Wednesday of Holy Week

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: March 31, 2010
First Reading: Is 50:4-9a;
Responsorial Psalm: 69:8-10, 21-22, 31 and 33-34 ;
Gospel: Mt 26:14-25 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

First Reading:  Is 50:4-9a ;
The Lord GOD has given me
a well-trained tongue,
That I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.
Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear;
And I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
My face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting. The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near who upholds my right;
if anyone wishes to oppose me,
let us appear together.
Who disputes my right?
Let him confront me.
See, the Lord GOD is my help;
who will prove me wrong?

Responsorial Psalm  69:8-10, 21-22, 31 and 33-34 ;
R.        Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother’s sons,
because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
R.        Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak,
I looked for sympathy, but there was none;
for consolers, not one could I find.
Rather they put gall in my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
R.        Lord, in your great love, answer me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving:
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”
R.        Lord, in your great love, answer me.


Gospel   Mt 26:14-25
One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot,
went to the chief priests and said,
“What are you willing to give me
if I hand him over to you?”
They paid him thirty pieces of silver,
and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
the disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Where do you want us to prepare
for you to eat the Passover?”
He said,
“Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,
' The teacher says, My appointed time draws near;
in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.' ”
The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered,
and prepared the Passover.
When it was evening,
he reclined at table with the Twelve.
And while they were eating, he said,
“Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
Deeply distressed at this,
they began to say to him one after another,
“Surely it is not I, Lord?”
He said in reply,
“He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me
is the one who will betray me.
The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,
but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.
It would be better for that man if he had never been born.”
Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply,
“Surely it is not I, Rabbi?”
He answered, “You have said so.”

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Commentary: Holy Week provides many words that are hard to hear. Today's first reading in Isaiah continue the passages known as the suffering servant. And this is followed by a difficult psalm, where the writer is experiencing life's traumas and calls out to God for help. It reminds me of Psalm 55. And in the Gospel, the betrayal of Jesus begins in earnest, as Judas goes to the chief priests and asks how much they are willing to offer him if he hands Jesus over to them. As is often the case, the betrayal will be consummated in the darkness of night.

Jesus was very clear that no man or woman is exempt from suffering in the course of their lives. And now, He provides a perfect example of how each of us will be asked to carry our own cross. While few of us manage to do so quite as elegantly as Jesus does - who carries His cross, without complaint - like a lamb led to slaughter, as Isaiah says. We can and should take courage. Because God is with us each step of the way. We are blessed with a much deeper understanding of how deeply God loves us all through the suffering of His beloved Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. And, we also know how the story ends in a just a little time.

Surrender to God, and He will take care of everything. And I hope that all of us strive to help each other with our crosses, and assist each other by offering encouraging words of hope, weeping with those who weep, and also trusting in God to deliver us from our daily trials. Easter is right around the corner.

Tuesday of Holy Week

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: March 30, 2010
First Reading: Is 49:1-6;
Responsorial Psalm: 71:1-2, 3-4a, 5ab-6ab, 15 and 17 ;
Gospel: Jn 13:21-33, 36-38 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

First Reading:  Is 49:1-6 ;
Hear me, O islands,
listen, O distant peoples.
The Lord called me from birth,
from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword
and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me,
Israel, through whom I show my glory. Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
Yet my reward is with the Lord,
my recompense is with my God.
For now the Lord has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
That Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
And I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Responsorial Psalm  71:1-2, 3-4a, 5ab-6ab, 15 and 17 ;
R.         I will sing of your salvation.
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, and deliver me;
incline your ear to me, and save me.
R.        I will sing of your salvation.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
R.        I will sing of your salvation.
For you are my hope, O Lord;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength.
R.        I will sing of your salvation.
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
R.        I will sing of your salvation.


Gospel   Jn 13:21-33, 36-38
Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant.
One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved,
was reclining at Jesus’ side.
So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant.
He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him,
“Master, who is it?”
Jesus answered,
“It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.”
So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas,
son of Simon the Iscariot.
After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him.
So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”
Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him.
Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him,
“Buy what we need for the feast,”
or to give something to the poor.
So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.
When he had left, Jesus said,
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself,
and he will glorify him at once.
My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.
You will look for me, and as I told the Jews,
‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.”
Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?”
Jesus answered him,
“Where I am going, you cannot follow me now,
though you will follow later.”
Peter said to him,
“Master, why can I not follow you now?
I will lay down my life for you.”
Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me?
Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow
before you deny me three times.”

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Commentary: I recall a great homily by Bishop William Curlin, who was a dear friend of Mother Teresa. The message was simple and straightforward. He compared the two men - Peter and Judas. Both of these disciples really let Jesus down in his hour of need, the time in His life when He needed a friend most. Peter denied knowing Him and Judas betrayed Him.

The homily was a lament - Peter became the first leader of the Catholic church and the first pope. In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter is a man of remarkable courage and a great leader who is honored to offer his life to testify that Jesus Christ was indeed the Messiah and true Son of God.

Judas, on the other hand, fell into despair killed himself. What a shame Bishop Curlin said. Judas could have been perhaps the greatest of all saints. Never give up hope, never allow yourself to fall into such a deep despair. And never, EVER underestimate Jesus' power to save and forgive sins. Nothing is impossible for God.