The Tenth Station: Jesus Is Stripped

​The victims of crucifixion were stripped naked before they were hung up to die on the cross.
 
This photograph was taken by Matthew Abbott for the New York Times on January 10, 2020. He took it in Bago State Forest, located a few hundred miles southwest of Sydney during the worst brushfire season in Australia’s history. We see a charred and ash covered landscape. Struggling up a devastated hill is a dehydrated and starving wild horse that looks like it’s on the verge of death.
 
During the nine months of fire, 72,000 square miles were burned—including 53% of the Gondwana World Heritage Rainforests and 80% of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. 3,500 homes and other building were destroyed. 34 people lost their lives in the fires, and it’s estimated that more than a billion animals were killed, including 1/3 of the country’s koalas. 
 
The photographer Matthew Abbott said this about the forest stripped by fire: “Once a fire goes through, things are just so quiet. You don’t realize all the bugs, all the birds, all the little beings make these noises. It’s just so disconcerting to be walking through this destroyed forest and have complete silence.”
 
Let us Pray:
 
God, we ask you to cover those who are exposed, to heal the empty places, and to remain with those who have had everything else taken away. Amen.