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Holy Half Hour

This document describes a Holy Half-Hour service held at an Altar of Repose commemorating Jesus' agony in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest. The service includes hymns, scripture readings about Jesus praying in Gethsemane, and a reflection on how the garden represents both humanity's fall from grace and Jesus' resurrection restoring grace. Participants are invited to keep Jesus company during his loneliness and darkness.

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Cliffy Fernandes
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52 views2 pages

Holy Half Hour

This document describes a Holy Half-Hour service held at an Altar of Repose commemorating Jesus' agony in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest. The service includes hymns, scripture readings about Jesus praying in Gethsemane, and a reflection on how the garden represents both humanity's fall from grace and Jesus' resurrection restoring grace. Participants are invited to keep Jesus company during his loneliness and darkness.

Uploaded by

Cliffy Fernandes
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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HOLY HALF – HOUR AT THE ALTAR OF REPOSE

INTRODUCTION:
“When they had sung a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives “(Mt 26: 30) Jesus‟ final
meal was first and foremost an act of worship - a prayer as of praise and thanksgiving. Still
praying Jesus goes out into the night with his disciples. Jesus goes out into the night during
which he will have to take upon himself the destiny of the Lamb – reminding us how Israel was
saved from Egypt through the blood of the lamb (Ex 12)
Let us begin our time accompanying Jesus and sing: HYMN – ABOVE ALL POWERS

LEADER: On each of the previous nights (in Holy Week) Jesus has withdrawn to Bethany. On
this night, which he celebrated as his Passover night, he follows the law to remain in within the
city of Jerusalem. He is in full knowledge as he approaches the betrayer and the hour of the
Passion. “They went a place which is called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples „Sit here,
while I pray”. (Mk 14:32) Nearby was a natural cave which could have offered Jesus and his
disciples a safe, if not comfortable place to spend the night.

SCRIPTURE READING: Mt. 26:36-39


Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here
while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and
he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with
sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell
with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from
me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

REFLECTION:
St. John gives a theological interpretation of the place when he says, “across the Kidron valley
where there was a garden” (18:1). This same highly evocative word comes back as the end of the
Passion narrative: “In the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a
new tomb where no one had ever been laid.”(19:41) John‟s use of the word “garden” is an
unmistakable reference to the story of Paradise and the Fall. That story, he tells us, is being
resumed here. It is in the “garden” that Jesus is betrayed, but the garden is also the place of the
Resurrection. It was in the garden that Jesus fully accepted the Father‟s will and made it his own
and this changed the course of history.
HYMN: THE CUP OF BLESSING THAT WE RAISE
Ch.: The cup of blessing that we raise,
Is a communion with Christ’s own blood.
1. Tell me how can I repay the Lord
For all the goodness He has shown to me
I will lift up the cup of salvation
The name of God I will call.
2. O how precious in the sight of God
The death of those so faithful and so true
I‟m your servant, the child of your handmaid
Yes, you have loosened my bonds.
LEADER: As we see ourselves present with Jesus during his time of loneliness and darkness, let
us together keep company with Jesus this night.

LET OUR RESPONSE BE: LORD TURN OUR DARKNESS INTO LIGHT
1. When darkness falls in our lives, do not abandon us even when we desert you. Our
response….
2. Judas was filled with remorse after his betrayal because he saw only what his sin did to
him, and not what it did to Jesus. Our response….
3. In his betrayal Peter repented because of the Lord‟s look and the Lord‟s word, and as he
saw what his sin did to his Lord. Our response….
4. Judas leads the crowd in the darkness with a torch. Jesus tells us: “I have come into the
world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” Bring that
light into our dark lives. Our response….

CLOSING PRAYER:
Almighty God we leave you just for a while and will return at the dawn of morning. We have
witnessed the betrayal of Judas and the hurt in your eyes. You said to the jostling crowd “I am
he.” Were you speaking to the crowd? Were you telling Judas you were the Messiah who would
give the world light? We pray that the light may always be with us. Amen.
As you leave the Altar of Repose, carry with you all through the rest of the night the image of
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, until you wake up in the morning to find Jesus in the
courtyard with the soldiers.

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