Wednesday, May 23, 2007



THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN

3. The Capture.
The prayer of Jesus is over. And then, with determination, with generosity and courage, He calls His disciples, and at their head goes to encounter His enemies, not in order to offer resistance and defend Himself but just to deliver Himself into their hands.


Now see Jesus being roughly tied. His executioners tighten His fetters. But go also into the Heart of Jesus and see there another executioner, namely, His love which binds Him much more tightly and violently. Jesus was a victim and a slave of His love. Sic deus dilexit mundum! He loved me and gave Himself for me!, St. Paul would later exclaim.

When Our Lady saw Him so cruelly bound, Her anxiety increased. What was going to happen to Him? What were they going to do to Her Jesus? And He is bound in such a manner for your sake. Look at Him well. Ponder what this means: bound for you, which means that not only does He let Himself be bound in order to suffer for you or in your place, or for your sake, but it also means that often you yourself are the one who binds His hands. Are you aware of what this means?

There is nothing which so binds the hands of Jesus as ingratitude, coldness, tepidity, want of correspondence to His grace, in other words, sin! Just guess, if you can, how many times Jesus wanted to bestow great graces on you, wanted to shower favors and benefits on you; and you by your behavior bound His hands. He wanted to sanctify you but you would not let Him; you would just obstruct Him. Come, then, bind yourself hand and feet to Him, for the sake of His love. Bind yourself to Him with loving fetters that you may never lose Him any more and you may repeat with the Canticle of Canticles, I found Him whom my soul loves, I held Him and would not let Him go. Beg of Our Blessed Lady that this grace may be granted to you.

[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]


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