and every single one
of those decisions–
big or small–
there is one thorn less
on Jesus’ crown.
Some of those thorns in his crown
are thorns that hurt us as well.
Could you name
some of the thorns in your life?
What can you do in your life
to pluck out some of those thorns?
Feel free to share your thoughts below.
91 replies on “A MOMENT WITH JESUS”
Thorns – thoughts of self-doubt and comparison. The judgment of others who I know are also struggling.
Dear Lord, these thorns big and small, you have borne on your head. Please forgive me. Please help me to remove these thorns.
Perhaps I can help God by plucking out thorns of indolence. A thorn of mediocrity. A thorn of doubt. A thorn of despair.
I am sorry for all these thorns that I’ve failed to remove before, Lord. Please forgive me and help me to mend my ways.
With this anger and hatred towards others in my heart, may the Lord grant me the grace to be more understanding ans to have longer patience.
The thorns in my life are the challenges I’m currently facing in life….financial, personal, family, mental and spiritual problems. The best way to deal with the pain is to offer my suffering to God or others. Or by thinking more of others than my own pain and have faith that God will never give me anything I can’t handle.
Thorns
my responsibilities undone, my feelings towards people who have hurt me, words unspoken and missed opportunities. I offer them up to You Lord. May I find wholeness in You and Through you alone. Amen
THORN 1. Giving up easily on someone and with other people.
THORN 2. Harboring hate to those who has done me wrong.
My Most Sweet JESUS,
Be my strength..
Heal me with your love..
Wash me with your mercy..
AMEN
LIFE’S THORNS –
The hard acceptance of the truth that life will not wait for you even if you choose to be lazy today. Which leads to the next thorn – laziness. Laziness brings about many different effects which does not make up good fruits.
In this course of life, choosing EVERY DAY to be holy must be apparent.
Reading the comments of others, I have to say – yes, some – many in fact – of those that others write about are my thorns, too.
Thorns of despair, even when I say I trust you, Lord.
Thorns of envy. Of resentment. Thorns of my sometimes “why me, God?” questions.
Thorns of pride. Of addictions I cannot control.
Grant me your grace, Lord, that I may pluck away these thorns that hurt you so.
Strip me off of everything in me that is not yours my Lord and my God. Make me always realize each time i sin. Thank you Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray that God will rid in me any bitterness and hate towards others. Thank you, Lord for this wonderful message in reminding me the little and big things I can do to serve you better.
Fear is my thorn.. And Lord Jesus and Mama show how cast away fear by perfect love.
Perfect love drives out all our fear.
Teach me and guide me and empower me to love like you. As you commanded Jesus Christ, my love
“Love one another as I have loved you.”
Fear conquered by your perfect love and trust to God the Father. Lord Jesus Christ, I trust in you.Amen
Lord, please forgive me for all the decisions I have in my life that are not pleasing to you. Sometimes, I am governed by my pride that I refuse to listen or to look for the signs of what you really want from me. I am sorry if there are times that I am consumed by my fear of what is going to happen next that I forget that you are the only One who can guide us towards a future that is best for us. Hold my hand and ease my mind, O Lord, for sometimes I rely too much on reason rather than my faith in You. Amen.
Thorn of fear and doubt, thorn of self righteousness, thorn of judgement
I sit here with you Lord and acknowledge my responsibility in crowning you with my thorns. May my resolve be guided by your grace to own up to my faults and one be one remove the thorns off your crown. I sit here with you in awe of your love for us and regretful of how I may have contributed to your suffering.
Thorn of fear coming from doubt! Please Lord keep me out from those feelings which I know is drive of the evil. Move my mind, body and soul to a good place. One where I feel your love and support. One where I’m inspired to gracious living. Thank you God!
