READINGS: ISA 50:4-7; PS 21:8-9,17-20,23-24; PHIL 2:6-11; MK 14:1-15:47
THEME: On y Va!
Dearest friends in Christ, today begins the most important week in the life of the Church: The Holy Week. Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus was preparing himself for this very moment.
In fact, in the gospel of John, we can discover two moments in the entire 33 years of Jesus on earth: the hour has not yet come, and the hour has come. With this Palm Sunday (Passion Sunday) we begin ‘the hour has come’ period of Jesus’ life. In the moment of “the hour has not yet come”, all the efforts of the Jewish leaders to arrest Jesus was in vain. He was freely moving around spreading the Goodnews. But even as he was doing that, Jesus knew that the hour is coming.
With his prayer at the Gethsemane, he accepts not just the arrival of the hour but whatever it enfolds. He enters into Jerusalem, the city of his self-giving in love, the city of his glorification.
The Spirit is willing, but the Flesh is weak (Mk 14:34)
Dearest friends, Jesus knew when the hour for him to suffer for mankind arrived. And at that point, he was grasped by fear, fear of what he is going to endure for my sake and for your sake. (Mk 14:33).
In his being human, Jesus prayed to the father that he might not go into the hour (Mk 14:35). Jesus already knew what the will of the Father is but through his prayers, he was
surrendering his fear and anguish to God the Father. When he came down to his three chosen companions, he found them sleeping, and he said to them “Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mk 14:38).
By addressing these words to his companions, Jesus tells us what he himself is doing. Jesus admits that in his spirit, he is ready to undergo the pain of the hour, but his flesh is being ceased by the demon of fear. Hence, through prayer, the flesh will be given courage to accept that whatever happens to him is nothing but the will of the Father.
For three times, Jesus was patiently submitting the fear and anguish of his flesh to the will of the Father. His disciples were sleeping. This means, they were with untroubled spirit. They were insensitive to the arrival of the hour and what that connotes. As Jesus was busy bringing the troubled flesh to the courage of the spirit and acceptance of God’s will in prayer, the disciples comfortably surrendered to the weakness of the flesh and forced the spirit to succumb to the seductions of the flesh.
Dearest friends, our flesh is always weak and afraid. It does not waste time to tell us, “Forget about pain, that is not your life. Relax! Eat! Drink! Sleep! Jesus also felt the weakness of the flesh. And when he noticed that, he stopped every further movement, reduced the number of people moving with him (Mk 14:32-33), and went in to prayers in order to energize the weak flesh and convince it to accept the will of the Father.
On y Va! (Let Us Go!)
When the weakness of the flesh was dragging Jesus back from embarking on his journey, he stopped his movement with his disciples, but immediately the fear was conquered in prayer, the desire of the flesh subdued by the will of the Father, he came down and told his disciples:
On y Va! (Vamos!) – LET US GO! (Mk 14:42)
Let us go for it is time to fulfil the will of the Father!
Let us go for it is time to face the darkness of this world!
Let us go for it is time to spill that blood that will bring an everlasting victory!
Having conquered his fears, Jesus could now go with all enthusiasm and the strength from quality time spent with the Father. Surrendering, not to the fear and weakness of the flesh, but to the will of the Father, Jesus acknowledged that the hour has arrived (Mk 14:41).
But were his disciples able to move with him? Having already surrendered to the indulgence of the flesh, everything about them in the journey flowed from the understanding of the flesh. One relied on the strength of his sword (Mk 14:47); one even escaped naked, abandoning Jesus (Mk 14:51); they all deserted him (Mk 14:50) because what they saw was not the Messiah they imagined; one denied him (14:66-72).
Jesus prayed three times, submitting to the Father what would have been his denial of or refusal to accept the Father’s mission and in exchange, received strength and courage from the Father. Peter slept throughout and when it is time to stand for what he already promised (Mk 14:29), he denied who he is for three times. When we fail to lay bare our weakness before God, accepting our fears and nothingness, they become our traitors and disgrace before men.
Dearest friends, just as Jesus invites his disciples to go with him, to follow him through his hour of glorification through suffering, he also invites us especially this holy week. All the events of this holy week are the commemoration of what Jesus did for me and you. For us to be able to go with him, he warns us that we must remain watchful and prayerful because only then can we be conscious of what happens in us, of our weaknesses and the various ways the evil one tries to take advantage of them.
Jesus invites us to go with him in this our journey of life. He invites us to always face our fears and present them to God in prayer. Our problems and difficulties are not always taken away by God when pray, but in prayer, God gives us the courage to accept them as his will for our glorification.
I wish you a very fruitful Holy Week!
Fr. Nnamah Henry Chukwuezugo
Catholic Diocese of Aguleri