Consider Jesus in the Agony in the Garden. Weighed down with fear and anxiety, crippled with weariness and pain, He puts Himself in the one place where He can find true rest: the embrace of the Father in prayer. And Jesus cries out to the heart of His Father, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.” Could it be that Jesus no longer accepts the will of the Father? No, this is not the divine heart that cries out for relief. It is the human heart, trapped in the crucible of sin, so full of sorrow that Jesus’ sweat turns to drops of blood.
But immediately, the Sacred Heart of Jesus erupts, “Yet, not as I will; but as you will.” This is the triumph of love! The love that flows from Jesus’ Sacred Heart is the only thing strong enough to overcome our human resistance to suffering – even suffering for the sake of redemption.
More often than not in the Gospels, we are told that Jesus prayed – but not the exact words of His prayer. When those words are given to us, we must pay close attention. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is showing us that when our hearts are laden with pain and suffering, we can cry out to Him and He will hear us. More importantly, Jesus proves that His love is the only thing strong enough to transform our weakness: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest.”