The thorn of pride
The desire to find love and company with other people. I have always been aware that You have always manifested your love through my relationships (family, friends, other people), yet I still yearn for that romantic love which I think would complete me. While desiring for one isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I hope You would allow me to consistently see the beauty in these existing relationships that I have now, and enrich them for as much as I could. At the same time, while I am still not the right person for someone, I hope You could help me become a better version of me to make an impact on others, to reach out to them, and be of aid to them in whatever way possible. I am indeed an instrument of Your love as well, and I hope I could extend the same towards others.
God will grant that romantic love to us. He will tell us. And when He does, we’ll take the courage to embrace it.
– Not setting aside a proper time for prayer.
– Finding convenience to look at the negative behavior or the traits I do not like in a person.
– Desiring materials things that are ways beyond my means.
One big thorn is the lack of trust on your disciples here now – the priests. Am I just taking the easy way out? Is there more problems beneath the surface that I refuse to acknowledge? Lord, I want to remove this thorn and be reconciled with you
There are also other priests I know who are kind and holy. May the Lord introduce You to them.
1. Fear
Fear in all forms can be very difficult to carry on a daily basis– fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of judgment, fear of lost chances, or just fear of loss.
This feat leads to an even heavier burden which is anxiety and this anxiety pretty much influence our decisions. The best thing to let go of this fear is to entrust everything to God. I’ve been battling this for years now, and everyday is a baby step closer to my goal of being worry-free. It’s a struggle, but everyday, I am making a difference, and I don’t plan to stop until I reach my goal– that I can finally pluck that thorn that’s both hurting me and Jesus.
Jesus, these are my thorns that caused your pain- indifference, self-righteous, disrespect, greed and pride. I want to replace them with humility, compassion and service to others,
Thorns: lustful desires, greediness, selfishness, indifference towards my mother and my siblings and some relatives, laziness, wasting time, being judgmental, envy.
Aside from prayer, I need to cooperate with God’s grace by truly being mindful of my actions, not to act impulse or emotion as much as possible, but try (though it is very hard, but with God’s grace, can be done) to look everything through the lens of God. Also, I want to fully consecrate myself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, for she always points to Jesus.
One stubborn thorn I struggle with is my resistance to regular confession. It is just one thorn but I know if I am able to pull out this one, many others will also be pulled out. Lord, help me to seek regular reconciliation with you.
Thorns:
– being impatient
– being envious of others; comparing myself with others
– harboring feelings of resentment and bitterness, especially with my friends
– not having respect to my father
– being so anxious and fearful about the future
– being proud
– being always conscious of what others will think of me
– being self-righteous
– sins of the flesh
I acknowledge all these, Lord, and I turn to You. Help me pluck out these thorns of mine so my vision with You becomes clearer.
Lord, help me to throw away my thorns of pride, lust, laziness, judgment, arrogance … help me to be more prayerful, kinder, humbler and more generous, that I may lessen the thorns that hurt you!
Lord Jesus,
Forgive me for my sins, my weaknesses, my failures, my failure to accompany You, my falls and for adding to Your crown of thorns. Starting today, help me visualize Your crown of thorns in these occasions to sin so my love, gratitude and appreciation for You will move me to remove thorns instead of adding to them.
I am sorry!
Help me to get up each time I fall, just like You did.
my thorns: unwelcome of love, gluttony, pride, envy, lust, vanity, sloth, anger, doubt, fear of rejection, inaction, not passionate on anything, lack of vigor, sickness, hurt, pain, unforgiveness, cowardice, poor self-esteem, arrogance, judgment, fear of criticism, discouragement.
I will plan my day with God. So I will be guided in the right direction. His heart, my heart. His wisdom to my brain. His Spirit to my hands. Because He can work through me. Forgive me Lord. Let me just continue to rely on You while You work on and through me. Let me do my best through You. Let me do good for others to offer them back to You.
Lord, Help me remove my thorns of pride and self righteouness that hurt you and separate me from the people that I love. Help me to be kind and humble. Thank you. Amen.
