The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) - Day 59: The Nature of Sin

Episode Date: February 28, 2025

As we begin journeying through the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, Fr. Mark-Mary uses the parable of the Prodigal Son to illustrate how Jesus’ Agony in the Garden reveals humanity’s rejection of God’s gift. However, despite this rejection we find salvation in Jesus’ incredible love for us. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Agony in the Garden and we will be praying one Our Father, three Hail Marys, and one Glory Be. For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.

Hi, I'm Fr. Mark Mary with the Franciscan Friars the Renewal and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast, where through prayer and meditation, the rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is Day 59. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a Year, visit ascensionpress.com forward slash rosary in a year or text R-I-Y to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to pray each month and it's a great way to track

your progress. The best place to listen to podcasts is in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full rosary with myself and other friars. I encourage you to pick up a copy of the Rosary in a Year Prayer Guide, a book published by Ascension that was designed to complement this podcast. You'll find all the daily readings from Scripture, Saint Reflections, and beautiful full-page images of the sacred arts we'll be reflecting on.

The first sorrowful mystery is the agony in the garden. Matthew chapter 26 verses 36 through 46. Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, Sit here while I go over there and pray. And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me.

And going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed, My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass for me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.' And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, "'So could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Again for the second time he went away and prayed,

"'My father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.' And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again he went away and prayed prayed for the third time saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand and the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going, see, my betrayer is at hand." If I can go ahead and set the vision from the beginning, I'm going to treat our movement

through the five sorrowful mysteries as kind of one series, as one series. They're not going to be standalone episodes. And I'm going to ask you to trust me with it a little bit, because what I'm going to be doing is I'm going to be looking at the passion of Jesus. As Jesus, though being the innocent lamb, taking upon himself sin and also the journey, the consequences of the sinner. And we're comparing and contrast that as well to the journey made by the prodigal son and the parable of the prodigal son. As I believe the parable offers us a privileged insight into the sinner's journey who asks for his inheritance. He goes to faraway land who experiences the consequences of sin, who hits rock bottom and starts to return to the father. And it will make

sense as Jesus, you know, beginning in the garden, takes upon himself not the inheritance of the Son, but the inheritance of the sinner. He takes upon himself the consequences, the burden of sin and its effects and will ultimately then reveal to us the truth and the reality and the effects of sin and its ultimate fruit, which is death. All right. And so, we've had the reading from the Lord of sin and its ultimate fruit, which is death. All right, and so we've had the reading from the Lord's Agony in the Garden, and we'll go back to that.

But here's an introductory reading from the parable of the prodigal son. This is the Gospel of Luke chapter 15, starting at verse 11. And he said, there was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of property that falls to me. And he divided his living between them.

Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country. And my brothers and sisters, this is what sin does. I guess the son goes to the father and says, give me my inheritance, give me my part of the property that I didn't earn it, it's yours, but give it to me so that I can leave you, I can break this relationship. And with all that you have given me,

with all of my inheritance, I can do what I want with it. This is sin. We take all of the gifts that the Lord has given us. We look him in the eye. And we say, I am going to do what I want with this. Apart from you. And then this son, right, he's gonna go left to his own devices.

The father's going to give it to him. He's going to respect his freedom. Then the son is going to go squander it and waste it. What we'll see playing out in the Passion is the way in which this is playing out in the life of Christ. Jesus Christ is our inheritance. He is the Father's gift to us. To give us the Son who reveals to us the fullness of the mysteries and brings us into relationship with the Father

who comes to save us. And what do we do? We say deliver him into our hands. We say, deliver him into our hands. Give him to us that we may do what we want with him without you. And then we see Jesus in this, right? Knowing Jesus, knowing what happens, knowing that he is the kingdom in his person, that he is our inheritance in his person, that he is our inheritance in his person, he comes to the Father and freely says, Father, not my will be done, but your will be done. I freely say yes to your plan, Father. And now what's going to play out in this journey to Gethsemane and ultimately at the cross, as the younger brother squanders,

wastes, destroys the inheritance, this is what humanity is going to do to our inheritance. We're going to look the Father in the eye and say, we do not need you, we do not want you, we will take our inheritance, your beloved son, and we will do with him what we will. your beloved Son, and we will do with Him what we will. My brothers and sisters, let us reflect on these two realities. This is what sin is. This is the ugliness. This is the nature of sin. But also let us look at the innocent lamb. Let us look at our Savior Jesus Christ

who says yes to this. Why? Because he comes to save us while remaining as innocent and gentle as the babe in Bethlehem. In our first reflection on the baptism of the Lord, we saw how Jesus entered into the water, takes upon himself sin as fulfillment of the Old Testament scapegoat, as the fulfillment of the Old Testament, lamb of God.

What we see here in the agony of the garden is that the hour has arrived for the lamb of God to be led to the slaughter. Jesus, the Lamb of God, who has freely said yes, freely taken upon himself the burden of sin, the consequence of sin, the debt of sin, and the sinner's journey. The hour has come for the people of God to be saved by the blood of this Lamb, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. My brothers and sisters, let us pray in the name of the Father,

and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy

womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. All right, my brothers and sisters, thank you for joining me and praying with me again today. I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow.

All right. God bless you.