Lent Guide: In the Shadow of GethsemaneSample

Take the cup

Can you drink the cup?
Drink, not survey or analyze,
ponder or scrutinize –
from a distance.
But drink – imbibe, ingest,
take into you so that it becomes a piece of your inmost self.
And not with cautious sips
that barely moisten your lips,
but with audacious drafts
that spill down your chin and onto your chest.
(Forget decorum – reserve would give offense.)

Can you drink the cup?
The cup of rejection and opposition,
betrayal and regret.
Like vinegar and gall,
pungent and tart,
making you wince and recoil.
But not only that – for the cup is deceptively deep –
there are hopes and joys in there, too,
like thrilling champagne with bubbles
that tickle your nose on New Year’s Eve,
and fleeting moments of almost – almost – sheer ecstasy
that last as long as an eye-blink, or a champagne bubble,
but mysteriously satisfy and sustain.

Can you drink the cup?
Yes, you — with your insecurities,
visible and invisible.
You with the doubts that nibble around the edges
and the ones that devour in one great big gulp.
You, with your impetuous starts and youth-like bursts of love and devotion.
You with your giving up too soon – or too late – and being tyrannically hard on yourself.
You with your Yes, but’s and I’m sorry’s – again.
Yes, you – but with my grace.

Can you drink the cup?

Can I drink the cup?

Yes.

Scott Surrency, O.F.M. Cap. (2015)

The cup

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” Luke 22:39-46 (NLT)

Complete the following sentence: “For me, life is like…”

Like what? Like a struggle, a war, a fight, a journey, a thriller… what is it like for you? We all have symbols, images, and metaphors we live with.

Are you aware of the images with which you live? It’s very important to connect with this because it gives us words for how we experience life, the glasses through which we view life. If you say, “Life is like a struggle,” you will interpret everything that happens to you as an experience of struggle.

Jesus knew which symbols He lived with, and He shared those with us. One of these symbols is a cup. The metaphor is that life is like a cup that has been given to you. That cup is full and must be drunk.

This week, we journey with Jesus as he looks at the cup of His own life. He takes that cup of His life and drinks it. He invites us to follow Him and look with Him at this cup, to take it and drink from it. Not only His cup but also the cup of our own lives.

Prayer: I ask for a deep consciousness of Your love and work in my life.