This year for Lent, I decided that instead of giving something up, I would make time for spiritual reading every day — yes, people who work in video read too! Specifically, I wanted to deepen my understanding of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
One great thing about working at Holy Heroes is I can just walk back to the shipping area and browse the shelves (and sometimes even check out the “not yet available” books to put my two cents in on the planning!). It’s a treasure trove for resources on the Faith, and that’s where I first saw The Last Hours of Jesus by Fr. Ralph Gorman.
Have you ever just started reading a book and immediately realized that it was the specific book that you should be reading at the particular time that you are reading it? I had this epiphany when I read the first sentence of the Preface.
“I have not written this book for Scripture scholars, who have the same access as I have to sources of information on the Passion of Jesus Christ. I have directed it to nonspecialists who would like a fuller treatment of the Passion…”
Preface, p. vii
And, as I’ve continued reading this book, this realization has only been confirmed.
In addition to referencing the Gospel accounts, Fr. Gorman gives the reader background details of the people, places, and politics of the times that surrounded Christ’s arrest, trial and crucifixion… as the subtitle of the book says From Gethsemane to Golgotha. Some facts Fr. Gorman lays out include:
- The different religious and political beliefs of the Pharisees and Saduccees, and how their beliefs influenced their reactions to Jesus
- The exact moment that Satan entered Judas–and all the circumstances surrounding that event
- The lessons for us from Gethsemane–how the emotions we are facing every day (and especially today) were reflected in Jesus’ Agony: fear, sorrow, weariness, even disgust, and what the angels who ministered to Him actually provided
- The dangerous political currents in Palestine that fueled the fatal events of Holy Week–how the human heart reacts to the presence of God in our midst
- Why Jesus refused to answer many of His accusers!
- Pontius Pilate: why he admired — but condemned — Jesus, anyway
- The immediate effects of Jesus’ prayers from the Cross to His Father in Heaven!
- Two insightful chapters about what occurred after Jesus’ death: the “prodigies” (miraculous–and terrifying–events that occurred) and the burial (which is packed with meanings I hadn’t known)
- Why, after His death, the Sanhedrin still feared Jesus
This book has given me a new understanding of Christ’s Passion, which has been especially meaningful during this Lenten season. Our Faith is a never ending topic for us to delve deeper into and study — as my pastor reminded the congregation in a homily one Sunday, “Confirmation is not graduation.”
So, if you’re looking for a great Lenten read, I highly recommend The Last Hours of Jesus by Fr. Ralph Gorman. May God bless you and yours in this Lenten season and throughout the year. And, happy reading!
PS Here’s a link to some other reading Holy Heroes has for grown ups that you might not be aware of–click here. Triduum reading, books that make great gifts, beautiful coffee table books full of interesting facts and photos, lots to browse! Good to have some of these around the house to pick up when the Spirit moves you!
Tiffany is the Video Production Manager at Holy Heroes. She produces and edits the weekly MassPrep videos, does everything from scripting to publishing of all sorts of Saint “Did you know?” videos, promotional videos, the videos for our newest Adventures such as the Marian Consecration Family Adventure, and more all the time.
In his “Letter to Artists,” Pope St. John Paul II wrote,”The opening page of the Bible presents God as a kind of exemplar of everyone who produces a work: the human craftsman mirrors the image of God as Creator.” This is what we strive to achieve in every every project to radiate the joy of the Faith to children and their families.
