- Feb 5, 2002
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Growing up, my mom insisted on saying the Rosary every day, and my favorite set of mysteries to pray and reflect on was always the Sorrowful Mysteries. Perhaps it seems odd for a child to find comfort in sorrow, but there was something about these mysteries that made me feel closer to Jesus. I saw Christ as a friend and couldn’t help but wonder why people were hurting him.
I continued to pray the Rosary and attend Mass as I got older, but it became more of a habit. Like so many cradle Catholics, I lost the childlike curiosity that I once had in my friend Jesus.
It wasn’t until I became involved in campus ministry at the University of South Carolina that I began to rediscover that childlike faith, piece by piece. To feed the growing hunger in my heart for Jesus, I sought out Eucharistic adoration and devoured resources that could help me reconnect with him, from Scripture to the accounts of the saints and even films such as “The Passion of the Christ.”
Still, something felt missing. No matter how much I attempted to immerse myself in Christ’s suffering, I felt as if I needed more — more detail, more intimacy. In moments of deep suffering and vulnerability, we often seek out and feel closest to our friends. Why should that be any different with Jesus?
It wasn’t until Holy Week of my junior year that I finally experienced the intimacy I sought. The chapel at St. Thomas More was hosting 40-hour perpetual adoration, and at 3 a.m., I found myself alone in the quiet and darkness of the chapel, gazing at the Eucharist and trying to imagine what Jesus had endured in his Agony of the Garden.
Continued below.
www.oursundayvisitor.com
I continued to pray the Rosary and attend Mass as I got older, but it became more of a habit. Like so many cradle Catholics, I lost the childlike curiosity that I once had in my friend Jesus.
It wasn’t until I became involved in campus ministry at the University of South Carolina that I began to rediscover that childlike faith, piece by piece. To feed the growing hunger in my heart for Jesus, I sought out Eucharistic adoration and devoured resources that could help me reconnect with him, from Scripture to the accounts of the saints and even films such as “The Passion of the Christ.”
Still, something felt missing. No matter how much I attempted to immerse myself in Christ’s suffering, I felt as if I needed more — more detail, more intimacy. In moments of deep suffering and vulnerability, we often seek out and feel closest to our friends. Why should that be any different with Jesus?
It wasn’t until Holy Week of my junior year that I finally experienced the intimacy I sought. The chapel at St. Thomas More was hosting 40-hour perpetual adoration, and at 3 a.m., I found myself alone in the quiet and darkness of the chapel, gazing at the Eucharist and trying to imagine what Jesus had endured in his Agony of the Garden.
Continued below.
Encountering Christ through his Agony in the Garden
Encounter Christ’s deep love and suffering in the Agony in the Garden, and rediscover childlike faith through a powerful Holy Week journey.
www.oursundayvisitor.com
