Christ in Gethsemane

A few nice jesus christ images I found:

Christ in Gethsemane

Image by Lawrence OP

"In the Christ of Gethsemane, struggling and filled with anguish, we see ourselves reflected, whenever we pass through the night of searing pain, of separation from friends, of God’s silence. In this sense, it has been said that Jesus "will be in agony until the end of the world: we cannot sleep until that moment, for he seeks companionship and comfort", like everyone else who suffers on this earth. In him too, we see our own face, when it is wet with tears and racked by distress.

But Jesus’ struggle does not yield to the temptation of despair and surrender, but to a profession of confident trust in the Father and his mysterious plan. In that bitter hour it is the words of the "Our Father" that he holds out to us: "Pray that you may not enter into temptation… Not my will, but yours be done!". And then an angel of consolation, strength and comfort appears, who helps Jesus, and us, to persevere to the end of the journey."

- reflection by Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi, used in the Papal Via Crucis of 2007.

This 17th-century stained glass roundel is in the church of Preston on Stour.

Sacrificed for my Sake

Image by Lawrence OP

"We acknowledge that what makes a man righteous is not obedience to the Law, but faith in Jesus Christ. We had to become believers in Christ Jesus no less than you had, and now we hold that faith in Christ rather than fidelity to the Law is what justifies us, and that no one can be justified by keeping the Law. In other words, through the Law I am dead to the Law, so that now I can live for God. I have been crucified with Christ, and I live now not with my own life but with the life of Christ who lives in me. The life I now live in this body I live in faith: faith in the Son of God who loved me and who sacrificed himself for my sake. I cannot bring myself to give up God’s gift: if the Law can justify us, there is no point in the death of Christ."

– Galatians 2:16,19-21, which is today’s Second Reading at Mass.

My sermon for today, the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, can be read here.

This crucifix is from a medieval hospital/almshouse in Goslar, Germany.

Christ in Gethsemane