LET IT aLL sTART hERE
For Catholics who care...
“So, you could not keep watch with me one hour?” (Matthew 26:38) When I was a girl I found Jesus’ question to Peter and the two sons of Zebedee very disturbing. In those ten words I would simultaneously hear the disappointment in Jesus’ voice and I would feel his disciples’… no, his friends’ shame.
I felt I had let Him down. Impossible, perhaps. Unbelievable…no. Not unbelievable, if you consider Carl Jung’s theory of collective consciousness, or understand what Freud means by archaic remnants. We often know “stuff” that we have no business knowing about. We can’t explain it, so we shrug it off. I wasn’t there in the Garden, but I might as well have been. That scene has plagued me for years. But what of all that? www.letitallstarthere.com is not exactly the place to discuss the psychology of man. The purpose of my writing is to encourage all, myself included, to work toward an understanding of what Matthew Kelly calls: The Genius of Catholicism. It involves our recognizing how everything now, relates to everything that has ever happened throughout the History of Our Salvation. We are all pieces in His colossal jigsaw puzzle. I believe that what happened during the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before Christ’s crucifixion, when he spoke to his disciples saying: “My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch me” is never ending. I believe Jesus continues to ask this of us even now: “Keep watch with Me…” He asks that we remain with Him always. And so that is the purpose of the Holy Hour devotion. I once heard an old Polish woman shout to her loving husband through the back door of her house: “Honey, I will be right back. I am going up to church. He’s there all alone. I’m going to keep Him company for awhile.” And out the door she went humming to herself. I stood in the driveway and watched her figure grow smaller as she made her way down the street. Cute, I thought. She’s going to keep Him company. Funny old woman. But there was a lesson in her actions about devotion. There was another lesson for me as I started thinking about the time we spend in Eucharistic Adoration, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. What actually goes on in the church when we are joined in song, in silence and in prayer? We have been given, undeservedly, the grace of First Friday Holy Hour, the grace of His Real Presence, His God-with-us-ness, to liberate us…to comfort us, to allow us to realize that we no longer are helpless spectators. We can do something about His feelings of isolation and abandonment. We can “keep watch” with Him. We can do the right thing. That is the grace we Catholics have been afforded.
6 Comments
Sharon Ruetenik
1/16/2015 12:10:37 am
Of course, Jesus, a man, wanted someone to wait with Him. He could understand the sorrow of loneliness and the betrayal that he knew was coming. That is the amazing thing about Christ-his dual nature-divine and human. In the end He was all forgiving and thirsty. Do I wait with him? Or do I wait for Him to give me what I want and need at any given moment? It's a question I must struggle with and perhaps the answer will not flatter my self-image.
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Charlene Caramore
1/16/2015 07:57:17 am
My husband and I have been honor guards for First Friday Adoration for years and it is such an honor to sit in the Lord's presence. When we were still teaching, it was very difficult to sit quietly after an intense and exhausting week and like the disciples, we sometimes fell asleep. When it happened, the sleeper would look at the other and say, "Just resting in the Lord!" I too often reflect on the disciples and even though Christ needed them, I can see their part as well--they had just had a meal, they were probably exhausted from all the drama that had happened at the Last Supper and as a friend once had pointed out, when the Holy Spirit is mightily present, it's hard to not be "slain in the Spirit." Just thoughts to ponder. And though Christ needed the presence of His friends, the will of the Father might have been for Him to face these most trying moments on His own--the way that people who are on the brink of death need to have that space between them and others to make their own peace with the next part of their journey. That being said, I also wanted to share something that I try to do on First Fridays. I'm not always successful but I try to make that day one of praise and thanksgiving--no requests on my part. It's hard because once you have Jesus all to yourself, it's a real temptation to fill it with "What can you do for me, Jesus?" Instead I try to fill it with I'm so in awe of all that You have done for me from the moment of my conception till this very day that I can do nothing but praise Your Holy Name. I also find that sometimes when one of the holy books that I'm reading doesn't make sense, I'll take it with me to Holy Hour and before I open it, I pray for the Holy Spirit to give me wisdom and understanding. Last month, I was working on The Joy of the Gospel. I was half way through the book when I realized that I couldn't have told anyone about what I had read. Part of my Holy Hour was spent rereading with pencil in hand. I understood so much more. Anyway, I find that Holy Hour to be an amazing time sitting at the feet of the Lord.
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Frances Wellington
1/19/2015 03:18:58 am
There was no Mass today and I went to see the Jersy Boys at Procters yesterday, so two days without receiving Jesus, His Body Blood Soul and Divinity. I didn't realize how much this would affect me. It brought me back to thoughts on the blog of Holy Hour. Is the absence from Holy Hour caused by lack of knowledge? Trying to understand not attending Holy Hour was taken over by thoughts of not attending Mass. In a book on apologetics, How to explain and defend the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the sad fact was revealed that only 30 percent of Catholics believe they are really receiving the Body Blood Soul and Divinty of the Lord Jesus Christ under the appearance of bread and wine. 70 percent has various Protestant beliefs. This is not ment to criticize anyone, but to pray for all that the truth will be known. I have received this truth in a grace giving to me before coming into the Church which I am so thankful for. The host was elevated and the truth was revealed to me at that time without ever being told anything about the Mass or the Eucharist. That is why I'm here today in the Church I love so much and thankful for. How do we teach our children our grandchildren and others who seem to be missing out on this on this. What did I do or what am I not doing that causes my family and others not to have the same love that I have? I don't have the answer. Can it be found in scripture the words of Christ in Jn 6:35-71. How can we teach this truth? I think the answer is in prayer and waiting for the will of God to finally be seen. Until then I'll keep praying and trusting, and thanking God for His immense love and sacrifice.
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