Ignatian Meditation for entering into Holy Week

31 mrt

Geschreven door Marjo van Koppen

Opening Song: My Soul Is Sad

My soul is sad, my heart is breaking tonight;

Could you not watch and comfort me until light?

Am I alone, surrounded only by night?

Could you not watch one hour with me?

Could you not keep awake for one hour with me?

Is it so hard that you should do this for me?

I die for you that you might always be free.

Could you not watch one hour with me?

And so I weep, and there is no one to hear.

I am in pain; will no one witness my tears?

I am your God, and as my Passion draws near,

Could you not watch one hour with me?

Text and music Francesca Leftley

Spotify link:

https://open.spotify.com/track/7x7zhxKy0AURCAcLuiWmhH?si=9706160ef4ba4857

Opening Reflection: Ignatian Meditation on the Passion

Thank you for coming today.

Through the Ignatian meditations so far this year, we have had the opportunity to experience a lot of joy: the joy of the Nativity, the joy of those Jesus healed, the joy of those called to be one of his followers.

And that experience of joy draws us closer to Jesus as we imagine ourselves as the ones who came to see Baby Jesus, the ones who were healed, the one who were called.

And through this, we’ve been invited to become more than followers of Christ, the Son of God.

Through these meditations based on the Exercises, we’ve been invited to become companions — friends — with the human person, Jesus.

St. Ignatius named his order the “Company of Jesus” and accompanying Jesus iscentral to Ignatian prayer — especially imaginative prayer.

It’s never so easy to see Jesus as fully human than when He’s a baby. But the humanityof Jesus also becomes more visible during His Passion. The last miracle He performs is the healing of the soldier’s ear that Simon Peter cut off.After that, His followers watched and waited for Him to use His divine power to save himself and claim His kingdom — isn’t that what He was supposed to do? Isn’t that who He was? But He didn’t.

Instead, he was arrested. Unjustly accused. Tortured. And executed. And there was nothing the Apostles could do, except be there to the extent that they could with this person whom they had grown to love. When I first prayed through the Exercises as a relatively new Christian, praying over the Passion broke my heart — in the way it needed to be broken. What do I mean by that? Left to my own devices, I’m not a very good friend. When someone’s in trouble or in need, I’m the one that hides out in the Upper Room, or just wanders aimlessly through Jerusalem, hoping to become invisible in the crowd. But my spiritual director said, “You signed up for this.” And I did love Jesus so much by that time, that I wanted to be a good friend to Him. So I sat in my prayer chair day after day during this season, invited Presence, and did . .. nothing . . . because there was nothing I could do, except sit there.

For those who were present with Jesus at the foot of the cross, being present was the only thing they could do. Just as with the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemene, this isn’t easy. It’s easier to go to sleep.

It helps us in the 21st century that we know the rest of the story. We are Easter people who believe in the Resurrection. We know what happens next. But if you’re willing, I invite you to set that knowledge aside for a little while this evening.

Throughout these meditations, we’ve been inviting you to experience Imaginative Prayer, by applying your five senses to the Gospel story, with reverence and humility. You have allowed yourself to be curious about what Holy Spirit is teaching you. You can approach the Passion with curiosity, too. If, in your imaginative prayer, you’re usually a bystander or a witness, can you draw yourself a little closer to Jesus? From Gospel stories, we see that the disciples were pretty clueless although Jesus tried, again, again and again, to tell them what was about to happen. They just couldn’t understand Him.

Yet Jesus surrounds himself with His companions during this time, leading them into Jerusalem, gathering them to Him for the Last Supper and begging them to watch an hour with Him on the last night of His life. As we enter into Holy Week, this is what I invite you to do tonight – and not even for a full hour – just 20 minutes: Watch, pray, witness, and be present.

This is HARD and one way we may try to protect our hearts is to make it all about us. To make this all about OUR sins, OUR unworthiness, OUR guilt — to beat ourselves up for our part in this – to see ourselves as a member of the angry crowd, the accusers, the persecutors. But that’s not what this meditation is about. Focusing on our guilt takes away the focus on Him.

It’s about offering your presence and witness, your sorrow and compassion, and recognizing that when there are no words, presence matters. That’s what He’s inviting us to do during this time. Here’s how we’ll do it:

We’re going to play the chant “Watch and pray”
If you brought a cross or an image to pray with, now’s the time to take it out. There are
some other images around the room. Or you can pray with the crucifix hanging here, or
one of the Stations of the Cross, or with the Tabernacle.
Find a quiet corner of the chapel, with your image of Jesus to pray with, and the
reflection questions and some scripture.
Sit in silence, using whatever helps you enter into prayer, and offer your Presence to
Jesus.
We’ll come back together after about 20 minutes and I’ll share how to deepen this
throughout Holy Week.

Opening Taizé Chant:

Stay with me, remain here with me.

Watch and pray, watch and pray.

