And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, “Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but Thine, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him. Jesus knew they had not fully realized why He had come to earth. Then they left for the Garden of Gethsemane. Would they be strong enough to carry on the work? Even before His Crucifixion, Christ was undergoing the most intense suffering and anguish known to man. We recall His answer when the mother of James and John asked if her sons would be seated in Heaven, one at His right and one at His left: He asked James and John if they were ready to drink from the cup from which He would drink. (Matt 26:22)  Finally, when Judas asked the question, Jesus pinned him down, "It is you who have said it." Jesus took Peter, James and John with Him into the Garden. O sinners who thus torture Me…will this Blood bring salvation and life, or will it be shed in vain for you? His thoughts were of them when He said, "What I say is not said of all, for I know the kind of men I choose." He was hurt. He knew that His three trusted Apostles would not have the strength to stay awake one hour with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. There are those who reject the idea that Jesus was afraid on the night before His death. "Am I a criminal," he asked, "that you come out after Me armed with clubs and swords? Most beautiful and consoling was this vision, in which he beheld the salvation and sanctification flowing forth in ceaseless streams from the fountain of redemption opened by his death… The army of the future saints passed before the soul of our Lord… This most affecting and consoling spectacle bestowed a degree of strength and comfort upon the soul of Jesus.”. He tells the apostles Peter, James and John as they approach Gethsemane that “my soul is sorrowful, even unto death” (Matt 26:38). When I do the question often comes to my mind: what could make God sweat blood? Praise to You, O Jesus, for the agony and the tears poured out during the Holy Night, for the sweat of blood and the deadly distress You endured, that solitude more frightful than man can imagine. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus prophesies His Passion in words that make it clear that He knows exactly what is in store for Him. All Rights Reserved, The Chaplet of St. Michael: A Great Weapon in our Strategic Arsenal. It wasn’t enough that He could foresee in great bloody detail his being scourged, mocked, and crucified the next day. (Matt 26:25) after which Judas left. To quote Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, "these were the ones He trusted to stay awake." In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus suffered unimaginable agony, sorrow, and anxiety. Simon Kananaios and Judah Thaddaeus, Apostles, Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus, Martyrs, Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major. An important part of becoming a saint is living with Christ in you, and you in Him, through prayer, participating in His sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance, and striving to live as Christ-like as you can by showing His love, patience, and compassion in how you treat others. We believe that Jesus was able to see, in that short time, all the sins that had ever been committed by man and would be committed until the end of time. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. He shall crush your head while you strike at his heel.”. He is responsible for all the book publishing, video production and digital media for Journeys of Faith. He tells the apostles Peter, James and John as they approach Gethsemane that “my soul is sorrowful, even unto death” (Matt 26:38). He predicted they would all leave Him. Satan knows what buttons to push, to make us react just the way he would have us. And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down upon the ground. I've often wondered about that last statement of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He looked at Judas with such love. Since then, Pope after Pope has read the Third Secret and not made it public. Imagine our Lord seeing so much hatred, coldness, and bloodshed combined, two millennia of Hell on Earth quite present before Him for about 2 hours!!! Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Indeed, we couldn’t celebrate our Lord’s Resurrection if He hadn’t given up His life for us! Then He said, "One of you will betray Me." The soldiers went for Jesus; the apostles tried to stop them. If each of us commits one less sin, or gives up sinning altogether, at least some of that pain will be alleviated. He has been with Journeys of Faith for over 30 years and traveled for 28 years with Bob and Penny Lord as they researched the Shrines all over the world. Peter, still not quite awake, pulled out a sword, and began flailing it through the air. He wanted to have a last supper with His disciples. In Gospel according to Matthew, Christ tells His Apostles that He is “sorrowful, even to the point of death.” Thus, the stress to his soul was so great that His capillaries burst, causing Him to sweat blood. This is the perfect time to put on the armor of God. How do we protect ourselves and our families against the powers of hell? "Put on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. Mary did this first at the Annunciation with her fiat (“Let it be done to me according to thy word”) and Christ does it now with His words, “Not my will but Thine be done!” In the Garden of Eden, the first Adam rejected the Will of God and disobediently stretched out his hand to the tree and brought sin and, as a result, death into the world. Peter protested. Now, as the twentieth century is closing, the Lord has sent us a powerful Pope to lead his people to the Triumph of the Cross. Then Jesus went off by Himself, to pray at the rock. That night His Humanity was sorely tested to fulfill his mission in His Divinity to die on a cross so that we might have Eternal Life. He wrestled with yielding to God's will. Yet, on the night before His death, His resolve seems to falter. Judas averted Jesus' eyes. As you view the scandalous behavior which is now purported to be the norm, as all our traditions are being desecrated and we watch dissension ripping families apart, Jesus' prophecy seems to be coming to pass before our very eyes: "And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened, for this is something that must happen but the end is not so soon....Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. He would give them, and the Bishops and priests who would follow, the grace and power to overcome all adversaries, even unto death for the Faith. He asked them to stand guard and pray. The Souls in Purgatory are in a Constant State of Union with God, 5 Reasons the Catholic Church is the True Church, "Choosing the Better Portion" During this Special Time of Year, Christifying Thanksgiving: The Thanksgiving Table Blessing. Was this part of Your pain, Jesus? O Jesus, Who in the excess of Your love to win hearts, do give abundant graces to those who meditate on your holy passion in Gethsemane, I pray You to lead my heart and soul to think often of the most bitter agony You suffered in the Garden, to pity You and to join with You completely. Find out how that can help you in these troubled times! This was every sin that had been committed up to that point and every sin that would be committed from that point until the end of time, from the most banal venial sin to the most heinous of mortal sins. Is the Third Secret the apostasy that threatens our Church from within and without? Is this what our dear Lord saw in the Garden of Gethsemane as He sweat Blood and Tears on the Rock of Agony? At this point, a riot broke out. (Eph 6:11-13). Jesus sang! And this is not counting the staggering number of victims, in other so-called civilized countries throughout the world, who are falling for Satan's plan for annihilation of the world. I only wanted to love you, to heal you, to forgive you?" It is where Our Lord first begins to suffer. There was something even worse than that: the thought that His redemptive suffering would be in vain for many ungrateful souls throughout the ages to come! Now more than ever we need God's grace, for our good and His glory! And there burst upon Me the wrath of an angry and offended God, and, in order to appease His Majesty I offered myself as security for sinful man, I, His Son to calm His anger and satisfy His justice. He prayed over them. Praise to You, most sweet but vastly sorrowful Jesus, for the prayer at once human and divine which poured forth from Your agonized heart during that night of ingratitude and of treason.