Lord Jesus, i am human is not an excuse. Though we could never avoid sin, we can actually choose to live a better life. I am sorry for the thorns that are on Your crown because of my repeated sins. Everyday is an opportunity to remove a thorn: though singular maybe completely. I pray to be able to lessen the thorns either by helping those in need or by walking away from the sins that i can avoid. Amen
Forgive me Lord for repeatedly hurting you with my thorns of judgement, self-righteousness, resignation to be better.. thorn of not trying, of fighting harder, of refusing the road of self-sacrifice.. thorns of vanity and self-preservation.. of pride and sloth.. of mediocrity… of lust! and of believing that i am caught in a cycle i cannot free myself from. Help me take away some thorns in your head Lord… grace me with a heart that is deeply aware of your love.. of your forgiving and transforming love. Amen.
Thorns of our own vices and addictions that can lead us astray from God and even show him that we don’t love him. Those that promote strife between others over our own personal beliefs and desires. Those that crave for more and more of power, greed, and belonging for our own personal benefit. Those that encourage us to do evil, thinking it will do us good.
My thorns:
1. Pride and Perfectionism
2. Mistrust for those who have repeatedly hurt me
3. Unexpected lust
4. Anxiety for the future
What I can do is to capitalize on these virtues:
1. Humility and thinking that To be with You is the ultimate goal over anything else
2. Forgiveness as you have forgiven us
3. Acceptance that You alone can fufill my needs and not the world
4. Trust that you are there
Thank you Lord
Many of my thorns are thorns I have created in my head. If I stop sweating the small stuff and focus on the bigger things and what is more important there will actually be no thorns. Lord, help me to remember always that nothing difficult, inconvenient, resentful in my life compares to the difficulty you have gone through.
Please help me to be kinder, more patient and more humble.
I will be kinder to myself. I will pray for the grace to forgive myself, and stop doubting that God’s love is greater than my feeling of unworthiness. I promise to go to confession after this lockdown.
My thorns:
1. Unrealistic expectations of myself (perfectionism)
2. Constant worry, fear, and anxiety of: what other people think of me; of being judged negatively, rejected, and betrayed; in living my life; of my future; of my family’s relationships and future
3. Comparing myself with other people, envying and being jealous of other people and what others have that I don’t; feeling pity for myself
4. Rejecting instead of accepting myself as I am (both my lights and shadows), and instead of honoring all kinds of emotions and feelings I experience
5. Not making enough time to listening attentively and following through with the better and more loving voice within me
6. Impatience, lack of compassion, and being hard & judgmental on myself when I make mistakes or fail at something, when I feel humiliated, imperfect, and vulnerable
7. Telling myself that: “I hate my life”
8. Letting my family members treat me without respect and hurt me with their words
9. Being so uptight – not letting myself relax, have some fun and laughter, trying to figure everything out, fix and save everyone including my family and myself
10. Pride – not asking help from others when I need their help, presence, or support
11. Not trusting God with all my heart, mind, and soul
I will be kinder …
I will start to deny myself of things that give me comfort…
Dear Lord, you have taught me a lesson- -a very costly one: my unforgiving attitude – i prayed that you grant me this grace & you did, but i was too slow to give it to the person bec he did not show remorse > it was Pride on my part/ and it was also bec i have not forgiven myself as well- (as they say you cannot give what you do not have) – I was a victim of that>That was my Thorn !! Now, I can never give it to the person who has hurt me bec of his untimely passing? But I now Trust that you have forgiven me & I am more willing to forgive, I have plucked a thorn from both of us ~ I promise to pray that his soul be with you & be eternally happy. ? Thank you Lord for your grace and your unconditional ❤️
Lord, I don’t know what to say, so much have I hurt you. Please make me aware of the times I am thrusting thorns into your head, of the times I am hurting you through my thoughts and my actions. Let me bring you comfort rather than pain, Lord.
My temper and indifference.
Lord, may I ever give up in trying my best to follow You.
Lord, my anger, temper, and tendency to think the worst of others are some of the “thorns” that I know hurt you. I am trying my best to see the good in people like he does, despite all they’ve done, and try my best to be calmer and still keep on educating people instead of judging them.
