The Clock of the Passion, Death & Resurrection of Jesus
BY BRO JO RONA
Recollection on the:
THE CLOCK OF THE PASSION, DEATH and RESURRECTION OF JESUS TO FULFILL THE FATHER’S PLAN OF SALVATION
Assembly
Opening Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit
Our Father
Hail Mary
Act of Consecration
“O Mary, the Father sent His Spirit to overshadow and empower you, His Son as your child to depend on you. I too give myself to you. I renew my consecration to you, O Mother and Queen, my body with all its senses, my soul with all its faculties, my heart with all its affections, for you to give to Jesus and mold in His likeness. Take all that I am, all that I have and all that I do and give these to the Holy Spirit to form Jesus in me. At the foot of the Cross, He entrusted me to you. Take and unite me to Jesus crucified humbly obedient to the Father, fully yielded to the Spirit in love. May He be the Lord of my life and of men. And in His Spirit the praise and glory of the Father. Amen.
Act of Contrition
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee . And I detest all my sins because of the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most of all because I have offended Thee, O my God, who art deserving of all my love. I firmly propose to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.
Song
O Sacred Head surrounded by crown of piercing thorn. O bleeding head so wounded, reviled and put to scorn. The power of death comes o’er you, the glow of life decays. Yet angel hosts adore you, and tremble as they gaze.
I see your strength and vigor all fading in the strife, and death with cruel rigor bereaving you of life. O agony and dying, O love to sinners free. Jesus, all grace supplying, O turn your face on me.
In this your bitter passion, Good Shepherd, think of me with your most sweet compassion, unworthy though I be. Beneath your cross abiding for ever would I rest. In your dear love confiding and with your presence blest.
Contemplative Rosary
While we pray the Sorrowful Mysteries let us meditate and put in our mind the Passion of the Christ
SCRIPTURE PROPHECY ON THE PASSION
Isaiah 42:1 “The Lord says, ‘Here is my servant, whom I strengthen – the one I have chosen, with whom I am pleased. I have filled him with my Spirit, and he will bring justice to every nation. He will not shout or raise his voice or make loud speeches in the streets. He will not break off a bet reed nor put out a flickering lamp. He will bring lasting justice to all. He will not lose hope or courage; he will establish justice on the earth. Distant lands eagerly wait for his teaching.”
Isaiah 49:7 “Thus says the Lord, the redeemer and the Holy One of Israel, to the one despised, whom the nations abhor, the slave of rulers: when kings see you, they shall stand up, and princes shall prostrate themselves because to the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”
Isaiah 52:13-53:12 “See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted. Even as many were amazed at him – so marred was his look beyond that of man, and his appearance beyond that of mortals – so shall he startle many nations, because of him kings shall stand speechless; for those who have not been told shall see, those who have not heard shall ponder it.
There was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, nor appearance that would attract us to him. He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom men hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem. Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, while we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins, upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way. But the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all. Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth; like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not his mouth. Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away, and who would have thought any more of his destiny? When he was cut off from the land of the living, and smitten for the sin of his people, a grace was assigned him among the wicked and a burial place with evildoers. Though he had done no wrong nor spoken any falsehood. But the Lord was pleased to crush him in infirmity. If he gives his life as an offering for sin, he shall see his descendants in a long life and the will of the Lord shall be accomplished through him. Because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear. Therefore I will give him his portion among the great and he shall divide the spoils with the might, because he surrendered himself to death and was counted among the wicked; and he shall take away the sins of many and win pardon for their offenses.”
Psalm 22
Many look at this Psalm as a Psalm of desperation of a dying man. It is actually a deep teaching of the Mission of Our Lord to attain salvation and victory over pain and suffering. Read slowly the Psalm. This is what you will observe.
On one hand, the desperation and hopelessness of a man crying out from his pain.
On the other, the avowal of hope of a man who understands the meaning of suffering and struggles to put his trust in the Lord in the midst of pain and suffering.
The battle between despair and hope continues on. It is just like the St. Dismas (the thief who acknowledges in humility the meaning of his suffering) and Hestas (the thief who is oppressed by desperation) passing on to each other their deepest motivation at the occasion of utter pain.
But then at the end of the Psalm, it is the proclamation of victory by a man who in his suffering gives himself up in complete self-surrender to God. This Psalm is actually a fulfillment of salvation and proclamation of victory by Jesus on the Cross that right in front of the Jews and the whole world, the prophecy of salvation by the Prophet Isaiah and the song of the Psalmist is accomplished by the Suffering Servant.
If the Jews only listened! They would have understood that Jesus on the Cross is the Messiah.
THE CLOCK OF THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
(The Lord will give you the grace as you meditate through the clock of the Passion.)
(Jn 3:15) “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that those who believe in Him and be baptized shall be saved.”
