A look into the heart of Jesus: A Psalms at home retreat for Holy Week.

With Holy Week upon us, I recalled that part of the Spiritual Exercises that guided my 30 day silent retreat focus on the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of the Lord and our spending time with Him through it all by meditating on the gospel accounts of this. One of the interesting things that left an impact on me was the meditation in which I was to review one of the other gospel accounts that I had not prayed with from the Last Supper to the Arrest in the Garden. This meditation struck me differently. Throughout the other meditations, I had the deep sense that Jesus kept inviting me to stay close to Him, and that He was bigger than all my fears. As I was reading St. Mark’s account the words, “then after singing a hymn, they went out to the mount of Olives.” My curiosity made me wonder what was that hymn? A footnote contained the answer: psalms 113 -118, the thanksgiving songs that concluded the Passover meal. Here were the words of scripture that were to remain in Jesus heart as He approached His Passion.  What was in these psalms that might have been words of strength for Jesus? These would be the words that would give Him strength as He entered the Passion for our sake and for the whole world. I spent some time just praying with these psalms and it made a huge impression on me. I really enjoy the psalms, but meditating on them in this context opened up a whole new way of seeing them. What I am inviting you to do over the days of Holy Week is to also meditate on one of these psalms each day. On Friday and Saturday, we will pray with the psalms that Jesus prayed from the cross – part of the seven last words. Using the tool of Lectio Divina join in praying these psalms as you journey with Jesus during this Holiest Week on the Church Year! 

What are the psalms? 

The psalms are a collection of prayers over time that would become the “prayer book” for the Jews and later on for Christians themselves. There are a variety of kinds of psalms included in the collection: laments, thanksgiving, historical, liturgical, hymns/praise, and wisdom to name the main ones. There are also collections: the psalms of ascent (psalms 120-134) that where sung and prayed on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and the Hallel psalms (113-118) which where prayed during festivals that recalled the escape from Egypt – these were used at Passover. 

How did Jesus learn them?  

Jesus would have learned the psalms from His parents, in the synagogue, and when they were sung on pilgrimage or during Passover. Jesus would have had these memorized and he quoted from them often in the gospels. 

How can we use Hallel psalms to give us courage in these difficult times? 

That is what we will be exploring during Holy Week!