'The Saviour' by El Greco
We are now in Lent, and as part of my Lenten reading I have been reading a book entitled 'Meditation on the Passion', compiled from Various Sources, with an Introduction by Rev. Reginald Walsh, O.P. , and published by Burns, Oates, & Washbourne Ltd., London, in 1922.
In his introduction Father Walsh writes, 'It is hoped that they who love to contemplate and consider what the Word Incarnate suffered for their salvation will find this work useful. Here, in passing, we may say that the Meditation now presented to all, was in its first shape designed and destined for private circulation only.
A Member of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, as Mistress of Novices for about thirty years, had gained great experience in the formation of religious as well as in the varied requirements of conventual life, proposed by means of this book to impart to her Sisters the fruit of her own reflections on the Passion, which one so spiritual and enlightened was exceptionally fitted to compile.
As might have been anticipated, the excellence of the work, which she had intended for the use of her Sisters, in course of time became known to several persons in one or other way connected with the Institute of the Blessed Virgin. And among them, some are of opinion that this treasure should no longer be allowed to remain almost hidden in the cloister. They have represented that outside the convents of the Institute there are many devout souls to whom the Meditation would be most acceptable. In accordance with their suggestion, and in compliance with their wish, it is now reprinted.
But in order to increase its utility, so far as persons living in the world are concerned, many passages in the work, as it appeared at first, have been omitted----
those, namely, which were addressed to nuns as such; also some other incidental clauses have been either omitted or else slightly changed. …......
That the book may continue to be a help to advancement in the spiritual life, and become an abundant source of blessings to a still wider circle of readers, is the earnest desire of those who have had to do with its reissue.'
Reginald Walsh O.P.
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The book deals with the many different aspects of Our Lord's Passion, and this post covers that part dealing with the plotting of the \Chief Priests and Scribes to arrest Jesus, and the treachery of Judas Iscariot.
PRELIMINARIES OF THE PASSION
(Luke xxii. 1-6)
1st Prelude: History. --- The feast of the unleavened bread, the Pasch, was at hand. The chief priests and scribes sought how they might put Jesus to death; but they feared the people. And Satan entered into Judas, who was surnamed Iscariot --- one of the twelve; and he went and discoursed with the chief priests and the magistrates, how he might betray Jesus to them. And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. And Judas promised. And he sought opportunity to betray Jesus in the absence of the world.
2nd Prelude: Composition of Place. ---Mark how Judas absents himself from our Lord's company and the Apostles. Note his frequent visits to the city to hold intercourse with the enemies of Jesus --- the world, and this to better himself for worldly gain.
3rd Prelude: Ask what I want .--- To know our Lord intimately --- best security for fidelity to Him. The soul that knows Him, loves Him ardently, and will face and conquer every difficulty to be true to Him. Light to know myself and fear myself, for I am capable of any treason. Grace to love, appreciate, and follow faithfully common life ----best safeguard against the spirit of the world .
Points: 1. The great Council decided on the arrest of Jesus --- “They sought how they might, by some wile, lay hold on Him” (Mark xiv. 1)
2. Judas sells our Lord ---” What will you give me, and I will deliver Him into you?” (Matt.xxvi.15)
3. The enemies of Jesus immediately decide to kill Him ---“And they consulted together how they might apprehend Jesus and put Him to death.” (Matt. xxvi. 4)
1.
THE GREAT COUNCIL DECIDES ON THE ARREST OF JESUS
“They sought how they might by some wile lay hold on Him”
See the persons-- hear the words --- study the actions, circumstances, etc.
Reflect. The circumstances under which the Council decided on the arrest of Jesus were as follows:-
As regards the time, it was probably on Wednesday that the Council assembled, and probably at the hour when our Lord assured His disciples that he would be crucified on the feast of the Pasch. “You know that after two days shall be the Pasch, and the Son of Man shall be delivered up to be crucified.” The meeting place of the Council was not, it would appear, the assembly-room in the Temple, but the palace of Caiphas the High Priest, because the decision was kept secret, and all care taken to avoid attracting attention. Nevertheless the Sanhedrin seemed to have been represented in every essential point, for the three classes --- chief priests, ancients, and scribes --- of which it is composed, are mentioned. It was therefore an official session. The subject of the deliberations was no longer the putting to death of Jesus ----- that had been decided upon long ago, but the manner in which it was to be accomplished ---- whether openly by force, or secretly by crafty surprise. The occurrences of the last few days, the complete defeats by which our Lord had put his enemies to shame; His increasing influence --- all this urged them to sudden action.
