Maundy Thursday is a bit of an eclectic day in some respects. It’s hard to know what to make of it precisely because it’s packed with so many things. The Last Supper. The washing of feet. The institution of the Holy Eucharist. The agony in the Garden. Our Lord’s arrest. A rather significant sequence of events unfolds very quickly, so it’s hard to take a single point for reflection at the outset of the Triduum.

This year my Maundy Thursday was quite full with (somewhat more mundane) activities of my own so I didn’t post this in time for the day itself. Still, I thought I might say a few words on the one part of the story that, in my childhood, seemed to me positively humorous — the Apostles’ inability to stay awake in the Garden of Gethsemane.

There can be no doubt, to even the most casual reader of the Bible, that the Apostles were fallen human beings. Their imperfections are brought out at many times in the Gospels, in many different ways. In St. Peter’s case, the Denial is perhaps the most memorable and heartbreaking example of unfaithfulness. But in some ways the Denial chills us precisely because it is so plausible. After all, Peter was protecting himself from real danger. That instinct of self-preservation is familiar to us all. Most of us probably aren’t too certain whether we, in an equivalent situation, would hold up or not.

The episode in the Garden is different. In this case, Jesus’ request — watch and wait — seems easy, even trivial. No doubt the Apostles were weary from the exciting events of the previous days, but they would have to be exhausted indeed to be unable to stay awake a single hour when the Lord requested it. They’re certainly awake a bit later when the men come to arrest their master (awake enough to flee for their lives!) Had Jesus given Peter a positive task to accomplish, I’ll bet he would have done it. Just sitting still and awake, on the other hand, was too much for him.

This little episode might perhaps serve as a reminder that one of the most difficult things for fallen beings like ourselves is staying still, remaining alert when nothing at all is disturbing us, except the inconstancy of our own nature. Patience is indeed a difficult virtue for us to develop. But the story of the Apostles in the Garden is particularly interesting, because they were indeed asked to sit passively through one of the world’s darkest hours. Though they hardly appreciated the full significance of what was happening, they at least knew that important events were unfolding, and that danger was near at hand. Our Lord selected them to come with him on what they must have imagined was an important task… and then he asked them only to “watch and wait.”

Very often, we too feel that we have been dropped into a dark hour in the history of the Church. Sometimes there is positive work for us to do, and then we should apply ourselves eagerly. But the good servant is one who can stand at attention, when such is his Lord’s command. Sometimes we would do well to bear that in mind, too.