Tag: Holy Week

Monday of Holy Week

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.

Before Passover and after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus goes to the house of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus for a dinner they invited him to. John tells us that Mary takes a liter of costly perfumed oil and anoints the feet of Jesus and dries them with her hair. At this, Judas Iscariot complains, saying that the oil should have been sold to give to the poor. He says this not because he cared about the poor but because he held the money bag and would steal from it. Jesus says to Judas: “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” Seeing large crowds of Jews go to see Jesus there, the chief priests plot to kill Jesus and Lazarus. Because of Lazarus, many people were coming to believe in Jesus. In Jesus’ rebuke of Judas, there is tenderness toward Mary’s anointing. During Holy Week, what little extravagance of love can I offer the Lord?

God, you are outside of time; yet, your Son recognizes his time on earth was coming to an end. Mary sits at the feet of Jesus, just as he would soon be at the feet of the Twelve, the servant of servants washing them clean of sin. Help me understand the paths of those who came to believe in you, whether through their heart or head. Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, Mary said to him: “I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Others came to believe in you through the works your Son performed while on earth, witnesses to his many miraculous healings. In the first reading from Isaiah, you say: “I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand.” There is only so much time to come to believe in you, Lord, and remain firm in belief; take initiative, take me by the hand.

God, grant me the grace today to use the things of this world for your glory. Creator of heaven and earth, you are a light for the nations. Open my eyes today to see the light and do what is pleasing to you.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

https://youtu.be/2W-KSOPWWBY

Readings

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Then the high priest said to him, “I order you to tell us under oath before the living God whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “You have said so. But I tell you: From now on you will see ‘the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power’ and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.'” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed. . . ! He deserves to die!”

In this Sunday’s Gospel, the Lord’s Passion as told by Matthew, the Mass readings for today are rich in symbolism and meaning. At the start of the Gospel, Judas Iscariot makes a deal with the chief priests to hand over Jesus to them for thirty pieces of silver. Later, Jesus gathers the Twelve together for the Last Supper, where Judas Iscariot’s betrayal is made clear and where Jesus institutes the Eucharistic: “Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew goes on to relate how Jesus was handed over to the chief priests and then Pilate; how he was scourged, stripped of his clothes, and carried the cross to Golgotha where he died on the cross. At his death, Matthew tells us, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two, the earth quaked, and tombs were opened, and the bodies of many were raised from the dead. Seeing this, the centurion and the men appointed to keep watch over Jesus, said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” In witnessing this, do I have the same sense of awe and wonder as the Roman centurion?

God, the passion and death of your son is simultaneously the single greatest act of love for humanity—and for me personally—yet hard to keep my gaze fixed on. The high priest asked Jesus to tell him whether he was the Son of God. Eons, centuries, decades, and finally days and hours would pass before the truth of Christ was revealed through his resurrection. He is the Son of God, your only son. Help me take from it a means to know you, love you, and to do your will. Just as the centurion was transformed by his realization of the significance of Jesus’ death, help me by your grace keep my eyes fixed on the Son of Man who sits at the right hand of the Father.

Lord, help me today by keeping my gaze fixed on the passion and death of your son and giving praise to your name. With Saint Paul, let me proclaim: “God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name. . . . Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

https://youtu.be/2W-KSOPWWBY

Readings