Was It Enough?

In the Scripture found in Matthew 26:31-45 we read about the moments when Jesus is talking to his apostles and tells them that on this particular night they will all desert him. Peter declares to Jesus that “If everyone else deserts you, I won’t.” We also see in this passage where Jesus goes to a solitary place in the Garden of Gethsamene to pray, taking with him three of his apostles, one of whom was Peter, who ended up falling asleep.

This passage is familiar to all of us. This is where the story of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ begins.

Many people might think to themselves that this has nothing to do with their own lives, or how they live their lives for that matter. Probably, you are thinking the same thing, now that I have mentioned it. The main thing is to focus on the reactions and attitudes of the apostles who were with Jesus because that is where we come in. Now that I have you thinking, let's highlight some of the points that I am referring to.

When Jesus first announces to all the apostles that they will all desert him that very night, the first one to speak up is Peter. Peter is willing to go all out for the Lord: "If everyone else deserts you, I won't." Peter is telling Jesus, I am dependable; I am trustworthy; I am someone who will be there to catch you when you fall. Jesus insists to Peter that even though he has said all this, Peter will deny him three times. Now Peter gets into "defense mode" and tells Jesus that he "would die first" before that was to happen. Scripture doesn't say any more about whether Jesus or Peter made any more comments over this topic. But I imagine that Peter and the other apostles were mumbling amongst themselves about this delicate conversation that had just occurred.

Afterwards, Jesus takes all the apostles with him to the garden of Gethsamene, but he only chooses three and takes them with him a little further, and then he tells them to wait while he goes on still a little further to pray. He specifically tells the three to stay awake along with him. But they don't. They fall asleep; their eyes are too weary.

How many times do we act like Peter? We are ready to take on the world, but in the end we end up denying him. Sometimes we go on a retreat of some kind, or go to a special prayer service, or even a regular Sunday Mass, and we come out all charged up because of something that was said, or something that we read, or something that we felt. We are ready to take on the world for Jesus Christ. We are ready to talk to our friends; to our family; to our neighbors; co-workers; anyone we encounter, about the love of Jesus. Then when the moment comes for us to speak, for us to put our face forward, we are silent! We don't say anything because we are afraid that we might offend someone! We are afraid that WE might get hurt in the process! In effect, we have denied knowing Jesus by our silence.

Jesus invites us to go with him in prayer. Jesus asked the apostles, "Could you not even stay awake for one hour?" One hour is not that much time. We spend so much more time doing other things, yet one hour of prayer is too long for us.

The Mass lasts about one hour. But that's too long for us! We have other things that we need to do! What could be better than spending some time with Jesus in prayer?

Eucharistic Adoration lasts one hour. That is why it's called a "Holy Hour". One hour with Jesus truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. But, no, it's too long! One hour of just sitting there at the church: praying the rosary, reading the Bible, or just meditating, but it's just too long! It's BORING! What happens now? Our eyes become heavy, just like the apostles' eyes. Our eyes don't become heavy because of sleep or boredom, they become heavy because of all the filth that we see every day in our lives that we are not able to be alert and really focus our eyes on what really matters the most: JESUS!

Was it not enough? Did Jesus not do enough for you that he would deserve that you go out and talk about his love to everyone you encounter in your daily life? Did Jesus not do enough for you that he would deserve a little bit of your time each week? At least an hour?

Did Jesus not suffer enough for you? Did he not agonize enough in the garden for you? Did he not sweat enough blood for you when he was praying in the garden? Did the soldiers not bind him tight enough for you when he was arrested? Was he not slapped hard enough for you when he was being questioned? Were his garments not stripped off his body in the right fashion for you? Was he not whipped enough times for you? Did the long thorns that were placed on his precious head not go deep enough for you? Was the cross that he carried to Calvary not heavy enough for you? Did he need to fall more than three times under the weight of the cross for you? Did the nail in his left hand not go deep enough for you? Or was it the nail in his right hand? Or maybe it was the nail in his feet that didn't do it for you? Was the lance that pierced his side not enough for you? Did more blood need to flow from his side?

What, if anything, about Jesus' Passion and Crucifixion was not enough for YOU? Will you still desert him now? Will you still deny knowing him when he needs you the most? Will you spend at least one hour of prayer with him now?

Was it enough for YOU?

I ask you now to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament as soon as you can in the nearest church or chapel that you can find. Pray with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

Let him know if it was enough.