Our Lady's Lamp

This is a transcription from my journal from tonight.  As I sit outside in the Rosary Garden tonight, Holy Thursday, I am reminded of Christ's Agony. That is where His Passion started, not before Pilate. Full aware of the horrors about to come, He prayed. And he begged His dearest friends to pray with Him. But they had just eaten a good meal, and they were tired and ready for bed So, they kept dozing off, and Jesus begged them to remain awake, not just for His sake, though I imagine He greatly desired their company and support. When they did not give it, an Angel came and ministered to Him, but it was not the same. Today, tonight, Jesus sits on the eve of His passion in the garden. He will not die again tomorrow, but daily, He offers Himself to the Father on our behalf, and daily He offers Himself for us - to  us . His agony is not that of being flayed to an inch of His life then beaten, bruised, crucified, and mocked. Instead, His agony is watching us commit the sins ...

"Why is this night different from every other night?" the youngest child at a Passover celebration asks. He or she is then answered by being told that this night is the night that God delivered His people from slavery through miraculous deeds. Jews celebrating the Passover did not simply recall what happened all those years ago. Rather, they re-membered themselves to their forefathers, placing themselves back in time. While they were not in Egypt physically, they were in Egypt spiritually. They were partaking of the mystery of their redemption in the format put forth by God through his faithful (and sometimes not so faithful) servant Moses. Is it any wonder then that Jesus chose this week, so rich with meaning, to be the last week He shared with His Apostles before His passion? Is it any wonder that He chose to take the Passover meal and show them how it too was being perfected in the New Covenant? Christ came as the passover lamb , His blood was shed for our sins and co...