Hello! Welcome to the third and final part of our Online Triduum Retreat!
Just in case you haven’t done the previous modules for Holy Thursday and Good Friday, you may want to check them out first HERE.
Today we will slowly ease into Easter, having reflected and prayed over the suffering and death of our Lord, and what all that might mean for us here and now.
As we prepare for reflections for today, before we rush into Easter, let us take time to recall Jesus’ boundless love that led Him to remain true to His mission and to empty Himself completely for our sake.
For our opening prayer, we will watch a music video of a familiar–but secular–love song, “How Deep is the Ocean?” The song, recorded here by Jason Gould, asks questions and answers them with more questions.
For example, the question: “How much do I love you?” The answer: “How Deep is the Ocean?” In short, my love is as deep as the ocean.
This song of questions may well be our Lord’s Good Friday song to us.
Watch the images in the video comtemplatively (from Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ), starting from Jesus’ agonized prayer in Gethsemane up to the so-called “Descent from the Cross,” when His lifeless body is returned to the arms of His grieving mother.
Allow the music video through you, to experience Jesus’ love for us, no matter the cost.
If you feel drawn to it, you may want to write a brief personal prayer expressing how you feel and responding to what you have seen and heard.
Whenever you are ready, you may proceed to the NEXT section.
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Lord, what have I done for You to have such immense amounts of love for me?
Thank You for loving despite.
I am in tears.
Listening to the song , “I’ll Rise Up,” I am at a loss for words what to say or what to do. I guess the tears said it all.
Thank you, Lord for rising up for me. Help me, Lord to rise up for You as well.
Thank you Lord, for helping this team rise up for you so that all of us can accompany you these past 3 days. May the fruits of this retreat live in our hearts in our daily life.
Thank you Jesus for loving me. Please help me to love you all the time!.
Thank you, Jesus, for loving and saving me, a sinner.
Thank you Jesus for always accepting me… for always finding me… for sending angels… for hearing me out… for loving me
Thank you, Lord. No words can express, no feelings can encompass the love you have. You have shown to me your love again and again, even when I am unfaithful, even when I question the depth of your love for me, yet you keep on loving me. Forgiving me, giving me hope, pulling me out of darkness and pain. Thank you for reminding me that Easter is coming in my life, in my children. We will not be forever be in darkness or pain, for you are with us, no matter what. I am ashamed to question you for you have proven time and time again your love and faithfulness. thank you, Lord. Let your light shine upon me, my children, my family. hold me, O Jesus, hold my hand. help me to be strong kasi hindi ko kaya mag-isa.
Lord, forgive me if I took you for granted. You showered me with Your love and blessings, but I was preoccupied with worldly things. Your death on the cross has finally sinked in on me. Mama Mary was with You, even though it was heartbreaking for Her. With both of Your guidance, help me see the beauty of Your eternal love and selflessly give it to people who need it most. Amen.
If i can recall, this question is a familiar line written at the back page of a Christian Songbook which says,
One day, a man asked Jesus, “How much do you love me?” Jesus answered, “This much!” and He opened his arms wide and died.
Whenever i’m lost, i always remember this story.
Lord, I am sorry for causing you so much hurt and pain. Thank you for the great love you have showed us by dying on that cross. I am sorry.
From a mother’s perspective, it is very difficult to outlive your child. Mary is the epitome of faith. No hysterics; just deep sorrow and acceptance. Jesus you know our anguish. You feel our pain and yet you persevered to save us; for a chance to spend eternity with You.
Amen
Dearest Jesus, thank You for loving me this much. Thank You for offering your life so that we may live. Thank You for showing us what true love ought to be – being ready to lay down one’s life for his friends.
I hope and pray that this extreme love of Yours continue to challenge and transform our hearts of stone. May we always choose to love like You even when it is hard and uncomfortable. May Your love find its way in our whole beings, so that we may truly be another Christ’s in this world. Amen.
I cannot believe that God the Father who is pure Self-giving Love can possibly Will His Beloved Son to suffer and die….? Jesus’ obedience unto death could only be Obedience to the Truth; that He was the Son of God, that we too may believe in the same Truth, and that God the Father, together with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, is Alive in our hearts, loving us infinitely and unconditionally no matter what we may go through and we are called to forgive and love others in like manner….but often fail to. I believe I am infinitely loved. It is not God’s will that I suffer. His Will is always to lead me to Life and Love Eternal.
Lord Jesus thank you for your example of self- emptying for our sake. I realized that what I’m experiencing now in my group is nothing compare to your death on the cross. Please give me the grace to go on loving you and serve you no matter what.
Lord, how much do you love me? You’ve responded: “As deep as the ocean; as high and wide as the sky.”
Then you asked me, “How much do you love me?” Caught by surprise. I was clueless. But I can only offer you this humble of heart of mine. With all its pretense and sin, with all its worries and doubts, with all its dreams and ambitions. Lord, you know that I love you. Allow me to love you – the best way I only know how.
Words are not enough to describe the sufferings you went through, my Jesus. Your wounds were caused by my sins, my infidelities, my selfishness, my pride, my distrust. I am sorry, Jesus, I nailed you on the cross.
