The liturgy that begins at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper continues until Easter begins. At the Mass, we are at the start of a three-day celebration of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. We journey from the Last Supper to Gethsemane the first night, from there to Calvary on the second day, and from the tomb to resurrection and new life on the third day, which ends with the Vigil of Easter Sunday.
When Isaiah says, “I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard,” he’s talking about that same place. It was usual in Isaiah’s day for Hebrew men to wear full beards, and pulling out a beard, besides being quite painful, was an attack on a man’s dignity.
This liturgy, for use in parishes in Holy Week, is a celebration of God’s forgiveness, and of our reconciliation with God and one another. The service has four parts. After a brief introduction (the first part), people listen to God’s word and reflect on it. Then all celebrate the Rite of Reconciliation, during which everyone will have the opportunity of going to Confession. The service ends with an Act of Thanksgiving.
The Gospel for today treats the two Apostles who denied Christ. One, of course was Judas Iscariot who swiftly left the Last Supper room to do his dastardly deed and the other, of course, was Simon Peter, who…
The three gospel texts leading up to Holy Thursday deal with Judas Iscariot and his path to damnation. In the first reading, Isaiah records in Isaiah 42:1 “My chosen one with whom I am pleased.” Our Lord wanted so much to say this about his apostle, Judas, but no matter what he would say, Judas had his eyes on worldly gain rather than heavenly riches…
Today we recall with reverence how totally Jesus shared in the depths of human suffering. But by enduring his passion in a spirit of loving trust in God the Father, he paid the price for all human sinfulness, and won for us the gift of salvation. In his Servant Song Isaiah declares his trust that God never abandons those who risk all for a cause they believes in, regardless of scorn or rejection.
Today’s liturgy gives us a preview of the events we will celebrate in the Easter Triduum later this week. The passion, death and resurrection of Jesus are the focus of this and every Sunday celebration.
In order that all the dispersed children of God can lock hands and hearts and become one family as the prophet Ezekiel announced, they are not asked to lose anything at all. Many centuries after Ezekiel’s vision, the apostle Paul asked his converts to “ponder and preserve all that is true, honest, pure, admirable, decent, virtuous or worthy of praise.”
Both Jeremiah and Jesus are hounded by friends and even by relatives who turned against them. Those erstwhile, fair-weather companions feel angry at Jeremiah or Jesus, when their personal interests and security were threatened. Jeremiah trusts in the Lord who “saves the life of the poor” and…
The promises to Abraham reach into the future, even into centuries beyond our present age. In his vocational encounter with God, the patriarch anticipated a day when all the nations of the world will be united as though they were blood-relatives, all of them offspring of their one father…
The young men in the book of Daniel follow their consciences and trust in God in spite of what happens to them: “If our God can save us , may he save us! But even if he will not, still we will not serve your God, O king!” With impressive serenity they accept the consequences.
The symbol of Israel’s sin, the saraph serpent (the Hebrew word saraph means burning), which threatened them with its poisonous bite, is transformed into an instrument of salvation…
The key to genuine religion is given in one line about Susanna: Through her tears she looked up to heaven, for she trusted in the Lord with her whole heart. By contrast we learn that her two accusers suppressed their consciences and would not raise their eyes to heaven. When we fix our gaze on heaven, and let ourselves to be absorbed in God, we acquire an extraordinary peace.
Jesus’ coming late to Lazarus’ funeral was at the risk of his own death, but he promises resurrection and eternal life to all who trust in him. The death and new life theme also runs through today’s readings; in the first reading, the whole nation of Israel during their long exile felt like a dried-up corpse; and for St Paul, the dynamic of dying and rising with Christ is at the heart of each Christian’s life.
In just over ten days time, the Easter Triduum will begin, on Holy Thursday evening. The time when baptism is celebrated is now very close. We ask God’s help for all the adults and children preparing for baptism this Easter, and pray that we may be fit and ready to renew our baptismal vows at the same feast.
Because Lent summons us to more extended prayer and reflection, with daily Eucharistic celebration and special biblical readings, we need to review the norms for reading the Bible profitably. Today’s selections from Jeremiah and the gospel of John offer some help for interpreting the Bible today.
At the depth of each person there is a mysterious life, not only created by God but also directed by God at each and every hour. There is an hour of peace and an hour of violence, an hour of birth and an hour of re-birth into eternity. Just as death and immortality are won-drously absorbed in God’s infinite knowledge and loving care, so also is the birth, the inner character and temperament, the sequence of life. These most essential parts of our person, these most crucial moments of our existence are all locked in the secrecy of God’s divine life.
These readings center around complaints and responses. Since criticism is a very human reaction, we should all feel very much at home! God complains to Moses about the people of Israel: how stiff-necked they were! He wants to quit this stubborn mob and start a new chosen nation in Moses and his sons, with the promise, “I will make you a great nation.”
These readings center around complaints and responses. Since criticism is a very human reaction, we should all feel very much at home! God complains to Moses about the people of Israel: how stiff-necked they were! He wants to quit this stubborn mob and start a new chosen nation in Moses and his sons, with the promise, “I will make you a great nation.”
The biblical readings from Isaiah 40 to 55 (a rich section of prophecy, dating from the Babylonian exile) and from the gospel of John are rich with tenderness and power. Heaven and earth sing in celebrating the Lord’s carving through the mountains to bring his people home from afar. Almost in the same breath the prophet sees this mighty God as a mother full of tender love for the child in her womb.
