What would happen
if upon his descent to Hell,
Jesus meets his old friend, Judas?
Listen to the words of this song.
Who, in your imagination,
would say which lines?
Would you like to share below
what came up in your prayer?
What would happen
if upon his descent to Hell,
Jesus meets his old friend, Judas?
Listen to the words of this song.
Who, in your imagination,
would say which lines?
Would you like to share below
what came up in your prayer?
51 replies on “Leaves (Ben&Ben)”
It is never easy to love nor easy to forgive. I’ve done both and have received both. There’s no greater gift to give and to receive than these two. And it is Him who has shown us to this path and taught us to do both.
All will be allright in time. Leaves soon will be grown from the barrenness of the trees. Waves of the storm will be calm, the wouds of the past will be healed and all will be allright in times. I never wanna loose hope. All that happens has its purpose. Victory and power of Jesus will prevail. His love never wants to die in sin and hell. His sanctifying blood washed us and cleansed us. He will give us courage to overcome this time of tribulation. Let’s not loose our hope and trust in Lord. He will rise us from all evil inclinations and dispel the darkness of our world.
We can never really question the mercy of God. Always offering and extending His boundless love and mercy. The question is, how do we respond to this invitation?
Forgiveness is one of the most difficult things to do but if Jesus forgives and forgives every time we sin who are we not to forgive those who hurt us? Truly His love for us is immeasurable. Thank you Jesus for your love.
One of the greatest gifts I can give to myself is to forgive. Forgiveness is God’s command.
One of the greatest gifts I can give to myself is to forgive. Forgiveness is God’s command. Mistakes are always forgivable if one has the courage to admit it.
This made me think about what my father said to me when I was unloading to him all of my anxiety about the economy, the current political situation, etc. “Basta nariyan ang Diyos, maaayos din ang lahat sa tamang panahon. Do not lose hope in the Lord. He knows what He’s doing.”
Everything will be okay in Jesus name.
That’s what is making me cry… His mercy and compassion, His forgiveness… especially to what Judas did to Him. Such love! Such love, my Lord… to us, sinners.
I wonder if Judas can allow himself to be forgiven.
Can I allow myself to be forgiven for the times I have betrayed Christ and His love?
I have loved this song ever since I have heard it. Now, listening to it makes me appreciate it all the more.
Our Lord is LOVE. And I cannot think of any other who can love like Him. He is the only one who can calm the noise in my heart and mind. Hearing Him say to me, “And all will be alright in time,” is like a gush of soft wind brushing through my face that takes away all the worries and fears that I have inside.
Lord, thank You! You have loved me and still loving me in spite of my shortcomings and failures. You have forgiven me countless times and I still ask for it every time I sin. I feel ashamed of myself to ask more of Your love and forgiveness but I still run to You most of the time. Grant me the grace and mercy to live my life according to Your will. Carry me through the challenges and trials of my life that I may reach the end to meet You, waiting for me with open arms and saying, “everything will be alright.”
I love You, Lord! I trust in You!
Amen.
“And in the end can you tell me if it was worth the try.. that I decide if I could leave or stay.”
(“LEAVES,” by Ben and Ben)
I am not a Catholic scholar neither a Theologian, but by the way this spiritual exercise is suggesting that Jesus probably offered Judas a last ride towards forgiveness, while in hell. We cannot deny the fact that he was once a disciple of Jesus who had the privilege of washing his feet by Our Lord as the same way of reaching out to lay his trust on Him.
Siguro nga..
From the song, I was left with the thought of me forgiving myself and letting my leaves fall and wither so that new ones will grow. Time to leave the past behind. God loves us, that’s why he did this. We should allow ourselves to be healed. The emptiness that I am experiencing now will soon be over. And when the time comes, we should welcome life again with open arms, as if the past didn’t happen.
Dear Lord, teach me to forgive in order that I learn to truly love. In the tribulations I find myself let me see through them with your eyes, being just and merciful. This self of arrogance, hate and vindictiveness, kindly help me shed away. Keep on protecting me while I stand with truth and courage, facing the uncertainties of change.
Help me learn to accept with all humility the sorrows, pain and guilt suffered by me and others by me.
Guide me to act like Isaiah’s suffering servant, infected and carrying the affliction of others, yet, “serving you as you deserve.”
Amen.
One of my struggles in life is being able to forgive someone who has given me so much hurt. It is also difficult for me to forgive myself for having hurt persons who I love dearly. If God can forgive, who am I not to forgive? Thank you for teaching me that to love is to forgive!
Thank you, Lord, for Your unending forgiveness of all my brokenness and Your enduring love. Please grant me the grace never to be separated from You. I love You.
This is my first time to hear Ben & Ben. Thanks for introducing me to them and for choosing such an appropriate song!
I can imagine Judas and Jesus reuniting in Hades and exchanging stanzas from the song.
Judas took his life because he was full of remorse and guilt for betraying Jesus. He still loved Jesus. He tried to undo his action but the chief priest and the Pharisees did not give him that chance.
Judas is probably surprised to see Jesus in Hades. He sheepishly approaches Jesus with tear filled eyes cast downwards. He looks up to see Jesus give him such a tender, merciful look. Before Judas even says anything, Jesus takes hold of him and says “All will be ok.” I hope this is what happened.
I hope this is also what happens when I remorsefully and with teary eyes meet Jesus, full of love for him and sorrow for my sins and betrayals of Him.
Thank you Lord for your love and forgiveness.
I heard Jesus saying to me all will be alright in time, an assurance that He is here listening and understanding me and my faith crisis
Thnak you Lord Jesus! please enlighten me and send answer to my questions
I think this song is a duet with Judas and Jesus where some lines are for Judas to say, and some are for Jesus. What came up to me was that Jesus loved Judas even after the latter betrayed Him. He loves, and He will never ever stop loving. If the scholars are right, I really hope Judas truly repented for what he had done and Jesus was still able to save him.
Lord, how endless is Your mercy. Thank You for the mercies You always bestow upon us. Help us to do the same with others. Amen.
Forgiveness is love. Now I understand St. Augustine words that when there is pain there is love because that is the opportunity given for you to forgive someone or even forgive your self.
This is officially my favorite retreat EVER, because you used a Ben&Ben song. And it is PERFECT, oh my.
I imagine Judas saying these words:
“Try as hard as I might
To flee the shadows of the night
It haunts me and it makes me feel blue
But how can I try to hide
When every breath and every hour
I still end up thinking of you”
–because he does feel despair and shame and intense grief over what he did. And I would like to think that Jesus says these words:
“From waves overgrown come the calmest of seas
And all will be alright in time
Oh you never really love someone until, you learn to forgive”
–and I really think He is a merciful God, forgiving even the most terrible of sinners: once His friend, who betrayed Him. His mercy is that endless, and I feel this very deeply.
“You never really learn to love someone until you forgive..”
Lord, teach me to learn how to forgive as you forgave all our sins and transgressions.
In that reunion, Jesus brought life to those souls again. It was a sweet taste of hope, love and mercy. It was a bright light of a life everlasting with Him. Such joy it must have been!
Thank you for including this in todays retreat….. i also agonized over the fate of Judas, feeling that he is also a victim of circumstance.
The hopeful and beautiful song consoled and lightened my heart……
Salamat kaayo…..
Dear Lord, teach me to forgive people of past hurts. May i shed the pride and ego that keeps me from forgiving. May you grant me the grace of forgiveness so that i may love wholeheartedly. I know that the past hurts haunts me and i pray that i can lift these baggage from my shoulders so that i can live more fully and appreciate the many blessings that you have given me.
I can only imagine that You would still have that look of tender compassion for the lost Judas. I imagine that that tender look of compassion of Yours would only intensify even more as Judas catches and fixes His surprised gaze on You. You can never turn Your back on any lost soul Lord, that’s just who You are. And this time, as You give Judas Your very last look of mercy, something will have already changed deep in Judas’ heart. He who delivered You to Your death with 30 pcs of Silver must have felt his heart do a complete backflip and not just skip a beat. This time, I imagine Judas knows better than saying “No” to Your invitation. Lord, I can begin to imagine just how boundless and tender Your mercy is for lost souls. I can very easily see myself in Judas every single day. For Your mercy, Lord, I will forever thirst and be saved.
“But in the end, what makes it worth the fight’s that
No matter what happens we try to make it right”
Thank you Jesus for forgiving me and for helping me realize that I too should forgive myself. That loving myself also means forgiving myself of all my shortcomings. And that with time, and with You, everything will be alright. Amen.
Love and forgiveness are intertwined. Thank you for showing us this depth of forgiving those who have betrayed us.
Now it dawns on me that forgiveness must come first before I experience love in its deepest sense. Yes, I always find it hard to forgive others but now I am reminded that leaves soon grow out from the barennes of trees. And all will be alright in time. Time heals and have no choice but to forgive others. If I stay with anger and hatred, I would remain in death but if I forgive I will experience resurrection with Christ.
I thank the Lord for forgiving me, for loving me unconditionally.
There is always hope in Jesus Christ our Lord, he even forgave his friend, Judas, His betrayer. His dying on the cross pays all our debts including Judas’.