Mission of love. Sacrificial Unconditional love of Mother Mary, Lord Jesus and God the Father. I moved also by the actors who portayed the “Passion of Christ”, the directors and all service team behind the scence. Giving all their gifts of talents, time and skills to convey the message of unconditional love-the Passion of Christ. A Masterpiece of Life and Love.
Mother’s loving kindness
Lord Jesus,
Thank You for reminding us how much You love us, though we certainly don’t deserve Your love. May this knowledge inspire me to live a life worthy of Your love. May my desire to grow in my faith and love of You go beyond this Holy Week.
Amen.
to see Our Lord and Savior being faithful and committed on His mission, regardless of the consequences… all of these… for His great love for us… Dear Lord, please help us not to forget Your great love for us… may all these realizations You have given to us continue to inspire and guide, far beyond from this Holy Week, as we again return to our own missions.. again thank You Lord for your grace for giving us this opportunity to be with You through this retreat
Thank you Lord for your love that has no limit. I feel ashamed for all the times that i have hurt you, for all the times that i chose to go against your teaching and example. Please show me mercy and keep me in your loving light always. Amen.
Dear Lord,
Thank You for loving us so much undeserving as we are. I am so sorry for offended You. Whenever we/I sin, we’re lile scourging You all over again. Please grant me the grace to avoid sinning and hurting You.
I love You.
“Lord, I am just really beginning to fathom, to understand the depth of your love for me. May this Easter season be a time to really deepen my awareness of Your great love, how you carried out your mission to die for me and my sins.”
I don’t know why you chose to give your life up for people like me. Were you just being obedient to the Father, or did you really choose to love us? Why would you love someone like me? I’ll never be able to return that love. I’m not worth your love. I’ll never be worth your love. I can barely be with you without being distracted! My heart is so cold towards you, and I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to do to be at least a little worthy of your love. I’m sorry you’re stuck with someone like me. I wish I knew how to love you more.
Forgive me Lord for forgetting the depth of your love. For questioning my worth when it is you who never left me, who always loved me.
Mary
Beloved, patient
Loving, suffering, dying
Companion ’til the end
Mother
Faithful
Trust surrendered
Lifeless body, still heart
To come back whole again for us
Easter
Thank you Lord for your infinite love, which at this moment, I do not feel worthy of. Help me receive this love from you so openly, and through feeling this love through the depths of my soul I can emulate and live it as well.
Behold the man
Oh Lord Jesus Christ
Thank you for your LOVE
Love that moves
Love that heals
Love that conquered hatred
Love that transforms
Love that gives meaning, purpose and goal in life journey
Love that bears all things, endures all things,
and believe all things.
Love that bears fruit
Love that is eternal
Love bestowed to humanity by the body and blood of the Beloved Son of God, Beautiful Lord, and Glorious Savior
JESUS CHRIST. Amen
Thank you Lord Jesus for loving me ,j pray before easter ends j get promotions in the organization are working with, my family will be OK,get money in the name of Jesus Amen
Dearest JESUS,
I Soooooooo love you. Grant me the grace to live that love for you daily as I deal with my reality.
It was difficult to see that haunted look on Mother Mary’s face as she held the lifeless body of her son in her arms. Here was someone who had faithfully obeyed God through her life but this was the outcome she got. The natural question is why did it have to happen the way it did. It took me a while to realise that it was broken humanity that nailed Jesus to the cross. It wasn’t that God would not want to have had it any other way. To me, the drop of water falling down was the teardrop of our Father, who would have also been grieving over the fate of His son…
Thank you Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour for the infinite love you have for me. The most fitting response I can give is to give that love back to you through others, including Mother Earth and all of creation.
Lord, forgive me and heal me in Your tender compassion, for I have sinned. Forgive me in your love for the good I have not done and the evil I have caused.
Not only Our Lord Jesus, but also Our Mother Mary suffered so much for our sins! In moments of temptation and distress, may I never forget the boundless and unconditional love they have for me!
Thank you, Lord, for blessing us with Your boundless and unconditional love. May we, in all times, remember this and the sacrifices it entailed, and may we always do our best to share this love to others.
Dear Lord, till your death on the cross, the ones nearest and closest to you never left your side. By your choosing to belong to Your Father in the painful ordeal you went through, He kept His promises to You and to His people in the end. Such is the power of love. Thanks for loving us which I couldn’t understand or fathom, for that alone is enough. And such love needs a heartfelt response from me.
How deeply I am loved. Beyond reason and comprehension.
Who am I to doubt my worth?
He loves me beyond what the world can see, in measures not counted by money, popularity, power or beauty.
Even without any of these, He sees me worthy and loves me deeply. Fully.
May I respond in love, in faith, and complete trust.
Use me, O Lord, to do your most Holy will for my life, and for the good you need me to do in the world in your name.
In the seven last words I watched, the speaker likened the words, it is finished, to debts paid. All the sins of the world have been paid by Jesus! I should not wallow in sadness, there is hope, for Jesus paid for all my sinfulness!
That particular scene from The Passion of the Christ never fails to make me cry buckets because our Lord suffered so much. Whatever pain I’m suffering right now, he went through it all and worse. I have no right to complain.