Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation on retreat to priests at the Manoir de Beaujeu, in Coteau du lac, near Montreal, Canada.

At his most urgent hour, when the apostles are on retreat with their Lord in the garden, a place far away from the hubbub of the crowds, the Lord lets go a searing complaint to his priests:

“What! Could none of you stay awake with me one hour?” (Matt 26, 40) We have to stay awake with him in this retreat. The word hour is present 7 times in John. Fulton Sheen refers to each hour in detail. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. (Jn 12, 23). The hour for us has now come to respond to his demands, to examine all the layers in which we can be his priests, and truly embrace our mission.

Thumbnail: Andrea Mantegna, Christ in the Garden of Olives 1455, egg tempera, National Gallery, London.

Music: Angelic, by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, with license.