The decision was ---- the arrest to be made secretly by craft. Our Lord to be surprised and taken, when and how they could best do it. His execution was not to take place on the feast-day, but after the Pasch was over. This was because they feared the people. At the Paschal season there were great multitudes of people in Jerusalem, and the crowds were much inclined to disturbances and tumult; our Lord had many adherents among them, especially among the excitable Galileans. So the Sanhedrin feared resistance and risk, as in that case the Romans would have been forced to interfere. For this reason the arrest must be made whenever it could be done best, but secretly, and the sentence was not to be passed until after the feast days, when the people had dispersed. Such was the decision of the Council --- and such their dispositions for the great feast. They feared ---- not God, but the people.
What a terrible thing for a Christian to be the slave of worldly principles, of a selfish spirit, of human respect! Our Lord declares expressly and positively that He will die on the feast, and by a violent death. He knows the counsels of God and the hearts of men. No one can work against God. His Providence guards His own. His faithful servants --- not a hair of their head can be touched without His permission. Nothing can happen without the permission of God. What a motive to live by faith and absolute confidence --- Jesus knows all. Let me be upright and sincere before God --- live under His eye and fear nothing. How far am I doing this?
Colloquy, ---Open my heart to Thee, my dear Master; give me courage to be fearless in Thy service. Thou art a Master worth serving! O good Jesus, how great is the love of Thy Heart for me! How unselfish Thy love! How great Thy solicitude for my happiness! Can I ever forget Thee? Can I ever love Thee enough, dear Jesus? Mother, I have need of thee! Help me to be like thee, always true to Jesus.
II
“JUDAS SELLS OUR LORD”
“What will you give me, and I will deliver Him unto you?”
What will you give me? What a terrible question! To put Jesus into competition with self! Judas entertained the thought of the betrayal of our Lord for a long time. No one falls away from nearness to Jesus on a sudden: neglect in little things gradually leads to a serious fall.
Let us consider how Judas came to take such a resolution. What were the causes?
The fundamental cause was probably the shallowness, untrustworthiness, and superficiality of his character. He seems to have been a man of no depth or moral stamina.
The second cause was his worldliness, ambition, and avarice. One can scarcely conceive of his ever having had any idea of the Kingdom of the Messiah other than that which the majority of the Jews entertained --- a temporal king and a temporal kingdom. Judas was wholly under the influence of the worldly spirit: that spirit which is so directly opposed to the Spirit of Jesus Christ, that St John declares, “If any man love the world the charity of the Father is not in him.” (1 John ii.15). The world is the enemy of Jesus Christ and His Gospel. It is composed of those who centre their happiness in earthly things, detest and shun poverty, suffering, and humiliation: while they love, nay, worship wealth, pleasure and dignity, esteeming these the only treasures worthy of man's ambition; pursuing them with unrelenting ardour and deliberately sacrificing their soul to attain them.
Our Lord Himself formally excluded the world from His last solemn prayer for His disciples on the night of His Passion. He predicted too, that as it had hated and persecuted Him, so would it persecute and hate His followers. If we really desire a place near our Lord, we must, like our dear Master, engage in an unceasing conflict with His mortal foe. Jesus Christ is light, and the world is darkness; and as light and darkness cannot exist together --- one casts out the other --- so neither can our Lord and the world be one. When the spirit of the world gets entrance to our heart, our Lord is cast out, rejected; and in proportion as the Spirit of our Lord gains ground in the soul, the spirit of the world is cast out.
Judas' downfall is a sad confirmation of this great principle ---- Jesus Christ and the world are mortal enemies. By generous, persevering efforts to rid myself of everything savouring of the worldly spirit, shall I make solid, genuine advance in sanctity. Perfectly to triumph over the world is not the work of a moment; therefore I must follow faithfully in the footsteps of God's servants --- the Saints, by generous fidelity in lesser trials, and so I shall merit divine help in more severe conflicts. Does not our dear Lord encourage and exhort us: “In the world you shall have distress; but have confidence, I have overcome the world .” “Let us,” says Pere Grou of the Society of Jesus, “beg of our Divine Lord and Master to overcome it with and in us, destroying its reign in our hearts, to establish His own dominion there for ever.”
