Stay With Him

James Tissot's: You Could Not Watch One Hour

I made the choice to follow You, and now the path has led me here to this garden in an olive grove where I find You at prayer. I see and hear the anguish born of Your intense love for me. I think back to the other times we have met: on the roadside where You cured the blindness of my soul, at Jacob's Well where You told me everything about me, even those things I thought I could hide, and You were there in a public square to save me from the stones of my shame and guilt.
I want to do something; I want to console You in some way, but what could I possibly do or even say. My sins are what brought You to this moment. Your love for Your Father and His will led You to endure this and the suffering to come. Your love for me kept You on this path. Your mercy and healing have brought me here with You now.
There is a pause in Your prayer, and for the briefest moment Your eyes meet mine. Through the blood and the tears, I can see what You desire. You do not require my words, or even any action. All you desire is my presence. 
So many others have fallen asleep. All I ask of you is to stay with Me, keep watch with Me. and pray~not for Me, but that you may remain strong in your faith and in your love for Me.
Just Stay With Me...


Comments

Patricia said…
Karin, this is so beautiful! Your prayer is so heartfelt. Truly, all that we can do is stay with Him. He desires nothing but our love.

The music is so haunting, so lovely. I will return to read and listen to this again tomorrow night.

Thank you!

God bless,
Patricia
Unknown said…
Thank you Patricia and Colleen.

Patricia, our choir sings this hymn at Holy Thursday Mass during the procession with Jesus to His place of repose for the night. I was glad to find a Taize version of the hymn. This is one of my favorite nights of the Liturgical year.

Colleen, I visited your blog before checking my own blog. Loved your heartfelt reflection. Thanks again for the link.

Triduum blessings to you both.
Mary N. said…
I love this reflection, Karin. It's hard to imagine exactly what Jesus suffered during His Agony in the Garden but we know it was horrendous. Some say He saw all the sins in the world. It's hard to fathom suffering so intensely that He sweated blood. I've always thought that this time in the Garden was one of his greatest sufferings. "My soul is sorrowful even unto death." Interior suffering can be unbearable.
Unknown said…
Thanks Mary. I can't imagine it either~someone who was sinless "becoming sin" and enduring that kind of suffering. The least we can do is stay with Him.
Holly said…
I need to ponder this passage more often.

Thank you!