Holy Thursday night is the night above all nights when we recall with love and devotion the agony of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. This was where the battle of obedience was won. This is where Jesus looked squarely at each one of us, and at all of our sins and said 'Yes, Father, I will undergo suffering to obtain forgiveness for this soul'.

We also recall the agony of Jesus in the first decade of the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary, and on the eve of each first Friday of the month.

When we recall what Jesus endured on this night before His sorrowful Passion it is natural for us to want to do something in return for such great love. An easy way to do this is to remain in prayer at the Altar of Repose at the conclusion of the Holy Thursday night Mass. Staying for at least an hour in prayer can be our personal way of responding to the sad words of Jesus to Peter in Matt 26:40, 'So you had not the strength to keep awake with Me one hour?'.

St Padre Pio had a particular devotion to the Agony of Jesus in the Garden, as had St Gemma Galgani and Blessed Elena Guerra. There are some spiritual gifts and graces that only come from meditating upon this part of the passion of Jesus. 

You might find this little booklet (downloadable below) useful in your prayers and meditations on the Agony of Jesus. It will take 3 sheets of double-sided A4 paper in booklet fold to print.

It contains scripture passages alternating with passages from the Saints and mystics of the Church, and then a few prayers at the end. 

One way of using it is to read one line at a time, and then talk to Jesus in your heart about it. Another way is to read a full passage or paragraph, and then to slowly pray a few Glory Bes or Hail Marys between them.

But the main thing is to pray.

St Peter, St John and St James, Apostles, please pray for us, that our love for Jesus in His Agony may grow.

St Padre Pio, St Gemma Galgani, Bl Elena Guerra, pray for us that we may develop a true devotion to the Agony of Jesus in our lives.

  

A version of the homily of Bishop Peter A Comensoli at the 5pm Vigil Mass at Holy Spirit Church, Kincumber for the 3rd Sunday of Lent Year B, 7 March 2015.

This is not a literal transcript, but it will give you the gist of his message.

The scripture readings were the 10 Commandments from the Book of Exodus, a section of Psalm 118 with the response 'Lord, You have the words of everlasting life', the passage from 1st Corinthians that talks about the Cross as the power and wisdom of God, and the account of the cleansing of the Temple from St John's Gospel.

Bishop Comensoli:

A few years ago an American priest, Fr Robert Barron, produced a ten part documentary series called 'Catholicism'. He comes from Chicago, and the documentary series was an initiative of his 'Word on Fire' ministry, which aims to bring the Gospel into the digital age.

The documentary series is both compelling and beautiful. The first words of the first episode are a bold statement, and a bit of a barbeque stopper. They go something like this: 'There is an either/or with regard to Jesus. He either is as He says He is, or He is a bad man. There is no middle ground. He is dangerous, and a strange figure that is not just an interesting religious preacher. We must make a choice.'

Jesus is not an inspirational guru. Jesus began and finished with the radical and unnerving claim to be the Son of God and to possess God's authority over the whole world. It was this claim that drove the apostles from the upper room to preach.

The act of anger we read of in today's Gospel must have been very frightening and confronting to witness. It is not surprising that His actions were met with 'What are you up to?', 'Give us a sign', 'Who do you think you are?'. The religious leaders knew that Jesus was someone out of the ordinary, disconcerting and challenging. There was a lot at stake. If Jesus was true, then EVERYTHING had changed for them.

To these religious leaders and to His Apostles the actions of Jesus issued a challenge, 'You need to make a choice. If I am wrong then silence Me. If I speak the truth then follow Me.'

Jesus gives us the same choice today. That choice is still meant to change everything, and to change us. In this season of Lent, we are invited to renew that choice. Do we accept Jesus as the Son of God and Saviour? Do we accept all of Him, the dangerous and the gentle? Do we accept that we are called to follow Him? The choice is ours to make.

In Rome, and in many diocesan cathedrals around the world - and hopefully some parish churches as well - preparations are being made for 24 Hours For The Lord at the end of this week (13/14 Mar 2015). It is a wonderful initiative of Pope Francis, to keep the lights on and the doors open for a full 24 hours, and to invite people to come and pray and to return to the Sacrament of Penance. Many generous priests will be giving up sleep over those 24 hours to be used by Jesus to bring His Mercy to all those who seek it. May they be richly rewarded for such service.

In many other churches there will be opportunities to attend the sacrament of Penance under the 2nd Rite of Reconciliation in these final weeks before Good Friday. At those times the community gathers, prays, listens to Scripture and has an opportunity to think about those areas of their lives that are not in harmony with God's love before going up individually to one of the several priests available to confess their sins, followed by a time of prayer and communal thanksgiving.

The big question is: How can we make it easier for people who haven't experienced God's personal Mercy in a long time to take that daunting step into the confessional?

For starters you need a team of well-prepared parishioners outside the doors of the church building. People need a friendly face on the outside of a church as they do the 'Will I or won't I go in?' battle. The courage it takes to get over a church threshold is formidable, and the battle happens outside not inside. They become a visual reminder of the Father waiting for the prodigal child to return home.

You need people outside, so that someone can come up and ask, 'What's going on inside?' 'Why are there lights on at 2am?' and so an answer can be given, 'Pope Francis has asked us to have open house for 24 hours so that people can pray and so they can experience God's Mercy in the sacrament of Penance. If you wanted to go inside, you would be most welcome.'

Then if someone says, 'But I don't know how to pray' or 'I have forgotten how to go to confession' or 'Can you tell me what sin is, so that I know what I need to confess?' your team can help them.

If you can have a similar team on the inside of the church as well, that's even better. You need people on the alert for those who have become emotional before and especially after the sacrament of penance. Do you have a ready supply of tissues? Do you have people on alert for those going through the 'Will I or won't I risk going through the confessional door?' battle who can pray silently, and can encourage when appropriate. Do you have people ready to listen to those who have just experienced God's Mercy? Do you have people who can get up to a microphone every hour or so and give testimony to how prayer and the sacrament of Penance have changed their lives?

In the confessionals themselves, have the priests been supplied with printed material to hand out to penitents? Things like Parish Welcome kits (with information on parish groups, how to contact the parish office, Mass times, Reconciliation times, RCIA and how to enroll a child in a Catholic school etc), How to Pray pamphlets, small booklets of the Compendium of the Catechism and Gospels. Anything that will assist a penitent to keep going forward in the grace they have received help from God's Mercy.

Person to person interaction is best, but even that needs paperwork support, so here are some resources to download:

Sin is when we do not love God and others as Jesus taught us to. That's the answer our children going through sacramental initiation receive. Pondering our lives in the light of the Ten Commandments is valuable when preparing for the Sacrament of Penance. These documents are A4 size, one for adults and one for children.