Two Weeks before Palm Sunday
Jesus speaks about His Suffering and Death (Lk 9:21-27/Mt 16:20-28/Mk8:30-9.1)
Jesus speaks again about his death (Lk 9:43-45/Mt17:22-23/Mk9:30-32)
Jesus speaks a third time about his death. He now talks about going back to Jerusalem to fulfill the prophecies about his passion (Lk 18:31-34/Mt 20:17-19/Mk 10:32-34)
Jesus knew that he would be crucified decided to go back to Jerusalem (Mt 26:1-2)
Palm Sunday
Triumphant entry into Jerusalem (Lk 19:28-40/Mt 21:1-11/Mk 11:1-11/Jn12:12-19)
Holy Monday
Holy Tuesday
Jesus weeps over Jerusalem (Lk 19:42-44)
Jesus drives the money changers from the Temple (Lk 19:45-48/Mt 21:12-17/Mk 11:15-19/Jn 2:13-22)
The Plot against Jesus (Lk 22:1-2/Mt 26-5/Mk14:1-2/Jn 11:45-53)
Holy Wednesday
The woman pouring oil on Jesus’ feet in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper. This was to prepare Jesus’ burial.(Mt 26:12)
Holy Thursday
6pm Last Supper (Mt 26:18-19)
Jesus prepares the Passover Meal. Jesus ordered his disciples to prepare the Upper Room for the Last Supper. He also prophesied the “nearness of the hour of his passion.”
7pm Jesus washes the feet
The Last Supper (Mt 26:26-29)
Discourse of Jesus (Jn 14 – 17)
Divine Indwelling and the Promise of the Holy Spirit
The New Law
New Covenant
Sacrament of Priesthood
8pm Institution of the Sacrament of Eucharist
The prophecy of coming of the Kingdom
Prophecy of the betrayal (Mt 26:21-25)
Promise to those who will suffer with Jesus (Lk 22:28)
Prophecy of the scattering of the disciples and the denial by Peter (Mt 26:31-35)
9pm Jesus and the disciples leave for the Garden of Gethsemane. Agony in the Garden (Mt 26:36-46)
12am Midnight
Good Friday
1am Judas betrays Jesus (Lk 22:3-6/Mt 26:14-16/Mk 14:10-11)
The Arrest of Jesus, “Put the sword back…. Do you think I cannot call the angels…. But how would the Scriptures be fulfilled…. All things have to happen to fulfill….” (Mt 26:52-56)
Jesus was silent before all the accusations which were not really sincere in finding the truth. (Mt 26:63)
2am Jesus is led before Annas
3am Jesus is led before Caiaphas, Blow in the face
4am Jesus is blindfolded, struck and scoffed at
5am Jesus brought before the Sanhedrin, Jesus is condemned to death by the Sanhedrin
6am Jesus is brought before Pilate
7am Jesus is brought before Herod
8am Jesus is brought back to Pilate, Jesus is condemned, Barabbas is released
9am Jesus is scourged at the pillar
10am Jesus is crowned with thorns, Jesus is presented to the people
11am Jesus carries his cross and marched to Calvary
12pm Midday: Jesus is stripped and crucified
1pm Seven Last Words began
3pm Jesus died
4pm Jesus is pierced with a lance by Longinus
5pm Jesus is taken down from the cross, Mater Dolorosa
6pm Jesus is laid in the tomb.
Let us try to recollect what happened on this day 2000 years ago, after Our Lord was laid in the tomb. Let us put ourselves among the disciples on that day at the cenacle. The Blessed Mother seated in a corner, very tired, recollecting the events in the life of her Son. Never for a moment was Jesus separated from her, even in His mission. But tonight, after Our Lord is laid in the tomb, she had no one to hold on to. She had no more Son to caress. No more Jesus to talk to in the silence of the night. How Mother Mary could have wished to roam the streets of Jerusalem that night to shout out her pain. Everything is silent. Our minds are pulled apart between the harrowing sorrows of yesterday and today, and perhaps the thought of what He said that He will rise again day after tomorrow. But our mind is pegged on the pains that he unjustly underwent. Why should He suffer so much just to tell me that He loves me and that He would not want me to go to eternal damnation. We have been a part of his condemnation. We have denied him. We left him alone on His cross. He was utterly alone hanging on that cross. And here I was hiding in my fears. And yet I call him Master, My Lord, my God. And now he is gone from our sight. We can no longer talk to him.
Holy (Black) Saturday
Beginning the 6pm ceremony of Good Friday, the Church is stripped of all altar decors.
And a black (or violet) cloth is used to cover the altar. The tabernacle is emptied of the Blessed Sacrament. The whole day of Holy Saturday is emptied of ceremony.
There is a “deep silence” throughout the whole Church. This is the only day and time of the year that there is no liturgical ceremony whatsoever done in the Church. This signifies a deep “mourning” of the whole Church “for the loss of its Lord.”
But tradition believes that it is at this day that Jesus “went to the abode of the dead,” to visit the just men of the Old Testament and brought them to Paradise.
Easter Sunday
3am Resurrection