Holy Thursday
one
After the Last Supper, Jesus left to make his way as usual to the Mount of Olives, with the disciples following. When they reached the place he said to them, 'Pray not to be put to the test'. Then he withdrew from them, about a stone's throw away, and knelt down and prayed. 'Father,' he said 'if you are willing, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, let your will be done, not mine.' Then an angel appeared to him, coming from heaven to give him strength.
In his anguish he prayed even more earnestly, and his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. He came back to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, 'So you had not the strength to keep awake with me one hour? You should stay awake and praying not to be put to the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.'
two
Jesus is not a mythical figure and the events of Holy Week are not a legend.
Jesus is real and He is God, and God is eternal. To be eternal means for God there is no past nor future – there is only the present moment. Therefore, every event from the life of Jesus remains present. The place this truth strikes me most is the Garden of Gethsemane. With each pilgrimage I lead to the Holy Land we have a Eucharistic Holy Hour in the Garden of Gethsemane with the Eucharist placed in a Monstrance on the rock of agony where Jesus prostrate himself in prayer, where he sweat blood and where the angel came to minister to him.
On Holy Thursday night, just before His Crucifixion, what Jesus wanted, what he needed most were just a few friends who would keep him company during his agony in the Garden. But they fell asleep and abandoned him and he was left all alone. Because Jesus is eternal – He is still in the Garden - all alone… you and I can go there at any moment, sit down with him, keep him company and console his sorrowful heart. It only takes a choice, an act of the will to say, “Jesus I am entering the Garden of Gethsemane to be with you. Jesus, I can’t change your suffering, but I will stay with you and make up for all those who abandoned you.” If you have trouble spending time in prayer – just go sit with him in the Garden of Gethsemane, be with Him, console His Heart. Go there now and sit next to Him in this decade of the Rosary.
three
Jesus asked Gabriell Bossis, a French Catholic Lay woman and mystic to keep a diary of all their conversations, much like St Faustina in the Diary of Divine Mercy. The Diary of Gabrielle Bossis in entitled “He and I”. Let me share with you a profound passage from this Diary from January 9, 1941, Jesus said to her: “Come and watch Me suffer in the Garden, just as though it were that very night. It is always that very night, for God sees all time at a glance. Don’t leave Me! I’m like a terrified child who begs not to be left alone. Stay there. Let Me know that you’re with Me. A presence is soothing. Hold My hand. I am only a poor man full of distress even though I am God. No one will ever understand the depths of My desolation. I feel the need of being surrounded by all My dear ones, for I see all the powers of evil let loose and I am alone to defend Myself. Pray with Me. Do you have a firmer belief in My love now that you see Me suffer so? Give Me these alms, this faith offering.
four
On January 16, 1941 Jesus said to Gabrielle:
“Pray with Me. With Me, you understand. I said to Peter, James and John, ‘Could you not watch with Me one hour! Watch and pray.’ And I say the same to you. Isn’t it only natural for brothers to help one another? I am your brother. I carry the burden of the whole world and it seems to Me that already I am sinking beneath the weight of it. Help Me… Help Me by praying.’”
And at another time: “Yes, there were moments when I saw the comfort that My soul-friends would give Me all down the ages. I saw their great desire to suffer in My place, and I sent flowing to them the merits of My fearful agony. For I saw the first man and all the others, right to the very last. What a burden, My child, for one who atones! . . .
five
St Teresa of Avila would often go to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and it helped her learn how to pray.
In her autobiography (9,4) she writes: It seemed to me that being alone and afflicted, as a person in need, He had to accept me. I had many simple thoughts like these. The scene of His prayer in the garden, especially, was a comfort to me; I strove to be His companion there. If I could, I thought of the sweat and agony He had undergone in that place. I desired to wipe away the sweat He so painfully experienced, but I recall that I never dared to actually do it, since my sins appeared to me so serious. I remained with Him as long as my thoughts allowed me to, for there were many distractions that tormented me. Most nights, for many years before going to bed when I commended myself to God in preparation for sleep, I always pondered for a little while this episode of the prayer in the garden…I believe my soul gained a great deal through this custom because I began to practice prayer without knowing what it was; and the custom became so habitual that I did not abandon it…
If you want to know what the Garden of Gethsemane looks like, see below. If you want to know what every place in the Life of Jesus looks like and experience it for yourself – come with me this June 21 through July 2.
