Monday of Holy Week
“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)
MONDAY, April 11th Jn. 12:1-11 “Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.”
In today’s contemplation, may our “costly perfumed oil” be our ardent love for Jesus and deep sorrow for all He suffered for our sins and our eternal salvation!
THE PASSION AND DEATH OF JESUS FOR LOVE OF YOU AND ME by Father Ed Broom, OMV
GRACE TO BEG FOR: Beg for the grace to meditate upon how much Jesus suffered for love of you and me, and in return, beg for the grace to suffer with Christ.
AGONY OF JESUS IN THE GARDEN: FOR YOU AND ME!
ESSENCE AND HEART OF LOVE.
The very essence and heart of love is the readiness and willingness to suffer for the loved one. Jesus Himself said: “No greater love has a man than this, to lay down his life for his friends.” (Jn 15: 13) Absolutely all that Jesus suffered and underwent in His Passion was accepted and endured for love of all of humanity. However, Saint Ignatius highlights another aspect of this mystery of love: Jesus suffered the most bitter torments and agony for you in a personal and individual way. In fact, if you were the only person God ever created, Jesus would have suffered His most bitter and painful Passion for love of you and the salvation of your immortal soul. Indeed, how great is the love of Jesus for you and for me! In the Diary of Saint Faustina we read and meditate upon the concept of suffering, in which Jesus communicates to Saint Faustina and to us that love is truly measured by the willingness to suffer for the loved one.
LOVE DEMANDS A RESPONSE OF LOVE.
This being said, it must be emphasized that while it is true that Jesus loves us so much, as will be evident in the following meditations, it is also true that the lover, who is Jesus the Lord, ardently desires for us to love Him in return. We want to beg for this special grace.
GRACE TO BEG FOR.
The grace to beg for in the week of the Passion of Jesus is not an easy grace. We beg for the grace to meditate upon how much Jesus suffered for love of you and me, and in return, we beg for the grace to suffer with Jesus. Some sentiments we may beg for would be the following: to suffer with Jesus, have compassion for Jesus, console the Heart of Jesus, and at least to some degree enter into Jesus’ agony, then strive to penetrate the reason for such excruciating suffering.
ENTERING INTO THE SCENE: THE GARDEN OF OLIVES (GETHSEMANE).
With calmness, trust, generosity, and great love, let us enter with Jesus into the Garden of Gethsemane, a place where He went habitually to pray. With His Best Friends—Peter, James, and John, let us accompany Jesus and derive abundant fruit from our meditation.
1. CREATE THE SCENE WITH YOUR IMAGINATION.
Imagine it being night, somewhat chilly with a slight breeze, and a full moon enlightening the contour, landscape, and vegetation of the Garden, which of course abounds in olive trees. Be truly present in the scene.
2. PICTURE JESUS IN THIS MOVING SCENE.
He is a young man about 33 years of age. For the last three years, in the company of the twelve Apostles, He has been actively engaged in His public ministry which consisted basically of three activities: abundant preaching, miracles over nature and physical healings, and numerous exorcisms—the casting out of devils. All of this was done for love of you and me, and for the salvation of many souls.
3. JESUS’ DEMEANOR AND ASPECT.
Unlike any other time, on this night Jesus manifests sadness, fear, tension, vulnerability, real suffering, and even agony. Bewildered at seeing the Lord Jesus in such a state, the Apostles are confused, disoriented, and themselves sad. During the course of the Spiritual Exercises we have learned the word that expresses the spiritual state of Jesus, His state of soul, that of DESOLATION.
4. BE WITH JESUS.
Like the Apostles, be with Jesus, accompany Him and enter into His heart, mind, and soul. Jesus begins to experience a sadness even unto death. We know, though it be a very sad truth, that when Jesus most needs His best friends—Peter, James, and John, they fall asleep. For your part, strive to stay awake and enter into the heart of Jesus, into the very soul of Jesus. Be the Angel of Consolation for Jesus. Be His best friend!