Ang pagiging makasarili ko ang kukunin ko po sa inyo, Panginoon. I’ll try my best to think of others kasi ikaw, inuna mo nga kami eh. Knowing your fate, you still went through it and felt everything… for us. For all of us..
Lord, pls increase my faith para maisabuhay ko ang aking paniniwala that you sacrificed your life for our salvation, for our redemption. May mga pagkakataon that i have doubts in the resurrection and after life, pls Lord guide me to rediscover my faith
My indifference & arrogance are thorns to our Lord Jesus. This is not only distancing myself from Him, but also distancing for my fellow man.
Lord, please give me the grace & strength to overcome this as well other actions that creates this distance.
Amen
Lord help me to choose my battle and to rely on you all the days of my life. Help me to be of service to others in your liking and preference. Allow me to help you in carrying the cross by carrying mine with the assurance that we are going to walk side by side. Amen.
Lord, give me the grace to choose you at every crossroad. I struggle to see others with your eyes. Teach me to honor you in my everyday life by whatever works you ask me to do.
Teach me to remove the thorns on your head. Teach me to be there for others. Teach me to follow You. Teach me to stop judging and just, love. Teach me, I’m willing to learn. I will do whatever I can just to lessen the thorns on Your head. It’s the least I can do for what You have done for me.
Pride, Bitterness, Envy, Indifference, Recognition, Ambition, Greed, and Materialism are some of the thorns that eventually hurt us and hurt Jesus. It takes Humility, Selflessness, Generosity, Simplicity, and Love to replace these thorns. But, we know it is not easy. So, I pray that the Lord grant me the strength, courage and resilence to resist these temptations everyday, every minute, even in moments of uncertainty, humiliation, and pain. I will look to the Lord’s sacrifice and suffering to remind me that it can be done.
I can relate to this. Joining you in this prayer.
Dear God, help me overcome the sin of pride that I may help lessen your burdens. Free me from attitudes that hurt you, others and myself. Teach me to be more patient, understanding and compassionate as I go through my life.
Lord, grant me the grace to control my anger, my temper and slow to judge. Grant me a heart filled with unconditional love and forgiveness for all the past hurts. This I ask through your son with the intercession of Mama Mary. Amen.
my thorns
> saying bad things against a person when im mad
> gossiping
> negative thinking / overthinking
> premarital sex ( i gave myself to someone who just cheated on me and makes me feel really bad about myself, cos i know i wouldnt do such thing to him
> i have this habit of stalking and getting hurt again
> i have trust issues
> i cling to God but I cant trust the people im around with
> the feeling of being betrayed by someone i trusted the most really bugs me
God shall grant You the grace of forgiveness, to others and yourself.
The thorns in my life Lord are difficult for me to bear.. fearing for our health and safety in this pandemic, feeling tired of attending to my family’s needs especially of my son with disability, being uncertain of my purpose at this stage in my life…but I know that with You, I can remove these thorns that hurt you too by being more patient, kinder, and trusting that You have a great plan for me.
Lord, teach me to be better at loving, to love like you did, to love even when it is inconvenient to do so.
For the many thorns in my life I am sorry lord for it has been difficult for me to stay away from my sins, I know that as long as I stay connected with you, you will always be there to guide me and lead me to right path, I will take this time to reflect on my thorns, grant me lord strength to overcome my sins
Indifference, ego and pride that made me think all those years that I am perfect and always right.
Dear Lord, I tried to remove the thorns that are embedded on your head but it will not budge. These are the thorns that inflicted so much pain in you. I believe these are the thorns of betrayal, broken promises and indifference. Help me to root out these thorns in my life.
Debt, being unkind, being unforgiven, thinking that I am always right, lust – my thorns.
It is frustrating to have little time to alleviate Jesus’ suffering on his way to the crucifixion. What can I do? Remove those thorns one by one. In the process of removing thorns, one can get hurt also or it may take time. I need a concrete plan and a change of attitude to remove the thorns.
