The First Sorrowful Mystery
The Agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
1. The life of Mary, like that of her divine Son, was a life of suffering and of sacrifice.
When Simeon held the divine Child in his arms, he had prophesied: “This
child is destined for the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, and
for a sign that shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall
pierce.” (Cf. Luke 2:35) There was
suffering from the very beginning – in the arduous journey from Nazareth
to Bethlehem to fulfil the obligation of the census; in the refusal of
the people of Bethlehem to give shelter to the Holy Family; in the birth
of Jesus in a cold cave; in the flight into Egypt to escape from the
cruelty of Herod; in the loss of Jesus when He was twelve years old; in
the hard life of a humble artisan in Nazareth; in the difficulties of
the public life of Jesus; and in the final tragedy which brought Jesus
from Gethsemane to Calvary, and from Calvary to the sepulchre.
When faced with this spectacle of the Man-God and of His Mother Mary
suffering for love of us, how can we complain that our own cross is too
heavy? How can we rebel against the merciful God Who afflicts us for our
own good, purifies us with suffering, and demands that we should be
detached from worldly things so that we may give more thought to Heaven,
for which our souls are destined? To meditate on all that Jesus and
Mary suffered for us should be enough to make us embrace our cross
generously and resign ourselves to the physical or moral afflictions
which God sends us.
2. Let us pay particular attention to the
scene in Gethsemane. Jesus is lying prostrate on the ground. He has
given everything for sinful humanity. He has given His heavenly
teaching, His miracles, and His mercy. Even more, He has given Himself
in the Blessed Eucharist, which He has instituted in the form of food
and drink to sustain men on their earthly journey.
Now He lies
prostrate in prayer. Near Him are His Apostles who, already forgetful of
the immense favours which they have received, are asleep.
Not
far away there is another Apostle, Judas, who has sold his Master for
thirty pieces of silver as a slave would be sold, and is about to
deliver Him to His executioners. But Jesus can see across the centuries
many other Judases, so many traitors who will be indifferent and sleep,
never thinking of Him, and neglecting to make any return for His
infinite love. His passion is beginning now, and will be protracted
throughout the centuries. Before His crucifixion, He drinks the bitter
chalice of human ingratitude, and in His tremendous agony He perspires
drops of blood.
3. To which group do you belong, you who claim
to be a Christian? Are you among the traitors who by their sins crucify
Jesus anew? Weep for your faults and ask your merciful Redeemer for
forgiveness and for the strength never to fall again.
Perhaps
you are ungrateful and asleep? Awake from your torpor. Pray to the
Sorrowing Virgin to obtain for you the love of her divine Son and the
ardent desire of following Him in the path of sacrifice and of virtue.
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