Spotify link:

https://open.spotify.com/track/05jbH6CanZyG4xR4AAVFnL?si=170eb8a3851e4d71

Scripture Passages:

Luke 39:46 - The Garden of Gethsemane

39 And He came out and went, as was His habit, to the Mount of Olives; and the

disciples also followed Him. 40 Now when He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray

that you do not come into temptation.” 41 And He withdrew from them about a stone’s

throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, 42 saying, “Father, if You are willing,

remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

43 [[n]Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. 44 And being in

agony, He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling

down upon the ground].45 When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from

sorrow, 46 and He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you do not

come into temptation.”

Luke 40:35-38 Jesus on the cross

35 And the people stood by, watching. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying,

“He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen

One.” 36 The soldiers also ridiculed Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour

wine, 37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” 38 Now there was

also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

John 19:25-27 Mary and John at the cross

25 Standing near the cross of Jesus were His mother and His mother’s sister, Mary the

wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple

whom He loved standing beside her, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your

son.” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the

disciple took her into His home.

Luke 40:39-43 The two criminals

39 One of the criminals who were hanged there was [q]hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are

You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” 40 But the other responded, and rebuking

him, said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of

condemnation? 41 And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving [s]what we

deserve for our crimes; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he was saying,

“Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” 43 And He said to him, “Truly

I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Reflection Questions:

Where am I tempted to fall asleep, to wander away, even to hide from circumstances
that ask for my full presence?
How has my time spent with Jesus prepared me to accompany Him to Jerusalem?
What particular graces do I pray to receive through this experience of accompanying
Him?
Where does Jesus ask me to accompany Him into difficult places today? And what is
my response? Where am I free to follow Him? And where do I feel that I can’t (or
choose not to?)
Where in my life am I called to accompany others through difficult circumstances, or to
stand as witness to injustice? What do they need from me? What do I have to offer
them?What Graces do I need this week, at this time of my life?

Closing Taizé Chant

Jesus, remember me

When you come into your kingdom

Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/track/5B0cIdKbJhdwpX8IjsA3jj

Closing Reflection

We can continue this experience of going more deeply into the Christian story of Holy Week. You can, if you wish, take one of the Gospel passion stories and pray with it line-by-line, event-by-event, going more deeply into these stories we re-tell every year at this time.

Into the eagerness of FINALLY heading to Jerusalem, as a follower of the
Messiah, the King. To walk with Jesus on the palm-lined streets, singing
Hosanna! Hosanna!
Into the confusion around all the things Jesus does once we get there, from
cleansing the temple, to washing our feet, from blessing the bread and wine, to
casting out Judas!
Into the desire to just fall asleep and figure things out in the morning.
Into the shock, into the fear, into the pain. Into the unimaginable grief.

American Jesuit Fr. Joseph Tetlow writes, “Keep in mind that we enter into Jesus’ helplessness and we enter into it really because we are helpless ourselves. He made himself truly helpless; He would allow nothing and no one to snatch Him from the jaws of death.”

And in the face of true helplessness, there are no words. A few years after I prayed with the Exercises for the first time, my father-in-law developed dementia and it fell to my husband to care for him, even though the two of them had had a difficult relationship. Which, after he was settled into Memory Care, was really just being there with him, being whomever he needed us to be that day, accompanying him on this last journey. Until we got the call that it was time, and spent days sitting by his bed, mostly in silence. He was a militant atheist to the end of his life, but sitting with him as he was dying — the grace and healing in that room — you could touch it. The love, the forgiveness, the mercy.

And when you’re sitting with someone who is suffering, it’s not about you. It’s about them:

all about what they need and how you can help, even if the only way you can is to keep watch with them during the darkest hour of the night.— Even if the only thing you can do is bear witness to their injustice and persecution.
Even if the only thing you can do is be present at the foot of the Cross.
And even if the only thing you can do is lock yourself into the Upper Rooms, or hide away in the crowd, or deny Him, as Peter did.
We can continue to pray for the grace of sorrow and compassion even if what we actually feel is anger, or boredom or sleepiness. We can just gently bring ourselves
back into being present.

We can pray that as our hearts break with Jesus, that our hearts break for all those in whom we see the face of Jesus today — those who are suffering, and wondering if anyone will be there for them.

Now, all of this sounds bleak and depressing and maybe a bit scary. So it’s important to be gentle with yourself and do no more than you can do. If it gets to be a bit much, you can, if it helps, remember that you do know the rest of the story. You may already have plans for Easter morning. You are choosing to accompany Jesus through this Holy Week praying for the Grace of sorrow and compassion, setting aside Easter to accompany Jesus through His final hours.

Who are you in this story? And what is Holy Spirit saying to you during this time? There is no right answer – there is no better or worse place to be. Approach these Holy Week meditations with reverence and humility, and trust that Holy Spirit is bringing you to the places you need to visit on this journey.

Have a blessed Holy Week.d

Katherine Radeka

27 March 2026

Delft, Netherlands

Marjo van Koppen

Ignatian Meditation for entering into Holy Week

Week 25 - The moment of Truth