Dear friends of Gethsemane, the Lord will give you his Peace!
At the beginning of this special time of Lenten way, I would like to share with you this mosaic thatis found in our Basilica: it represents the kiss that Judas Iscariot gave Jesus HERE in Gethsemaneon that night illuminated by the full moon of Easter.This gesture, the kiss, expression of affection and surrender of love... is maliciously soiled! I foundan interesting story that comes from a last century mystic female, which tells that Jesus, oncerisen, brings the disciples here, where He sweated blood, and reached the point of the kiss ofbetrayal, the Lord asks Peter to kiss him! Peter, who had denied him three times, collapsed on thefloor, bursting into tears and, sobbing and afflicted, implores him not to insist. Jesus begs andaffirms: "If by a kiss full of falsehood and hatred, the Son of Man was betrayed, by a kiss full oflove and mercy it may be Beloved", that yours be the kiss that washes and erases that pain .When I see that the Lord is not loved, that is insulted, blasphemed or not accepted, I believe that Ican repair that, in my little way, loving him, praising him, welcoming him in silence through thepeople I know or through small situations that hide his image. Sometimes I see our disfigured andsuffering humanity, which in the face of the poor of Gospel still cries out today: "Lord, help us!"So this invitation comes back to my heart: "But you, give me your heart... your kiss of love!" This gives me so much strength and I think it can be for each of us so, in the daily struggle that unitesus, for a greater good and that falls within his plan of salvation. We can call this a prayer ofreparation.
Let us remember in the common prayer. The Lord is our strength and only hope.
