Lent Guide: In the Shadow of GethsemaneSample

The cup of death

“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. - Luke 22:42-44

When Jesus sweats blood in the garden and he begs his Father to spare him from “drinking the cup”, He has a choice. The choice isn’t to call on godly power to save His life. The choice is rather: “How will I die?”

Of course, we know which decision Jesus made and how He died. He chose the way of forgiveness, love, and grace in the face of death. He gives an example of the decision each of us will make at the end of our life.

Our culture rarely faces the reality of death. We would rather distance ourselves. Despite all the death and violence around us, few of us have seen someone die or touched a dead body to experience the “lifelessness” of death. People rarely die at home, and the funeral parlor quickly takes the body of a loved one, embalms it, puts make-up on the face and hands, dresses it, and sets the body up to look as though the person is just sleeping. This makes it more difficult for us to hold the cup of death and to drink from it.

Ignatius suggested an exercise to connect with the ephemerality of life:

• If you had to look back from your deathbed to this very moment of your life, what would you wish you had done differently?
• What matters to you in the long run? How would you have wanted to live differently?

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