The Agony of Jesus

In the First Sorrowful Mystery, we contemplate the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

From the Gospel of Mark (14:32-36)
They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to His disciples, 'Sit here while I pray.' He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be deeply distressed and agitated. And he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.’ And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, ‘Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.’ 

Commentary by Saint Gregory of Nyssa
The most important aspect of the mystery of faith is to contemplate the Passion of the One who agreed to suffer for us. Looking at the cross of Christ must lead us to die to the world -- crucified in Christ, for Christ, and with Christ…

Meditation 1
Jesus was tempted throughout His life, not just at the beginning; one of the last temptations occurs here when He considered the possibility of not drinking from the cup that was before Him: His Passion and Death. All it would take would be for Him to climb a short distance to the top of the mountain and descend into the Judean desert, then hiding in one of the deep valleys where no one would ever find Him again. But Jesus chose to pay the price for His ideals against a corrupt and evil world. If He had saved His life, He would have lost His essence, as the Savior of the whole world.

Salvadoran Bishop Óscar Romero also had the chance to escape. He faced his own Gethsemane before he was assassinated. The Vatican knew that he was under imminent death threat and offered him the chance to escape to Rome. If Óscar Romero had accepted the offer, his life would have been spared, but his cause of defending the poor and the people of El Salvador against fascism would have died.

"The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Mt 26:41). This prayer is symbolic of our inner struggle between what we are and what we should be. Mastering our instincts and submitting our flesh to our life's purpose is not easy. Christ, who incarnated our human nature, felt the fragility of our condition Himself. Man was created in the image and likeness of God, but after the sin of Adam and Eve, he lost the likeness and was left only with the image.

It is said that in a Latin American country, while a priest was celebrating Mass in a chapel deep in the jungle, a group of guerrillas stormed into the church, pointing machine guns at the faithful, and announced: "Anyone who is not willing to die for Christ may now leave the church and be saved."

Immediately, most of the faithful left the church. When the guerrillas saw that no one else was rising to leave, they shut the doors, laid down their weapons, and said to the priest, "You may continue with the Eucharist, Father. Do not count on those who left; they are cowards, not Christians."

What would you have done?

Meditation 2
No one lives for themselves; living solely for oneself is not human, because human beings have a social dimension, not just an individual one. No one exists alone: human beings are familial and communal. The cause one embraces, the people one loves, the values one cultivates, and the profession one chooses — all are exercised within society, such that personal fulfillment and happiness coincide with the good of the community.

Moreover, there is no individual fulfillment or happiness that stems from poor social performance; conversely, anyone who is useless to his or her community is useless to himself or herself. Those who have no social value have no personal value.

Just as Christ came into the world to serve and not to be served (Matthew 20:28), we too come into the world to leave behind more than we take away; to be part of the solution to the problems that afflict humanity — whether it be climate change, justice, or world peace — and not part of the problem. Otherwise, our lives are not justified, either socially or personally.

Prayer
Lord Jesus,
in Your agony in the Garden of Gethsemane,
we see the reflection of our own struggles and weaknesses.
Just as You faced the temptation to avoid sacrifice,
we too are often tempted to flee from our responsibilities and challenges.

Abba, Father, just as Your Son prayed,
we also ask You to give us the strength to accept Your will,
even when the path is hard and painful.
Help us to drink the chalice that life offers us,
trusting that Your plans are always greater than our fears.

May we, like Jesus, face our "Gethsemane"
with courage, placing our lives in the service of others,
embracing the poor, the oppressed, and those who suffer,
without fear of sacrificing comfort or security for a greater cause.

Strengthen our spirit, Lord,
so that, even when the flesh is weak,
we may remain vigilant,
faithful to the ideals of justice, peace, and love that You have taught us.
May we be able, like Christ,
to offer our lives for the benefit of the community,
so that the world may be a more just and humane place.

Support us, Lord, in our inner struggles,
and give us the wisdom to always choose what is good,
even when choosing evil seems easier.
Make us instruments of Your peace and light
in a world full of darkness. Amen.

Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC