Tenth Hour: From 2 to 3 AM Jesus is presented to Annas
Jesus, be always with me. Sweet Mama, let us follow Jesus together. My Jesus, Divine Sentry, watching over me in Your Heart, and not wanting to remain alone without me, You wake me up and let me be present with You in the house of Annas.
You are now at the moment in which Annas questions You about Your Doctrine and Your disciples. And You, O Jesus, in order to defend the Glory of the Father, open Your Most Sacred Mouth, and with sonorous and dignified voice, answer, “I have spoken in public, and all those here present have heard Me.”
At Your dignified accents, all feel trembling, but their perfidy is such that a servant, wanting to honor Annas, comes close to You and with a fierce hand gives You a slap, but so violent as to make You stagger, and to bruise Your Most Holy Face.
Now I understand, my Sweet Life, why You woke me up. You were right; who would sustain You at this moment, as You are about to fall? Your enemies burst into satanic laughter, whistling and clapping, applauding an act so unjust. And You, staggering, have no one to lean on. My Jesus, I hug You; even more, I want to form a wall with my being and I offer You my cheek with courage, ready to bear any suffering for love of You. I compassionate You for this outrage, and together with You I repair for the fearfulness of many souls, who get easily discouraged. I repair for all those who, out of fear, do not speak the truth; for the lack of respect due to Priests, and for murmuring.
But, my afflicted Jesus, I see that Annas sends You to Caiaphas. Your enemies hurl You down the stairs, and You, my Love, in this painful fall repair for those who at nighttime fall into sin under the cover of darkness, and You call the heretics and the unbelievers to the Light of Faith.
I too want to follow You in these Reparations, and on the way to Caiaphas, I send You my sighs in order to defend You from Your enemies. And while I sleep, continue to be my sentry, and wake me up whenever You need to. Give me Your Kiss and Your Blessing, and I kiss Your Heart, and in It I continue my sleep.
Reflections and Practices
Jesus, brought before Annas, is questioned by him about His Doctrine and about His disciples. He answers about His Doctrine in order to Glorify the Father, but He does not touch His disciples so as not to fail in Charity. And we—are we intrepid and courageous when it comes to glorifying the Lord, or do we let ourselves be won by human respect? We must always say the truth, even in front of distinguished people. In our speaking, do we always look for the Glory of God? In order to exalt the Glory of God, do we bear everything with patience like Jesus? Do we always avoid speaking ill of our neighbor, and do we excuse him if we hear that others run him down? Jesus watches over our heart, and do we watch over the Heart of Jesus so that He may not receive any offense that has not been repaired by us? Do we watch over ourselves in everything, so that each one of our thoughts, gazes, words, affections, heartbeats and desires may be as many sentries around Jesus, watching over His Heart, and repairing for all the offenses? And in order to do this, do we pray Jesus to watch over each one of our acts, and to help us to watch over our own hearts? Every act that we do in God is a Divine Life that we take within ourselves. And since we are very limited, while God is Immense, we cannot enclose a God in our simple act. Therefore, let us multiply them as much as we can in order to at least enlarge our capacity of understanding and of love. Are we ready to answer when our Jesus calls us? The call from God can make itself heard in many ways: with inspirations, with the reading of good books, by example. It can make itself heard tangibly with the attractions of grace, and even with the very intemperances of the air.
My Sweet Jesus, may Your Voice resound always in my heart; may everything that surrounds me, inside and out, be the continuous voice which calls me to love You always; and may the harmony of Your Divine Voice prevent me from hearing any other distractive human voice.
