With Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane

I realize we are not in the season of Lent, which is when I had intended to write this article on meeting Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Trusting in the Lord’s timing, perhaps early September is the perfect time for this reflection. I pray you will be blessed by it.

And they went to a place which was called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I pray.” And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch.” And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” - Mark 14:32-36

Our Lord prayed that “the hour” might pass from Him: the hour of death, of self-sacrifice, of suffering. The hour to make a self-gift, a total self-emptying. As I prayed with these thoughts, the Lord brought to light the ways that I myself tend to escape this hour repeatedly! I have many strategies in place to avoid that moment of self-sacrifice… defensiveness, self-justification, blame, over-analyzing, busyness, dark chocolate, commiserating with a friend…and the list could go on.

In that prayer session, the Lord invited me to enter into the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane. He encouraged me to come to Him with my suffering, bringing my troubled heart to rest in His troubled heart. Every moment of Jesus’ life – including His moments of anguish in the Garden – are for you. And for me. The time He spent in the Garden of Gethsemane holds particular possibilities for consolation and intimacy, as we unite our distress with His. Let’s go there now.

A Scriptural Meditation

“[He] began to be greatly distressed and troubled” Mark 14:33

Tell the Lord about the situation, relationship, or difficulty that is troubling you. Acknowledge the ways you are struggling or being affected by it.

Jesus, my heart is troubled by…
I feel…
I am struggling to / I am struggling with…

“he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.” – Mark 14:35

It is ok – and often helpful – to cry out to God as Jesus did, expressing your emotions and not stifling them.

Lord, I am afraid! I am worried that…
Lord, I am angry! I am angry about…
Lord, I am heart-broken! I am so sad about…
This feels like too much, Lord! I am so burdened by…

“Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” – Mark 14:36

It is good to pray for the healing and the freedom that you desire, while also expressing the willingness to be docile to His will.

Lord, heal me! Free me!
Lord, I trust that You see a bigger picture and You know what is best here.
Give me the grace to accept what is, even as I pray and hope for what is yet to come.

“And he came the third time, and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come; the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going;” – Mark 14:41-42

Lord, I must rise and get going with You. The hour is now; even though I, and others in my life, are still sinners, even though the situation is not “fixed,” even though he or she isn’t “different,” even though my heart is still troubled. It is enough. The hour has come for me to rise and go forward with You. I make a gift of myself, my will, and my desires, to You. Thank You for taking care of everything.

Closing Prayer
Lord, increase my capacity for accepting Your will with grace, calm, and a steadfast heart. Help me to accept Your will as it unfolds through the details of my everyday life. Whether comforting or afflicting, pleasurable or painful, the events of each day show me – simply by their having happened – that You have willed and intended them. Lord, I want only what You want. Please make that last line ever more true and representative of how I order my choices and actions! I pray in Your most Holy Name, Amen.

“The sorrowful things we do not understand or find hard to accept occur within the orbit of divine Providence. And since God wills only what is good for us, even those things that grieve us are ultimately intended for our eternal benefit.”
- Fr. Thomas Dailey, O.S.F.S., Behold This Heart, St. Francis de Sales and Devotion to the Sacred Heart, page 130.