3. The third cause of Judas' fall was unbelief; gradually he lost the faith he had at first. Loss of faith is the usual result of worldliness.
4. The fourth cause was the discomfort of the life led by our Lord and His disciples. Judas loved his own ease and comfort. He grew tired of the poverty of Jesus, the constant labour and journeying of Jesus, and also the disinterestedness of Jesus. Judas was absolutely selfish and acquired the habit of thieving from the purse that our Lord had entrusted to him; he tried to make use of his position for temporal ends. The private admonitions which our Lord gave Judas, our Lord's earnest, tender training of His Apostles, must have grown burdensome and intolerable to Judas. Indeed one can well imagine how the enthusiastic love and devotion of the other Apostles and friends of our Lord, must have annoyed him. How exaggerated and extravagant they must have appeared to him, until at last he took a positive dislike to the presence and Person of Jesus. This dislike to the Person of Jesus showed itself plainly, when Magdalene anointed His sacred feet at Bethany. The unbelief, irreverence, and callousness of Judas on this occasion almost stun us.
A last cause---- which, however, was at work in all the other influences----- was the influence and seduction of the devil, which grew more and more powerful the more Judas gave way to unbelief and passion, and thus it was that his diabolical resolution matured. Under these circumstances Judas wished to see Jesus' plans thwarted and the company of the Apostles dissolved, that he might be freed from his trammels --- and he thought he might as well gain something by it too, if possible.
How mean, cowardly, and disgraceful this act of Judas --- he, an apostle, a friend of Jesus, a member of His family. Judas' conduct meant no small slight shame, and no small pain to the tender loving heart of our Lord --- and Judas took this step quite of his own accord. He hastens to the Priests himself, and asks, in the most shameless and unblushing manner, what they will give him for his treachery. Judas knew well the men he had to deal with, and promised to deliver our Lord --- Jesus, his Master --- his Benefactor, Lord --- his God and greatest good--- into their hands. And for what? For thirty pieces of silver --- the price paid for killing a slave! And to whom does Judas sell his God? To His worst and most bitter enemies who lie in wait to devour Him. Judas delivers our Lord to all the tortures of His Passion and Death. Self-interest, avarice, ingratitude, cowardice, faithlessness, hard-heartedness, and cruelty are all included in this act of Judas. And oh, what pain, what deep humiliation, it brought to our dear Lord and Saviour!
Here we have serious matter for reflection --- we must get to know ourselves. Self-knowledge is a most necessary step to the knowledge and love of Jesus --- no one is safe until well-grounded in self-knowledge. If Judas had known his own evil nature, he might have been saved. He would have distrusted and dreaded himself, and clung to Jesus who would have saved him, for He loved Judas and called him to be His disciple with the sole view of saving him. But Judas used his free -will to thwart the tender, merciful designs of Jesus--- and no one will be saved against his will. What a terrible lesson is here given!
Like Judas, we too have our evil dispositions --- our weaknesses, which, unless known and fought against, will lead to very serious consequences.
What have I to say to my Divine Master? What grace to ask? What thanksgiving to make? What reparation, sympathy, and love to offer to the loving, patient Heart of Jesus? O most sweet Jesus, what is there for me outside Thee? Or what do I desire upon earth but Thee? God of my heart, Thou art my love. Thou art my blessedness. Thee alone shall I serve. I entreat Thee, O Lord, suffer nothing which is not Thine in my heart; if there be anything there in opposition to Thy most Holy Will, pluck it out even against my will. Keep Thy hand on me, dear Jesus my Lord and my God, lest I, too, like Thy faithless disciple, betray Thee. I wish Thee alone to possess my whole heart.
