AGONY OF JESUS IN GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE

AGONY OF JESUS IN GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE

Jesus, the Son of Mary and the most High God, concludes the Last Supper where He has given us two great gifts, two Sacraments for our salvation: Holy Orders(The Priesthood), and the most Holy Eucharist. Let us beg Our Lady for the grace of an overflowing gratitude for these two great gifts--- Holy Communion and the means to transform bread and wine into Jesus’ Body and Blood—Holy Orders (The Priesthood).

GARDEN WITH JESUS. Now let us beg Our Lady for the grace to accompany Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Adam and Eve committed Original sin in a Garden; Jesus would suffer intensely in another Garden so as to repair for the sins of Adam and Eve as well as all of humanity and each and every one of our sins in particular.

ENTER THE DEPTHS.  May Our Lady help us to enter into the Passion and suffering of Jesus her Son and Our Lord and God. Mary always had Jesus in her Immaculate Heart and constantly in her thoughts. Let us beg Our Lady for the same grace: to constantly be thinking of Jesus, what He is going through and what He wants of me.

JESUS AND HIS WEAK FRIENDS.   Jesus enters into the Garden and it is dark Darkness is symbolic of sin. Judas left Jesus and entered into darkness. He purposely has taken with Him three of His best friends—Peter, James, and John. He wanted them to be with Him in His suffering. COMPASSION. He wanted them to share now, at least to a limited degree, in His suffering. Compassion is the virtue that teaches us to suffer with those who suffer. Only second to Jesus was Our Lady capable of  such deep compassion. Our Lady had deep compassion,  a heart-felt suffering for Jesus in His agony.  His friends, however, failed Him by falling asleep.  How often have I fallen into sleep in my prayer; or worse yet: how often have I failed to get out of bed to pray when Jesus was inviting me into communion with Him in prayer? May Our Lady, through her powerful prayers, attain for us the grace to be faithful in prayer at all times, even when the going gets tough! Saint Ignatius teaches us that when we are in desolation we should be exceptionally faithful to prayer, meditation, examination of conscience and even do a little penance to conquer the desolation. This is spiritual warfare that we are engaged in until the end of our lives.

 

FERVOR IN PRAYER.   Jesus did not pray a mediocre, anemic, lukewarm, tepid or distracted prayer. On the contrary, Jesus prayed with all of His heart, mind, body, soul, and emotions. Jesus gave His all  in prayer. How often has my prayer been done half-heartedly, with little fervor and faith. I lack fire!  Jesus said that he came to cast fire on the earth and that He is not at peace until that fire be enkindled.  Paintings of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary depict them with their Hearts surrounded by thorns, but also fire is emanating from their hearts. FIRE.  What does this fire mean? What does this fire symbolize?  Very clearly it symbolizes an overflowing love for all of us, but also a fervor and passion for God through deep prayer.  When we pray let us humbly beg Our Lady for some of this fire.  On Pentecost (where Our Lady was present with the Apostles in prayer for nine days) the Holy Spirit came down in fire so as to enlighten the minds of the Apostles and also to set their hearts on fire with love of God and desire to save souls.

JESUS SWEATS BLOOD.   Jesus’ prayer was so intense that he actually shed big drops of Blood.  The Precious Blood that was given to Jesus through His most Holy Mother Mary came oozing out of His pores and trickling to the ground. This Precious Blood of Jesus was given to Jesus through the humanity of Mary. May Our Lady help us to nourish our souls constantly on the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus frequently in Holy Communion.

WHY THE SWEATING OF BLOOD. In the Garden Jesus became the Victim to repair for the sins of all of humanity as well as all of us individually.  Jesus as Victim took the sins of all of humanity upon Himself.  All of the sins of the world came raining down upon Jesus like a torrential downpour of rain. The sins of Adam and Eve, our first parents, the sins of the past, the present and even of the future rained down on the Body and soul of Jesus like a deluge. From this Blood came gushing forth from His Sacred Body.

EYES AND HEART OF MARY.  With the eyes and the Heart of Mary enter into the Sacred and sorrowful Heart of Jesus. With Our Lady try to console Jesus in His mortal agony.  Through Our Lady’s intercession beg the Lord Jesus pardon for all of the sins of the world. Beg Our Lady for true sorrow for your own sins of the past. Beg Our Lady for a heart filled with love and sorrow for the sins of your relatives, especially your spouse, your sons and daughters, even the sins of your parents and relatives. Draw close to Jesus through the eyes, mind and heart of Mary. Nobody ever knew Jesus better than His own Mother, Mary most holy.

INDIFFERENCE/APATHY. Unfortunately, one of the greatest sources of sorrow that pierced the Heart of Jesus in His Sacred Passion was the cold indifference of so many souls, and even many Catholics, worse yet, many souls who have consecrated their lives to Jesus and His Kingdom.   The Book of Revelation warns us with these stark words: “I know your works; I know that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were either hot or cold. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.(Rev. 3:15-16) What pierces the Hearts of Jesus and Mary profoundly is an attitude of coldness, indifference, apathy, a “Whatever” or “who cares” attitude towards God and His Kingdom. May Our Lady attain for us true repentance and a passion for Jesus and His Kingdom as well as for the salvation of immortal souls. One soul is worth more than the whole created universe.

ANGEL OF CONSOLATION. In the midst of the intense sorrow of Jesus that actually caused Him to sweat Blood, God sent Jesus consolation by sending Jesus and angel. Now in this graphic contemplation of Jesus in His agony beg Our Lady for the grace that you can be this angel of consolation to Jesus. Tell Jesus, through Our Lady’s prayers, that you truly love Him. Tell Jesus that you desire ardently to renounce all in your life that has offended Him. Beg Our Lord as you console Him to be more faithful to Him than you have ever been in your life. Beg Our Lady for the grace to grow in an ever deeper Friendship with Jesus.