Gethsemane

Christ in Gethsemane. Michael O’Brien

Gethsemane

This is his Passion.
Darkness wraps around his very being,
not a warming cloak  but a shroud.
Silence, punctured by friends
snoring off  the wellbeing of food,
minds sloshed with wine.
Alone with the shivers of the night,
everything in him protests.

Sometimes, when we know our destiny,
our minds close.
Not this! No! Never!
But our hearts are our undoing:                                 
our resolve begins; ends there.

So he battles with his need to say ‘Yes’,
for himself, for others,
for us.
How else can the world know what it is to be loved?

Kneeling on the damp ground,
tense, numb,
scared, uncertain, he waits.

And the Father waits too as demons and angels whirl,
stirring up the black air, a vortex of cosmic battle.
Below them, sweat drops as blood.

And still the Father waits, listening expectantly,
daring to hope…

God wrestling desperately with God
with everything – just everything – at stake.
This really is the Passion.

He sighs, deeply,
calm descends.“Yes, let it be.”
The Father wraps his love around him
– and so too around us.

Holy Tuesday 2021

(inspired by St. Luke 22:39-46)

[Mr G]

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