Sunday, April 17, 2011

Palm Sunday - A Prayer

Dearest Jesus, Judas betrayed You for thirty pieces of silver. Please forgive us when we have placed money or possessions or power ahead of You. Please lead us and guide us so that we never betray You again by sins of greed and pride.

Dearest Jesus, You told Your apostles that You wanted to celebrate the Passover with them. You still long to celebrate the Passover with us, only today that Passover is the Paschal Mystery in which You give us Your own Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Please give us the desire to celebrate the Eucharist and an appreciation for the intimacy we find when we receive You into our bodies and into our hearts. 

Dearest Jesus, the apostles were deeply distressed when You told them that one of them would betray You. Please give us deep distress at the thought of sinning against You so that we may never lose Your sanctifying grace.

Dearest Jesus, Judas called You "Rabbi" while the other apostles called You "Lord". Please help us to recognize You for Who You really are and maintain the highest level of reverence even in the midst of our intimacy with You.

Dearest Jesus, on the night before You died, You delighted in giving us the gift of Yourself in the Eucharist. Please prepare our hearts to receive You frequently and worthily, and please transform us from the inside out through Your amazing love.

Dearest Jesus, Peter vehemently promised You that he would rather die than deny You, yet, as You predicted, he denied You three times, only to feel great remorse afterward. Please give us the strength, Lord, not to deny You, and if in our weakness, we do deny You, please grant us remorse, repentance, and forgiveness.

Dearest Jesus, You experienced great agony in the garden while Your apostles slept, leaving You to suffer alone. Please give us the grace to watch with You during Holy Week so that we may not undergo the test and succumb to the temptation to flee from You in our suffering.

Dearest Jesus, You prayed for Your Father's will to be done. May Your will always be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Dearest Jesus, even as Judas was betraying You, You called him "Friend." Please help us to remember the great love that You have for all of us no matter what kind of choices we make.

Dearest Jesus, throughout Your arrest and trial, You remained silent and did not resist, no matter how badly You were insulted and abused. Please guide us to imitate You in accepting our trials and sufferings and to offer them to You in union with Your Passion for the salvation of souls.

Dearest Jesus, false witnesses rose up against You, misunderstanding Your words and actions and accusing You of all kinds of horrible things. Please help us to properly understand and defend You in all situations.

Dearest Jesus, You proclaimed that Your persecutors would see "the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven." Please help us to remember that You are indeed seated at the right hand of the Father and will come again to take us to be with You forever.

Dearest Jesus, Judas repented when he realized the horror of the betrayal he committed, but he turned to despair and killed himself. Please prevent us from falling into despair but encourage us to run to You with broken hearts when we sin, ask for Your forgiveness, and be certain that we will receive it.

Dearest Jesus, the crowd called for Barabbas' release instead of Your release. Please keep us from putting anyone ahead of You in our affections; please grant us the grace of always choosing You before all others.

Dearest Jesus, when the soldiers mocked You and placed a crown of thorns on Your head, You sat quietly, loving them even through Your pain. Please help us to remember Your great love.

Dearest Jesus, You died for love of us. Please increase our love for You.

Dearest Jesus, after You died, Joseph of Arimathea wrapped Your dear Body in linen and laid You in his own tomb. Please inspire us to give You all that we have and all that we are.

Dearest Jesus, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary sat, faithfully facing Your tomb. Please give us the faith and the patience to watch and wait for You always.

Dearest Jesus, a seal and a guard were set at Your tomb, but that didn't prevent You from rising from the dead, for Your divine power is greater than we can ever fathom. Please guide us as we journey through Holy Week to the joy of Easter, when we can look upon You, our Risen Lord, with great joy and love.

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