5. LISTEN TO THE HEART-RENDING WORDS OF JESUS.
He opens up the depths of His soul in filial confidence to Abba—Father. This is a model prayer for us and for the whole world. Jesus’ words express humility, trust, obedience, docility, filial trust, total conformity and acceptance of the will of the Heavenly Father. The words of Jesus: “Father (Abba), if it be possible, remove this cup (chalice) from me. However, not my will but your will be done.” (Mt 26: 39) Listen attentively to the words of Jesus and strive to penetrate the deep meaning of this message for you. The Apostles, however, fall into a slumber. Instead of fighting against desolation, they give in to it. How important it is for us to recognize when we are in the state of desolation and to fight manfully and forcefully against it—the Ignatian agere contra!
6. JESUS WORDS TO THE APOSTLES AND TO US.
Seeing His friends asleep, Jesus exhorts them: “Stay awake and pray so that you do not be put to the test. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” (Mt 26: 41) Despite these words of fervent exhortation, the Apostles return to their sleep. Perhaps like the Apostles our will has weakened and we too have fallen asleep when we should have been fervently dedicated to prayer. Rewinding the film of our life: how often has it happened that our falling into sin was preceded by a state of desolation, a drifting away from prayer, a spiritual slumber, and then crash—the fall into sin. In truth, our fall into sin is in almost direct proportion to our weakness in prayer, our sleep in prayer, or our abandonment of prayer.
7. IN THE DEPTHS OF DESOLATION, JESUS MODELS PRAYER FOR US.
In desolation the Apostles fail to pray, whereas Jesus prays more and with more intense fervor!!! So fervent is His prayer in Gethsemane that Jesus actually begins to sweat huge drops of Blood which then trickle to the ground. Be present with Jesus and contemplate the drops of Blood, His Blood-sweat, and contemplate these drops falling to the ground. What a powerful example of perseverance for us. How easy it is for us to give up prayer on any pretext whatsoever. But not so with Jesus! In the midst of the most intense desolation, He prays even more with astounding fervor and passion, with all His being—heart, emotions, mind, body, and soul. Let us humbly beg the Lord Jesus for fervor in our prayer life, and that we would learn from Him to pray with every fiber of our being.
8. WHY THE SUFFERING AND THE SWEATING OF BLOOD???
Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen explains the WHY of Jesus suffering so much, the reason behind the excruciating agony of Jesus. This is the reason: all the sins of humanity are descending upon Jesus in the Garden of Olives. Jesus, the God-man takes upon Himself the guilt of the sins of the whole of mankind—past, present, and future—which now descend upon Jesus like a torrential downpour of rain; from the original sin of Adam and Eve traversing the sins of mankind throughout the course of time including the last sin of the last person in human history. Jesus takes upon Himself all these sins; as a consequence, huge drops of Blood pour out of the pores of His Sacred Body and fall to the ground.
9. OUR SINS TOO.
We cannot deny the fact that our many sins are also descending upon the suffering and bleeding Body of Jesus, the innocent Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world! Let us humbly beg the Lord Jesus to have sorrow, contrition, and firm purpose of amendment for our many sins and thereby receive Jesus’ Mercy. Indeed, Jesus is really and truly suffering for all of the sins of the world, but for yours and mine and in a very personal way!
10. THE ANGEL OF CONSOLATION.
Contemplate and enter into this most touching scene. In the midst of this most excruciating pain of Jesus, His agony and the sweating of huge drops of Blood, God the Father sends to Jesus an angel. This angel might be called THE ANGEL OF CONSOLATION.
Contemplate the angel who draws close to Jesus and even embraces the Lord in His suffering. In truth, this ANGEL OF CONSOLATION is you! Yes! You must be this Angel of Consolation. Draw close to the Lord. Embrace Him with great love. Talk to Him from the very depths of your heart. Beg of Jesus pardon and mercy for your sins. Beg of Jesus pardon and mercy for the sins of your family members. Beg of Jesus pardon and mercy for the sins of the Church. Beg of Jesus pardon and mercy for the sins of the whole world! Beg the Lord Jesus for the grace of conversion of poor sinners, especially of deathbed sinners, those sinners who will die within the next day. Now console the Lord and thank the Lord Jesus for all that He underwent for you, starting in the Garden of Gethsemane. And love the Lord with your whole heart and being!
Copyright 2021 Oblates of the Virgin Mary / St. Peter Chanel Church, Hawaiian Gardens, CA