Help me, Jesus!
Lord, grant me the grace to be more understanding of others. To accept the individuality of everyone. To refrain from speaking and thinking ill of others, and to refrain giving in to anger. Grant me the grace to be more patient with the people I live with and interact with daily; to remind myself that no one is out there to antagonize me. Teach me o Lord to take away all the pain and anger inside me towards the people who have hurt me. To let go of all that will be the only time i can truly serve you o Lord God. Grant me the grace to be kinder to every person in words and in deeds. And most of all, grant me the grace to be kinder to myself, to accept myself in all my failures, sadness, hopes, and joys. Amen.
I share the same thorns as you. I will pray with you to overcome these thorns and that we may live every single day of our lives worthy of the promises of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God bless!
To be more patient and understanding towards myself and towards others
To be more attentive to your voice during my quiet moments with you or amidst the noise and “busyness” of my surroundings
Lord, grant me the grace to be more understanding of others. To accept the individuality of everyone. To refrain from speaking and thinking ill of others, and to refrain giving in to anger. Grant me the grace to be more patient with the people I live with and interact with daily; to remind myself that no one is out there to antagonize me. Grant me the grace to be kinder to every person in words and in deeds. And most of all, grant me the grace to be kinder to myself, to accept myself in all my failures, sadness, hopes, and joys. Amen.
Love for Material Pleasures / Self-righteousness / Personal Ambition / Being “too rational” are some of my thorns. These have made me believe, erroneously, that I can self-sufficient, self-sustaining; where GOD merely “helps” me be my best. Now, I know that GOD is THE CENTER, THE SOURCE, MY BEGINNING AND MY END. ALL THAT I AM, I HAD AND WILL HAVE is for THE GLORY OF GOD, AMEN.
My arrogance and self-righteousness added to your thorns… grant me the necessary graces that I need to be selfless and compassionate knowing that You are also present in others. Amen.
Lord, help me to accept the ambivalence of my children, my family and friends…help me to accept their lukewarm reception to what spiritual invitations I send them. I accept the pain and help me to persist despite the humiliation. It is all worth it if it removes some thorns from your bleeding head.
Lord, let me not be a thorn in other peoples lives.
Let me then instead acknowledge that I am a thorn in jesus’ crown , and be kinder to all I meet everyday.
My thorns:
1. Resentment and bitterness from the past
2. Speaking ill of others / Gossiping
3. Impatience to others of lower intellectual capacity
4. Impatience on how my life is unfolding
Lord, you are the real epitome of humility and patience. I pray that I will always guided by your grace to speak well of others and treat them well. May I also learn to trust You more in how the events in my life are unfolding. Thank you. ?♥️
Lord, grant me the grace to always see the good in others, to be patient, understanding and be more forgiving of my own shortcomings and that of others. Please teach me not to be swift in judging others. Help me to see you more clearly, love you more dearly and follow you more nearly all the days of my life.
I pray that this reminder will serve as a grace to help me stop speaking ill of others, to avoid giving in to my appetites, and to pray more often.
Lord Jesus Christ, I surrender to you all the thorns in my life that hinder me to fully love you. Constantly remind me to be more patient, forgiving, compassionate and generous to all, specially to the ones below me. Strengthen my willpower to resist sins and their temptations. Help me conquer my fears and anxieties towards my aging parents. Guide me on how to deal with rejections and disappointments in my work and community life. Give me a servant heart that I may be able to serve with love and humility. Lead me to discern the good from the bad in everything. Guard my tongue that it may only speak the truth and unhurtful words. Let this be a reminder to me, to avoid sin so not to add thorns on your head, Lord.
My thorns:
1. My sins
2. Being patient with the negative attitudes of my family and friends
3. Pressures of school and excelling in academics
4. Getting fraustrated when things are not under my control
Lord, grant me the grace to be more forgiving, less judgmental, be more tolerant of others…I don’t need more…I can always do with less…
It never occurred to me that we can lighten our Lord’s pain by removing even just a single thorn on his crown. Sometimes I just get tired of doing something and be indifferent to others. This is a great reminder for me to keep on doing what needs to be done.