Thou art my Father, my last End. O sweet Jesus, fountain of love and grace, rouse me, help me to understand how sinful and ungrateful I have been to Thee. Have pity on me, Lord Jesus, have pity on me according to the mercy of Thy loving Heart. The thought that I can yet be made holy, that I can yet become a true and loyal disciple of Thy Heart, encourages me. Help me, O Jesus most merciful, help me, give me courage; behold, dear Lord, now I begin! O Mother, I have need of thee!
III
THE ENEMIES OF JESUS IMMEDIATELY DECIDE TO KILL HIM
“And they consulted together how they might apprehend Jesus and put Him to death” (Matt.xxvi. 4)
Judas' proposal was just what the enemies of our Lord desired. They are very pleased to find a traitor amongst His chosen disciples; this circumstance lowered the opinion they had of our Lord. They decided at once to act and proceed to extreme measures. Judas was now bound to help them. He did so, and tried to find an opportunity to make our Lord fall into His enemies' hands quietly and without attracting attention. So he followed Jesus, like a thief, dogging His footsteps, spying out all He did, and informing His enemies of everything ----- all the time simulating fidelity, sympathy, readiness to oblige, and the most cordial friendship. Thus our Lord had in very truth, the devil at His side. Jesus read Judas' heart ---- knew everything ---- and endured all without complaint, in spite of His repugnance. He tried to warn Judas --- to win him --- and offers all He suffers in this particular suffering of heart, for those who will in future ages have to suffer ingratitude, faithlessness, and treachery on the part of friends and relatives.
The prophets have described to us the emotions of Jesus' Heart at this time:
If my enemy had reviled me, I would verily have borne with it. And if he that hated me had spoken great things against me, I would have perhaps hidden myself from him. But thou a man of one mind, my guide and my familiar, who didst take sweetmeats together with me: in the house of God we walked with consent. The threads of the cruel plot are spun, the tragedy is about to begin. The prophecies of Jesus and the counsels of God are fulfilled, and our Lord's enemies are the instruments to carry them out. The type foreshown in the Paschal Lamb must be fulfilled; with what calm majesty our Lord sees this terrible fulfilment approaching and becoming a reality!
Jesus, my Blessed Master, strengthen my will to embrace firmly and lovingly the cross in whatever shape Thy Providence provides and deems it necessary to make me Thy true and devoted servant and companion.
Who can understand Judas? Who does not look with horror on his crime, his base treachery? Can this accursed tool be an Apostle? The sight of this unhappy disciple a traitor, an apostate, at the side of Jesus is surely calculated to fill us with (1) the fear of God; and (2) with distrust of ourselves; (3) to strengthen us in the resolution to avoid all dangerous occasions of sin or unfaithfulness to a vocation; (4) to make us persevere in humble prayer, and in exact observance of our Catholic duties; (5) to urge us to overcome our evil passions and inordinate inclinations by generous self-conquest. If we neglect the mortification of our evil tendencies, we have much reason to fear --- for we are capable of anything --- no sin, no meanness, is beyond the range of possibility for us. Our safety lies in humble, close companionship with our Lord and our Immaculate Mother --- near her we shall be true to Jesus. At any cost we must root out inordinate inclinations --- “Blessed is he who understands what it is to love Jesus and to despise himself for the love of Jesus!”
Colloquy. --- With the suffering Heart of Jesus. Pray to be faithful under every circumstance --- “ to give and not to count the cost”. Love is proved by deeds, therefore let nothing come between me and my Divine Master. In difficulties, desolation, failures, temptations, “stand by our Lord” --- cling to Him. O my dear Jesus, how wretchedly unfaithful I have been to Thee! Pardon me, I entreat Thee, ah, pardon all my ingratitude, all the evil I have done --- give me grace, O Jesus, Saviour, to redeem lost time and repair the past.
Enkindle my heart with that fire of love with which Thy Heart is burning. This most hallowed flame will utterly destroy my offences, and urge me to be prompt and diligent in Thy holy service. O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I believe in Thy love for me.
Take, Lord, take and receive my entire liberty, all that I have, all that I am, ---- everything. Give me Thy love and Thy grace and I am rich enough --- I have nothing more to ask. O my Mother, I have need of thee --- Mother, give me to Jesus ---O Mary, be propitious to me.
(to be continued)
Ack. 'Meditation on the Passion' - Rev. Reginald Walsh O.P.
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