Oh my Lord, I deeply mourn your death because you don’t deserve it. But you chose to because of your great love for us. Though my heart aches because I am one who caused that enormously painful death, so may you forgive me Lord God. May I be able to pass forward to others the love you have for me. Enable me Lord through your Holy Spirit. Amen.
At first I imagined Judas refusing to go with Jesus out of shame, stubbornness, pride, whatever… I imagined him staying in the hell of his making. But as I stayed with the image longer, I then saw Jesus going to him, reaching out to him, inviting, and giving him the kiss of redemption to make up for his kiss of betrayal. Judas needed forgive himself first, with the all-powerful love of Jesus supporting him in this impossible task.
The Lord’s compassion, mercy and love is overflowing. It is beyond what I could imagine. My heart is full of gratitude and love. Love and forgiveness go together. There is no reason for me not to forgive those who have hurt me.
I had been forgiven. Jesus continues to forgive me each time I fail Him. I pray for the grace to forgive completely those who have betrayed me and hurt me.
Lord, thank you for your compassion and mercy. Thank you for touching my life. Thank you for being there for me when I needed you most, for reaching out. May I be worthy of your love. Forgive me Lord. Amen.
“You never really learn to love someone until you forgive…”
In any trying moment, we have to be patient, do the right thing and trust that everything will be alright.
In the dark moments of my life, I clung to the Lord. Then things turn out to be even better than before.
“You never really love someone until you learn to forgive” captures the essence of what Jesus had done for us and why. True love heals all things in time. Our sins, our pains, our suffering, our weaknesses when we lift these all up to Jesus and ask for His forgiveness, we will be healed. We only need to open our hearts and with all humility, surrender to the love He so generously and unconditionally offers.
Love and forgiveness.
Wounds of the past will eventually heal
And all will be alright in time.
That with Jesus’ love for us . . . all shall be well
I super love Leaves by Ben & Ben. ♥️
These lines struck me the most:
Wounds of the past will eventually heal
And all will be alright in time
So so true. As long as we allow God to enter and illumine the parts of our hearts filled with bitterness, anger, resentment – we will experience the liberating and wonderful feeling of forgiveness. All will be alright in time as long as we have God by our side. ?
If there is conflict there is reconciliation, separation is reunion, death is resurrection. These happen daily, in our everyday life – the thing that I need to learn – forgiveness. Love is about learning to forgive and a faith that all will be right in time. Thank you for the song… I should listen to it daily.
God’s Love is so overhwelming! He forgives my transgressions. I will keep stumbling..but I know He will be there to pick me up again. I know it will be difficult to move on unless I learn to forgive myself and Focus on His Love.
Forgiveness was my only liberation. The only way that enabled me to welcome another day. For you Lord, we are always worth the fight even if we’ve long given up on ourselves.
Time indeed comes when everything becomes alright.
We await for it again now. Forgive us. We await with hope O Lord.
Our Lord’s love and compassion is so great and encompassing that I am assured of it no matter what circumstances life may bring?
“You never really love someone until, you learn to forgive.” The songs for this recollection have been well thought of. This is the one that really made me cry. It is difficult to forgive someone else. I thought about the times that I forgave people. Even those who did not ask for it. There are times I cannot even remember what they did to make me angry because I have chosen to forget those painful memories.
It took me a while to forgive myself. Thank you, Lord, for forgiving me whenever I ask and sometime before I remember to forgive myself.
Yes, I never really thought my pain from betrayal would go away. But as I learned to pray and entrust to the Lord my hurts, anger and doubts, slowly I saw and felt how the Lord put order and healing in my marriage in His time. But I had to learn to forgive…… because my pain was surely could not be compared to the enormous pain I have caused Jesus for all my sinfulness, pride, selfishness…… Today, I continue to feel ashamed and truly repentant every time I watch Jesus die on the cross for me.
Love = Forgiveness
Forgiveness = Love
I honestly thought I have no more tears to shed until I imagined Jesus saying “all will be alright in time”!
Love and mercy — undeserved, freely given, must have consoled and freed Judas as it did many of us who came to know this and believe.
Thank you po for the amazing choices of songs since Thursday!
Dear Lord. Thank you for telling me that all will be alright in time. I lift up to you all my burdens and anxieties which seem so small compared to what people are encountering. So am even ashamed to bring this up to you. Let me learn how to move on with love and positivity. Amen.
Learning to forgive for me is one of the greatest teachings of our Lord and but also maybe one of the most difficult to follow. It is so natural and human to harbor anger and contempt. It’s another example of how radical but also universal and timeless the message of Jesus is.