My ability to trust the process of God is a thorn for me. I worry a lot about my growing up children who seem not worried about their spiritual growth; they are not going to church and partaking in the Holy Eucharist anymore. I have to trust that the Lord Jesus Christ is working on their lives to make them closer to Him.
I have always felt a particular affinity for the thorns. In all my retreats/contemplatios on the Passion, the thorns are a recurring theme. When Jesus is brought down from the cross, I see myself picking off the thorns embedded in his head, each thorn representing a sin. Never mind if the thorns pricked me as I removed them – I wanted to feel some of his pain too. I think of how many of those thorns came from me. I keep an image of a thorn with me – to remind me how much pain my sins cause. I wonder if they sell replicas of thorns in the Holy Land – I would buy one and keep it with me.
Lord, may i not get tired of trying to reach out to others even when their responses oftentimes discourage me or may cause me to resent them. Lord, strengthen me that I may not grow weary but to remember that when i do it to the least of my brothers and sisters, I do it for you. Amen.
These are my contributions to Jesus’ thorns:
(1) I am unable to forgive the people who hurt me: my parents and my relatives, for not revealing the truth about my family, all those bosses and staff who betrayed me and subjected me to workplace bullying and mobbing. My last set of bosses, one of whom bullied me into resigning, and the other who allowed it to happen. I still hate them for ruining my reputation, my career, my earning capacity which caused my family to fall into financial ruin.
(2) I am unable to forgive my relatives for abandoning my family when we needed their help in taking care of our sick elderly.
(3) I can’t forgive myself, for not trusting my gut feel and making bad decisions that led me to my worst career decision. I allowed people to take advantage of me because I needed to support my family. I settled for less. I didn’t protect my dreams hard enough.
(4) I don’t try hard enough to be a better person.
(5) I do not spend enough time being a better person, incl being a good person towards others
(6) My faith is strong but sloppy. Not enough times
(7) I’m short-tempered with my mom
I’ve reflected on the “thorns” that I often have in my life:
-worry/anxiety
-pride
-gluttony
-gossip
-greed
-lying
-indifference
-selfishness
May Jesus forgive me and cleanse me from my sins. May I continue to become more aware of my “thorns” and work on plucking them out of my life, and on Jesus’ crown.
Less trust and reliance in the lord that he will provide is a thorn in me
Resist to act impulsively and be kinder in words and deeds.
To do an extra act of kindness, to be more generous and compassionate to others.
Lord Jesus Christ, changed myself for being selfish and arrogant to my wife and daughter. May I be liked you in dealing with them always. Amen,
The thorn of thinking that my ideas and ways are better than anybody else’s. The thorn of impatience and giving up on others who do not come over to my side.
Sometimes it’s more tempting to throw shades to people who don’t live up to our standards. Or to shout or curse at the driver of another car who cut our lane or caused us delay. Or to lash out in anger in fighting for our rights as a customer. Or to engage in word battles with people who have a different opinion from us. But Jesus’ calls us to be more kind to them, to pray for them, to love them. It’s a hard thing to do and it’s easier to say “But why?”. But Jesus didn’t have to die in the cross for me, yet He did.
Lord, help me to be generous with time and material goods.
One thorn less
Allow me Lord to pluck the thorn of selfishness.
To continue to love unconditionally jus as Jesus did. Live the pain of rejection, being ignored, betrayal, not appreciated, but continue to love anyway. Always God’s love and approval not man’s.
To respond more kindly and be more generous not only materially but with uplifting words.
Be more patient with my husband.
Un
Resisting to act impulsively.
To be kinder in words and deeds.
To commit to do an extra act of kindness especially when i catch myself in a bad moment.
Lord bless me with more humility in dealing with my daughter. Let me not force the issue that she treats me the way I expect her to. Rather thy will be done if I could remove even just a tiny bit from your throne.