The Sorrowful Mysteries - Meditations with the thoughts of Fr. Jan Góra

The Agony in the Garden

The prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane is like the Annunciation. Just as Mary's Annunciation was accompanied by immense loneliness and that fundamental act of decision on which everything depends, so it is now, during the prayer in the Garden. Loneliness and decision. How small other matters and worries seem! Once, you have to decide: I am at Your disposal. Everything else is just a consequence. Even by not deciding, I am still making a choice. There is no escaping from giving God an answer.

Let us pray that our response to God may always be positive.

The Scourging at the Pillar

The flesh trembles before the consequences of the decision to follow Jesus. The flesh is afraid in anticipation. The flesh is weak, but the spirit is ashamed. The flesh pays the bills for the spirit. Great choices cost the flesh and deplete it. But the flesh is a servant. The flesh is an instrument, a tool for a righteous cause. That is why the flesh is scourged. It must know its place. Artists and saints know this. Reversing the order is always a loss of dignity.

Let us pray for a proper hierarchy of values in our personal and social lives.

The Crowning with Thorns

Adam's sin is in us. Our pride can ruin everything. Egoism and egocentrism can ruin and disfigure even the finest work. We must be aware of the presence of this enemy, who is within ourselves. We must be vigilant so that he does not destroy our service to values. There is only as much humanity in a person as they can make of themselves a selfless gift for God, for others, for the cause.

Let us pray for the greatness of humanity in people, and in ourselves.

The Carrying of the Cross

To follow Christ. For better or for worse. To follow Love, which is He Himself, in every situation. To follow Christ is to follow Love. Love costs. Love inflicts wounds. Love is demanding. But we do not desire a love that costs nothing, that demands nothing, that is merely utility and egoism. We desire that love which costs dearly, and that is why following Christ is so difficult. For here we hear Christ's threefold question addressed to Peter: Do you love? Do you love me? Do you love me more? (cf. Jn 21:15-17). And like Peter, with our whole lives, we give a positive response. Regardless of the price we are called to pay.

Let us pray for the strength to follow Love.

The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus

To live with Christ, to suffer with Christ, to die with Christ. This also means to triumph with Christ. It means, above all, to rise from the dead and conquer death. It means to die no more, but to live forever. On the cross, Love triumphed. Standing beneath the cross was the Mother of God, the embodiment of triumphant Love.

Let us pray for the ultimate victory of love in the life of each one of us.