We can be with Our Lord into this dark hour, this black night of His deepest agony. Have you ever been in a state of sorrow? I guess you have been in such state, in some way or another.
Maybe a love interest did not return your affection. Perhaps it was a time when a loved one passed away. It may even have been something as simple as seeing your plans, be they big or small, fall through and result to nothing. Oh well, if I may ask you to remember that sorrow and try to recall it now, then you may enter into union with Our Lord's agony in the garden.
Remember how oppressive it felt? Recall the great weight of it, bearing down on you, so that - in some cases, for some of you - you felt that you could not move. You were sitting, or lying down and hardly felt like standing, or eating. Remember the overwhelming exhaustion of it. Remember the ache in your heart. Remembering all these will make you feel the feeling od what Jesus felt in the garden.
This is what Our Lord felt in the garden. Because He was Divine, and His human nature was perfect, His ability to sense and feel emotion was far more perfected than yours.
Have you ever scheduled an appointment which you did not wish to keep? Maybe it was a trip to your counselor, or a difficult confrontation with a friend. Recall how your heart beat faster the closer you got to the appointed time, how your nerves were wrecked, how you trembled a little. Remember the dry feeling in your mouth, the agitated breathing patterns. If you can recall al these- then I am positive you are feeling what Jesus felt in the garden.
What may we learn about this agony from a contemplative and theological point of view? The garden, of course, reminds us of Eden. We remember the first agony and temptation of the First Adam, who, unlike Our Lord, said by his actions, "not what Thou wilt, but my will be done."
We read in Genesis 3 that the curse of sin meant, practically speaking, that Man must labor by the sweat of his brow to eat his daily bread. We learned that the earth was cursed so that it would bring forth thorns. We learned that Adam saw his own nakedness, and was ashamed of it.
Our Lord redeemed these things and reversed the curse at every point. He redeemed the sweat of Man's brow by sweating drops of His own Precious Blood granting to Man through the Cross that he may eat the true "daily bread" of the Eucharist.
He redeemed the thorns by allowing the crown of thorns to be pressed into His sacred flesh and coated with His Precious blood. He redeemed the nakedness of Adam by being stripped of His own garments and suffering humiliation.
From the account of the agony, we must take note of these words: "Pray, lest ye enter into temptation," and "Could you not watch one hour with me? … The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." ...Remember all of the times when we were unable to pray with Our Lord even for one hour (we may understand this figuratively to refer to all the times when we forget to pray at all) because of the weakness of our flesh.
Recall these sins to mind and make reparation especially by meditating on this mystery of the Rosary. Say to Our Lord, "I offer you this Mystery of the Agony in reparation for those times when I fell asleep, whether literally or figuratively, and failed to pray."
In the account of Jesus praying in the garden, we may pray and ask Him for anything, we should always hasten to add, "yet not my will, but Thine be done."
When we ask the Father for something that is in accordance with His will, we can be infallibly certain that He will grant it. This is why some spiritual writers have said that requests for more grace, more humility, deeper devotion, firmer faith, etc., are always granted.
As we meditate on the hour that Jesus went to the garden, we may say:
"Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who are in most need of Thy mercy."
Maybe a love interest did not return your affection. Perhaps it was a time when a loved one passed away. It may even have been something as simple as seeing your plans, be they big or small, fall through and result to nothing. Oh well, if I may ask you to remember that sorrow and try to recall it now, then you may enter into union with Our Lord's agony in the garden.
Remember how oppressive it felt? Recall the great weight of it, bearing down on you, so that - in some cases, for some of you - you felt that you could not move. You were sitting, or lying down and hardly felt like standing, or eating. Remember the overwhelming exhaustion of it. Remember the ache in your heart. Remembering all these will make you feel the feeling od what Jesus felt in the garden.
This is what Our Lord felt in the garden. Because He was Divine, and His human nature was perfect, His ability to sense and feel emotion was far more perfected than yours.
Have you ever scheduled an appointment which you did not wish to keep? Maybe it was a trip to your counselor, or a difficult confrontation with a friend. Recall how your heart beat faster the closer you got to the appointed time, how your nerves were wrecked, how you trembled a little. Remember the dry feeling in your mouth, the agitated breathing patterns. If you can recall al these- then I am positive you are feeling what Jesus felt in the garden.
What may we learn about this agony from a contemplative and theological point of view? The garden, of course, reminds us of Eden. We remember the first agony and temptation of the First Adam, who, unlike Our Lord, said by his actions, "not what Thou wilt, but my will be done."
We read in Genesis 3 that the curse of sin meant, practically speaking, that Man must labor by the sweat of his brow to eat his daily bread. We learned that the earth was cursed so that it would bring forth thorns. We learned that Adam saw his own nakedness, and was ashamed of it.
Our Lord redeemed these things and reversed the curse at every point. He redeemed the sweat of Man's brow by sweating drops of His own Precious Blood granting to Man through the Cross that he may eat the true "daily bread" of the Eucharist.
He redeemed the thorns by allowing the crown of thorns to be pressed into His sacred flesh and coated with His Precious blood. He redeemed the nakedness of Adam by being stripped of His own garments and suffering humiliation.
From the account of the agony, we must take note of these words: "Pray, lest ye enter into temptation," and "Could you not watch one hour with me? … The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." ...Remember all of the times when we were unable to pray with Our Lord even for one hour (we may understand this figuratively to refer to all the times when we forget to pray at all) because of the weakness of our flesh.
Recall these sins to mind and make reparation especially by meditating on this mystery of the Rosary. Say to Our Lord, "I offer you this Mystery of the Agony in reparation for those times when I fell asleep, whether literally or figuratively, and failed to pray."
In the account of Jesus praying in the garden, we may pray and ask Him for anything, we should always hasten to add, "yet not my will, but Thine be done."
When we ask the Father for something that is in accordance with His will, we can be infallibly certain that He will grant it. This is why some spiritual writers have said that requests for more grace, more humility, deeper devotion, firmer faith, etc., are always granted.
As we meditate on the hour that Jesus went to the garden, we may say:
"Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who are in most need of Thy mercy."
1 comment:
Hi Dom! have a blessed and prayerful days ahead.
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