In the heat of June the pilgrim-teachers whom I will accompany to the Holy Land will want to walk where Jesus walked and to see what Jesus saw.

There are some ancient steps that Jesus would have walked twice on what we call “Holy Thursday,” once when he went down from the Upper Room on his way to Gethsemane, and once when he was taken from Gethsemane back up to the House of Caiaphas. Twice that night he would have walked through the Kidron Valley where he would passed some tombs, once with eleven of his disciples and once with none of them.

If  the weather, the schedule and the authorities permit, the pilgrim-teachers and I will pray the rosary, as we stand near the tombs in the Kidron Valley. For the prayer I have written a set of mysteries of the rosary: “The Agonizing Mysteries.” The surest way for me to see the errors in the text is to publish it, for as soon as I hit the “publish” key to post, I will see the errors of my ways. It happened all the time. So, here goes. Publish makes perfect!

Rosary in the Kidron Valley

“The Agonizing Mysteries”

Jesus is in the Upper Room.

• The disciples ask Jesus, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”
• The disciples go off, enter the city, and find it just as he had told them it would be.
• They prepare the Passover.
• As they recline at table, Jesus says, “One of you will betray me.”
• Peter vehemently replies, “Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all speak similarly.
• While they are eating, he takes bread, says the blessing, breaks it, and gives it to them, and says, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
• He takes a cup, gives thanks, and gives it to them, and they all drink from it.
• Jesus gets up from the table, takes off his outer garments, and ties a towel round his waist.
• He pours water into a basin and begins to wash their feet.
• Then, after singing a hymn, they go out to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus passes through the Kidron Valley the first time. 

• Jesus had seen these tombs many times, but tonight, in the full moon, they look different and feel different.
• He feels the dust at his feet, the silence of the night, and the darkness in his soul.
• Jesus thinks about that only son of that widowed woman who was being carried out of their town to be buried. (Luke 7:11-18)
• How he steps forward, touches the coffin, and says, “Young man, I tell you, arise!”
• Jesus thinks about that twelve year old only daughter of that synagogue official who died in her bed. (Mark 5:21-43)
• How he takes the child by the hand and says to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”
• Jesus thinks about the brother of Mary and Martha who had been in the tomb for four days. (John 11:1-44)
• How he cries out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
• How the dead man comes out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face wrapped in a cloth. “Untie him and let him go.”
• It crosses through the mind of Jesus that he could run over the Mount of Olives to Bethany to hide at the home of his friends, or to escape safely into the desert beyond. 

Jesus is in Gethsemane. 

• They come to a place named Gethsemane.
• “Sit here while I pray.”
• Jesus begins to be troubled and distressed.
• “My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch.”
• Jesus advances a little, and falls to the ground.
• “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Take this cup away from me, but not what I will but what you will.”
• He returns and finds them asleep.
• “Get up, let us go. See, my betrayer is at hand.”
• Judas, one of the Twelve, his betrayer, had arranged a signal with them, saying, “The man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him and lead him away securely.”
• All the disciples leave him and flee.

 Jesus passes through the Kidron Valley the second time. 

• Jesus had called twelve disciples who walked with him for three years.
• From the upper room Jesus comes down the ancient steps with only eleven of those disciples, and comes to the garden.
• As he enters deeper into the garden of the olive trees with only three, he leaves even them behind, and he goes deeper into agony.
• Betrayed, abandoned and arrested, Jesus walks into this valley of death again, this time with none of his disciples – zero of the twelve – from 12 to 11 to 3 to zero.
• He looks toward the city to see the gate of his entry on the donkey and to hear the hosannas of the crowds waving the branches of palm.
• He spots the top of the temple of sacrifice rising above the outer wall.
• He remembers going with the devil to the pinnacle of the temple, that corner of the wall, and being tempted to tempt God by jumping.
• The women are nearby, the ones who promised to stay with him and remain for him, no matter what.
• He thinks of his mother, her embraces, her assurances and their conversations.
• At one and the same time he feels alone and he feels God being with him.

Jesus is in the house of Caiaphas. 

• Those same steps that he had walked down just a few hours ago in front of his disciples – they feel different to his feet as the guards push and pull him up the steps.
• They take him to the house of the high priest, Caiaphas.
• In front of everyone Peter begins to curse and to swear, “I do not know the man.”
• Immediately a cock crows. Peter weeps bitterly.
• They condemn him as deserving to die.
• They spit in his face, blindfold him and slap him.
• They lower him into the dampness of the prison pit for the night.
• The words of the psalm, memorized and stored in his heart, move to his lips, “Lord, the God of my salvation, at night I cry aloud in your presence. My soul is filled with troubles. I am reckoned with those who go down to the pit. My only friend is darkness.”
• His words, “You must take up your cross and follow me,” come back to haunt him.
• He longs for the touch of his mother and he feels her absence.

Tags: Agony, Bethany, Caiaphas, Eucharist, Gethsemane, Holy Land, Holy Thursday, Jerusalem, Kidron Valley, Lazarus, Martha and Mary, Mysteries of the Rosary, Passover, Rosary, Upper Room, Washing of Feet