Thursday, March 12, 2026: The Tenth Station: Jesus is Stripped of His Garments

Scripture: John 19:23-24

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus they took his garments and made four parts, one for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was without seam, woven from top to bottom; so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the scripture, “They parted my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

Reflection:

They’ve taken everything from Jesus, even his clothes. But it doesn’t matter–no amount of humiliation, no amount of pain, will stop Jesus from fulfilling what God has asked of him. The soldiers strip Jesus of his garments, treating him as a common criminal.

Prayer: Jesus, you were humiliated and degraded by the powers of your day, treated as a criminal despite your gentleness. We hold in our hearts our immigrant brothers and sisters who are degraded by the injustice of our systems. Draw near to them in their pain, and help us work for justice.

Story:

Marisol was brought to the United States undocumented when she was a child. After experiencing childhood abuse, she obtained a special visa for crime victims. She later married and had several U.S. citizen children. Seeking to build a new life here, she applied for permanent legal status, following all the laws in her application. Marisol recently left the country briefly to visit family in Mexico and obtained permission from the government to do so, known as advance parole. 

After returning, she was suddenly sent a letter by the government stating that she had abandoned her application for permanent status due to her trip out of the country and was being placed into removal proceedings. Customs and Border Protection failed to correctly stamp her passport upon re-entry and are now refusing to believe her despite all the concrete evidence she and her legal representative have submitted.

“I sometimes can’t sleep at night out of fear that ICE will decide to come to my home and try to send me to Mexico…even though my whole life is here,” said Marisol. “I could try to survive there, but what about my kids? I can’t leave them to suffer without me…I want people to know that I have no criminal background and I have lived here since childhood and done everything by the law. I just want to stay so I can see my kids grow up in their own country.”

- Client story from a CLINIC Affiliate in North Carolina