Dear friends of Gethsemane, peace be with you from Jerusalem!
We all note with apprehension how this time of pandemic is silently creating division, bewilderment and a dramatic feeling of fear and confusion not to mention the economic consequences that for some touch despair! This 'evil', we cannot call it otherwise, comes to affect vital aspects of every human being: in particular the relationship between us and in a sneaky way with God and forces us to be increasingly isolated and in solitude. From this holy place, the Gethsemane, I think once again of how many ‘Gethsemane’ there are in the world at this historical moment... I am referring to the humanity that is experiencing this great trial and I think that the Lord sees, knows and understands this suffering and this struggle!Even the Disciples know this proof! That night, they come here and pass from a solemn and festive situation (the Easter Supper) to a situation never seen and unexpected: the Master sweats blood and is suffering and "is about to be delivered into the hands of men" (Lk 9:43). Suddenly the situation precipitates and their ideal is broken, the dreamed world of peace and justice collapses. In a few hours they will find themselves scattered, alone and frightened. Jesus had predicted it (Jn 16:32).But it is precisely at this moment of "trial" that our Lord Jesus Christ asks the disciples of yesterday and today to stand beside him in prayer (Mt 26:38), he invites us to be vigilant because He knows our fragility which He himself experienced as a man, "The spirit is ready, but the flesh is weak" (Mt 26:41). In this difficult time, in which we are sifted like wheat, we ask the Lord for the gift of being able to remain available and faithful to his will, if we remain close to him nothing and no one can really harm or frighten us ("don’t be afraid of the one who kills the body, but be afraid of the one who kills the spirit" cf Mt 10:28). Let us seek the most appropriate way to live this closeness to the Lord, through prayer, fasting and participation in the sacraments.
Let us remain spiritually united in prayer.
