Praying the Rosary Like Never Before by Edward Sri

Author:Edward Sri
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781632531797
Publisher: Franciscan Media
Published: 2017-05-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Seeds for Contemplation: Biblical Reflections on the Sorrowful Mysteries

Love and sorrow. In our world today, love is often associated with something joyful, thrilling, and attractive, not something sorrowful. Yet, John Paul II said, “the culmination of the revelation of God’s love” can be found precisely in these mysteries that are called ‘Sorrowful’” (RVM, 22). How might this be?

Beginning with the agony in the garden, Jesus confronts all the temptations and sins of humanity and says to the Father, “Not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). Indeed, Christ’s “yes” in the Garden of Gethsemane reverses the “no” of Adam in the Garden of Eden.

Yet Christ’s love and fidelity come at a price. Jesus firmly resolves to do the Father’s will in the first sorrowful mystery, but this will lead him to the scourging at the pillar, the crowning with thorns, the carrying of the cross, and the crucifixion (RVM, 22). This is why, when discussing the Sorrowful Mysteries, John Paul II gives most of his attention to the agony in the garden. He says the other four sorrowful mysteries are the result of the first. They highlight how Christ’s loving commitment to the Father’s will entails great suffering and sacrifice for the sake of our salvation (RVM, 22).

In addition to showing God’s love for us, these Sorrowful Mysteries unveil the meaning of man himself. Christ’s self-giving love in his passion and death serves as the model for understanding the vocation of all human beings. We will only find fulfillment by making ourselves a sincere gift to others, as Jesus did for us on Calvary. Indeed, true love and faithfulness ultimately lead to the cross.

The First Sorrowful Mystery

The Agony in the Garden

Matthew 26:36–46; Luke 22:39–46

Jesus…went forth with his disciples across the Kidron valley, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. (John 18:1)

The devil’s assault against Jesus reaches a new peak here in the Garden of Gethsemane. This is not the first time these two have dueled. Before the start of Christ’s public ministry, the devil put Jesus to the test three times in the desert. Jesus resisted each of the devil’s temptations, and the angels came to minister to him.

While Jesus could claim an initial victory in that battle in the desert, the war was far from over. As Luke’s Gospel ominously notes, “When the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). In other words, the devil was waiting for the right time to come back and put Jesus to the test again.

That “opportune time” of the devil has arrived in the Garden of Gethsemane, in this first sorrowful mystery. Although Jesus engaged in several skirmishes with demons throughout his proclamation of the kingdom, on this night, he faces a frontal assault with the devil. In the events surrounding this scene, Luke’s Gospel highlights how Satan is mounting his final attack: The devil has just entered Judas (see Luke 22:3–4), Satan seeks to have all the

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