The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) - Day 79: Trust like Jesus

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

When Jesus is sorrowful in the Garden of Gethsemane, he stays in relationship with the Father, trusting in the Father’s plan. Fr. Mark-Mary invites us to sit with Jesus, trusting in the Father when we are sorrowful and afraid, following the Son’s example. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Agony in the Garden and we will be praying one decade of the Rosary. For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.

I'm Father Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars of 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 becomes the source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is day 79. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a Year, visit AscensionPress.com forward slash rosaryinayear or text R text R I Y to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to preach month and it's great way to track your

progress. The best place to listen to the podcast and the Ascension app, there's special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full Rosary with myself and other friars, no matter what app you're listening in. Remember to tap follow or subscribe for your daily notifications. For today's Lexa Divina, we'll be praying with the first sorrowful mystery, the agony in the garden, Matthew 26 verses 36 through 46, and our emphasis is going to be And our emphasis is going to be, Jesus, teach me to trust like you.

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 until 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 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." Now for our time of Lexio, let's engage the gospel passage. Let's pay attention to some of the details, the adjectives, the movements. First of all, we have, of course, the setting. We have the Garden of Gethsemane and we have Jesus with this small group of Peter, James and John. Verse 38, right?

This is what Jesus is sharing about himself. My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. We want to sit with that. Like how deep is the sorrow? How deep is the pain, the suffering that he's experiencing? Jesus' own words. My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. And then he makes this one request, like, remain here and watch with me. And then he goes on and he fell on his face.

He fell on his face. And what does he say? My father, if it be possible, let this child pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. And then he goes back. His soul is sorrowful to death. He falls on his face and he prays. And all he had asked of these disciples was that they would wait and pray with him. And he says, I will, but as you will. And then he goes back, his soul is sorrowful to death. He falls on his face and he prays.

And all he had asked of these disciples was that they would wait and pray with him. And he goes back and he finds them asleep. Then he goes and prays again. He comes back and still they're sleeping. When we're engaging the scripture, one asks like, what is Jesus' heart experiencing here? But the detail we're going to really, really focus on is

Jesus is sorrowful unto death. And how does he respond? He still prays. He still remains in a relationship. He still says, right, my father. The second time he went away and prayed, my father. The third time, the same words, beginning with my father, my Father, my Father.

And then He makes this act of surrender, of trust. Not my will, but your will be done. Father, if possible, let this chalice pass. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. And there's this way in which Jesus is His Son here in one of the most beautiful and profound of ways, still, right, building everything, building His entire life on the Father and who the Father is, and then making this prayer.

Here's my desire, Father, I know You see me, I know You hear me. Let this chalice pass, nevertheless, not as I will, but Your will be done. And so in our lex, so we're going to be coming back here. And here we see again the beauty of what Jesus being son looks like. And also we're just invited those of us through baptism who share in Jesus' relationship with the Father, like, what does this look like when life is most difficult? And we'll just stick with, this is verse 39 for Alexio. 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 as we're continuing with our meditacio, we can reflect on our own hearts. What are the areas in our own hearts or the situations in our own hearts which feel like an experience of Gethsemane? An experience of being in the garden, an experience of fear, a place where we might be sorrowful even to death. And can we still stay in relationship with our Father here? Can we share what we hope to happen? You know, let this child pass. Can we also surrender like Jesus? And one last time, again, the emphasis is Can we also surrender like Jesus?

And one last time, again, the emphasis is Jesus knows who his Father is. He knows to whom he is speaking. He knows the goodness of his Father. So we're going to really focus just right there on our last lexio. And going a little farther, He fell on His face and prayed, My Father. And going a little farther, He fell on His face and prayed,

My Father. Now we'll move into our time of arrazzio, our time of prayer, following our template, receive, respond, request, rejoice. What is the good news being offered here? What is Jesus revealing to us about himself, about the nature of God? I think in particular, I'm moved by the revelation of Jesus' heart, and Jesus' heart for me, Jesus' heart for you, that He loved us unto death and that His love of us to save us cost

Him greatly. For you, for me, right? He was willing to be sorrowful unto death. For you, for me, right? He was willing to be sorrowful unto death. We have a beautiful insight into Jesus' obedience and his fidelity to the Father. He remains faithful to the Father, obedient to the Father, even though it costs a great deal, even though it costs him everything. We have this beautiful insight into Jesus' prayer to the Father. Again, that He begins this prayer with the words, My Father, let this chalice pass, not my will, but Your will be done. And then, of course, we take the Garden of Gethsemane in the fullness of the context of the resurrection.

That Jesus here who trusts the Father, like in the darkest moments, doesn't trust in vain. He will rise from the dead. The Father will be faithful. Okay, so what's the response? We begin by praising and adoring Jesus for His love for us, for His heart for us. We see this beautiful insight into His sacred heart, which burns with love. We should adore Jesus for his obedience, his son. And we adore him to the Father for his faithfulness.

In particular, I feel the invitation to imitate Jesus' trust, but also, we're able to trust like Jesus if we know who the Father is like Jesus, right? Again, the Father and the nature of the Father, the goodness of the Father is the rock, the sure rock on which we can build our lives. So the imitation here is a greater surrender, a greater trust, a greater remaining in relationship with our heavenly Father, especially in the darkest moments. And now we'll move to our request. Okay, Jesus, we want to trust like you. We want to remain in relationship with our heavenly Father like you. We cannot do it alone. Send us your Spirit.

Send us the gift of the Holy Spirit, especially in these areas of our lives in which we ourselves are sorrowful unto death, these areas in our lives where we experience Gethsemane, where we experience betrayal, isolation, loneliness, temptations towards discouragement and despair. Jesus, teach us to trust. Teach us to pray as you trusted to praise, you trusted to be obedient as you were obedient, to surrender as you surrendered. May this be an area in which, Lord, we no longer live, but you live in us. Where our strength fails, may your grace prevail, Lord Jesus. And now we end with our rejoicing, our giving thanks. We thank you, Lord, for these scriptures.

We thank you for your trust of the Father. We thank you for this time of prayer, the grace communicated. We thank you, Jesus, that we know that you see us, that you hear us, that you are with us and that you hear our prayer. And even now, you are pouring out your grace into our hearts and into our lives, giving us a greater trust, a greater fidelity, greater confidence in you, Lord. Thank you for your word.

Thank you for this time of peace and of silence and of prayer. And we'll conclude our episode with our contemplatio, our contemplation as we pray one decade of the Rosary, particularly asking for this intention for a deep reception of grace, a deep reception of the Holy Spirit, which will bear fruit in this great obedience and trust that we see in the first sorrowful mystery lived by Jesus. Particularly in those hardest areas, may we too, like Jesus, pray, My Father, if it's possible, let this child pass, but not My will be done, but Your will be done. 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, 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. 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. 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. 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 it 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. Well that will conclude our time of doing Alexio Divina together here. Certainly if

you're feeling moved to continue in prayer, you're very encouraged to do so But thanks friends for joining me and praying with me here today I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow poco poco All right. God bless y'all