Ninth Day.
The Lord called His disciples together in order to eat the Pasch with them for the last time on earth, and also take a long farewell of them. They [pg 144] would not meet again until after the resurrection. St. John the Evangelist gives us much of the discourses which the Lord held with His disciples. “Let not your heart be disturbed,” He says, “at what is going to happen to Me.” The sorrow at parting, and the dreadful suffering which the Master was to undergo, acted in a most depressing manner on their spirits. No wonder they felt so downcast. He was their great friend, the joy of their heart, and now He is about to leave them. It is related that when Jesus was a boy, His companions felt such consolation in His presence that when any of them were distressed, they would say, “Let us go to the Son of Mary; He will console us.” Even now Jesus is our great joy and consolation; now that He is to be found in the Blessed Sacrament, now that He is in heaven at the right hand of the Father, to Him we can always go, and find refuge in His kindness.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Tenth Day.
At the Last Supper Our Lord continued His discourse, consoling and encouraging His disciples by telling them: “In My Father's house there are many mansions; if not, I would have told you: that I go to prepare a place for you.”—John xiv. 2. Lift up your eyes, My beloved disciples, from this vale of tears to heaven, where you are to dwell for all eternity. My separation from you will be but short. I will go to heaven, and where I am, My faithful servants shall be. This earth is a desert for the one [pg 145] that loves God; there is no hope of peace and perfect happiness. Eternal joys are reserved for us in heaven if we are faithful to Jesus, and confide in Him. Though our sins may be many and great, we will be washed clean in the blood of the Lamb, and we may still hope to enter the realms prepared for us by Christ Himself. Resolve now to be noble-hearted in the service of God, and shrink not from work or suffering.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.