Theme
Discovering new depths of Gods love in the passion of Jesus
Grace/Desire
I ask God for sorrow with Jesus sorrowing, anguish with Jesus in anguish, tears and deep grief because of the great affliction Jesus endures for me.
Prayer Material for this week
1. John 13: 1-20 The Washing of the Feet. Jesus knows the hearts of his friends, washes their feet. Peter refuses to let the Lord do it, then relents and wholeheartedly agrees. Jesus tells them, I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.
2. John 13: 21-30 Judas betrays Jesus. It was night.
3. John 15: 1-17 Jesus the Real Vine. You did not chose me; I chose you and appointed you to
go and bear much fruit
4. Matthew 26 30-56 From the Upper Room to Gethsemani. Peters denial is foretold. Jesus goes
through agony. He is arrested.
5. John 18: 12-27 Jesus before Annas. Jesus is taken to Annas house. Peter says he is not Jesus
disciple. Jesus answers correctly, and is slapped. Peter denies Jesus.
6. Mark 14: 53-72 Jesus before the Sanhedrin. False witnesses. Jesus answers, I am. They
torture him.
7. Matthew 27: 1-2; 11-14 Jesus before Pilate. Pilate asks whether his is king. Jesus answers that
it is as Pilate says. The Jews accuse him, but he remains silent.
Matthew 27: 15-26 Jesus before Pilate again. Barabbas or Jesus: They cry louder. Pilate
hands him over.
Matthew 27: 26-32 Jesus handed over. Jesus is scourged, crowned, mocked. Simon of
Matthew 27: 33-38 Jesus crucified. Jesus stripped. He is nailed to the cross.
Matthew 27: 39-47 Jesus in darkness. The passersby jeer. Jesus cries out
.
A Heart Speaks
God our Creator and Lord, I beg of You that I may truly be a friend to Your Son and enter into His sufferings that He embraced for all the people You bring to life and for me.
A Heart Speaks Again
Lord Jesus Christ, did I know how, I would break my heart with grief for You. Of all the people in the world, You should have suffered least. I am ashamed of what we did to You while You broke Your heart with grief for me.
Additional Scripture and Prayer Material
1. Matthew 23: 37-39 Jesus weeps for
2. John 12: 27-36 Jesus speaks about his impending death.
3. John 13: 31-35 And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I
have loved you, so you mist love one another.
4. John 15: 18 16:4 The Worlds Hatred. Slaves are not greater than their master.
5. Matthew 26: 69-75 Peters denial: I do not know the man! And immediately a
cock crowed. Before the cock crows you will deny me three times. Peter went out
and began to weep.
6. John 19: 25-30 Jesus mother. I am thirsty. Jesus dies.
7. John 19: 31-42 They pierce Jesus side and break the others legs. They take Jesus
down from the cross. They bury Jesus.
8. Luke 23: 26-56 The final hours.
9. John 12: 23-33 The interior struggle of Jesus
unless a grain of wheat die
now
is my soul troubled.
10. Luke 22: 24-38 The competition among the disciples for first place may have been
one of Jesus reason for washing their feet.
11. Jeremiah 31: 31-34 At the last supper, Jesus fulfills this prophesy.
12. John 15: 12-27 Jesus gives the key commandment of love and explains that true
discipleship involves the experience of rejection that he experienced.
1) How do I perceive
2) How am I called to have compassion in the concrete details of my life?
3) What sorts of commitments to self, family, community, etc. are begging for my
response?
4) How does my response involve the cross.
How can we be present to the sufferings of Jesus in our prayer? It may be compared to the way we read a letter recounting the last moments of a loved one. It may also be compared to the silence we maintain in the room of one who is dying. We stay silent. The one who is about to die has secrets about which we have no inkling. At the bedside of the dying, we cannot be present or sustain a presence with a heart filled with self-concern.
n adapted from Direction Of Conscience by Jean Laplace
Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me. Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me. O good Jesus, hear me.
Within Thy wounds, hide me. Permit me not to be separated from Thee.
From the wicked foe, defend me. At the hour of my death, call me and bid me
Come to Thee, that with Thy saints I may Praise Thee, forever and ever. Amen.
First
1. You are dealing with a great amount of material. Keep in mind that you do not have to cover everything. Just try to remain with Jesus.
2. Try the best you can to focus on Jesus experience. What did He feel? Enter into His fears, disappointments, blankness, anguish. Jesus, after all, was not a body, but a Person, with full human affections and emotions.
Second
1. Recall that we can fall into some fairly useless activities during prayer on Jesus passion: We can wallow in our emotions. We can focus too much on our own sins, and let them stand between us and really empathizing with Jesus. And we can find ourselves tending to feel pity for ourselves.
2. We have no reason to get bogged down. Follow the example of the earliest disciples, who wrote down the Passion narrative before anything else. They simply remembered the story, step by step.
Third
1. You will know by the end of the week that any division of the story of Jesus suffering is artificial. Be confident in letting the Holy Spirit lead you to those parts of Jesus experience where you will find the most good.