Palm Sunday is the last day of Lent and the first day of Holy Week
Invitation
May I hereby draw your attention to
the daily reading of the Gospel?
This invitation wants to share with you the joy of the Gospel.
of the Gospel. Everyone, no one excepted,
can experience that joy by opening their hearts
to the healing power of God’s word.
Available every day.
Opening word
For forty days
we have been preparing for the celebration of Easter.
We are now on the threshold of Holy Week.
Jesus is entering Jerusalem.
He will die and rise there.
As the children of Israel
spread their cloaks and green branches on the road
and cheered Him with songs of jubilation,
we too want to walk alongside Jesus
and pay homage to Him.
Let us walk with Him into the Holy City.
Let us follow Him to the Cross
trusting that we will rise with Him.
FIRST READING Isa 50:4-7
My face I have not turned away from those who scorn Me
but I know that I shall not be put to shame.
From the prophet Isaiah
God the Lord has given me the gift of the word:
I understand to encourage the discouraged.
Every morning He speaks His word,
every morning He speaks the word to me
and I listen with full devotion.
God the Lord has spoken to me
and I have not resisted,
I did not flinch.
My back I offered to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who tore out my beard,
and I did not turn my face away
From those who smeared me and spat on me.
God the Lord will help me:
therefore I shall not be ashamed
and I will not flinch a muscle.
Yea, I know that I shall not be put to shame.
RESPONSORIAL Ps. 22(2&), 8-9, 17-18a, 19-20, 23-24
Refrain
My God, my God, why dost thou forsake me?
They laugh with me, all who see me,
they grin and they shake their heads.
“Surely he relies on the Lord? Let Him save him
And deliver him, if He loves him”.
A pack of dogs chase me,
a gang of malefactors keep me surrounded.
My hands and my feet they have pierced,
my bones I can count.
Now they share my clothes among themselves
and dice for my garment.
Ah, Lord, keep You not far from me,
my support, come in haste to assist me.
Your Name will I glorify among my brethren,
proclaim thy praise before all the people.
Thou, servants of the Lord, glorify Him,
all the generation of Jacob, pay homage to Him.
SECOND READING Phil. 2, 6-11
Christ humbled Himself, therefore God exalted Him on high.
From the letter of the holy apostle Paul to the Christians of
Philippi
Brothers and sisters,
He who existed in divine majesty,
did not wish to cling
to equality with God.
He has stripped himself
and took on the existence of a slave.
He became equal to men.
And appearing as man,
He humbled Himself,
by becoming obedient unto death,
to death on the cross.
Therefore God exalted Him on high
and granted Him the name
Which is above all names.
So that at the mention of His Name
every knee would bow
in heaven, on earth and under the earth;
And every tongue would confess,
to the glory of God the Father:
Jesus Christ is Lord.
Verse for the gospel Phil. 2, 8-9
Praise and honour be to You, Lord Jesus.
Christ became obedient to death for us,
to death on a cross.
Therefore God has exalted Him on high
and granted Him the name that is above all names.
Praise and honour be to Thee, Lord Jesus.
GOSPEL Mk. 14:1 – 15:47
The sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Mark
In two days it was the feast of Easter
and of unleavened bread.
The high priests and scribes sought
in what way they might seize Jesus by trickery
and put Him to death.
For they thought:
“Not at the feast ;
otherwise there might one day be disturbances among the people.”
While Jesus was at Bethany
in the house of Simon the leper
and was there at table,
there came a woman with an alabaster vase,
real, very expensive nardus balm.
She broke the vase and poured the contents over his head.
Some were very indignant about it
and said among themselves:
“Now what was this squandering of the balm for?
“The balsam could have been sold for more than three hundred tenpence
could have been sold for the benefit of the poor.”
Performing against her, Jesus spoke:
“Leave her alone.
“Why are you bothering her?
“Surely it is a good work she has done to Me.
“Poor ye have always in your midst
and thou canst do them good whenever thou wilt;
but Me thou hast not always.
“She has done what was in her power;
she has anointed my body in advance
with a view to my burial.
“Verily, I say unto thee:
wherever in the world
the Good News shall be proclaimed,
in her memory
be recounted what she has done.”
At this Judas Iscariot, one of the 12,
went to the high priests to deliver Jesus to them.
The latter were delighted when they heard this and promised him money.
Judas looked for a favourable opportunity to deliver Jesus.
On the first day of unleavened bread,
the day on which one slaughtered the paschal lamb,
his disciples said to Jesus:
“Where will Thou have us make preparations
so that Thou mayst hold the paschal meal?”
He then sent out two of his disciples with the instruction:
“Go into the city
and there you will meet a man
carrying a jug of water;
follow him
and say to the owner of the house he enters:
’the Master lets ask:
Where is the hall for Me
where I can hold the paschal meal with My disciples?
“He will then show you a large upper room
with resting beds and all the necessary provisions;
make everything ready for us there.”
The disciples left,
entered the city,
found everything as Jesus had told them
and prepared the paschal meal.
When evening had fallen, He came with the 12.
As they sat at the table
and the meal was in progress, Jesus said:
“Verily, I say to you:
one of you will deliver Me up,
one who eats with Me.”
Sadness took hold of them
and they began, one after another, to ask Him:
“Surely it is not I?”
He answered them:
“One of the twelve, baptising the dish with Me.
“Well does the Son of Man go as it is written of Him ,
but woe to the man
by whom the Son of Man is delivered up!
“It would be better for him if he had not been born ,
that man!”
Under the meal, Jesus took bread,
pronounced the blessing,
broke it and gave it to them, saying:
“Take,
this is my body.”
Then He took the cup
and after speaking the prayer of thanksgiving He reached out to them
and they all drank from it.
And He spoke to them:
“This is my blood of the Covenant ,
which is shed for many.
“Verily, I say unto you:
I will drink no more of what the vine brings forth
until the day when I, new
shall drink it in the Kingdom of God.”
After they had sung the hymn,
they went to the Mount of Olives.
Then Jesus spoke to them:
“All ye shall fall down ,
for it is written:
I will smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.
“But after my resurrection, I will go before you to Galilee.”
Then Peter said:
“Though all come down, certainly not I.”
Jesus answered him:
“Verily, I say unto you:
this very day,
yet this night,
before the cock crows twice,
thou shalt deny Me thrice.”
But with even greater emphasis Peter assured:
“Though I had to die with Thee ,
on no account will I deny Thee.”
In the same spirit all spoke.
They now came to an estate called Gesemane.
There He said to His disciples:
“Abide here while I pray.”
He took Peter, James and John with Himself
and began to feel relieved and anxious.
He spoke to them:
“I am grieved to death.
“Stay here and keep watch.”
After He had gone a little further,
He threw Himself down to earth
and prayed that this hour, if possible,
might pass to Him.
“Abba, Father,”
– thus He prayed –
for You all things are possible;
let this cup pass Me by.
“Yet: not what I, but what Thou wilt.”
Then He went back and found them asleep;
And He spoke to Peter:
“Simon, art thou asleep?
“Was it then beyond your powers to watch for one hour?
“Watch and pray
That ye enter not into temptation.
“The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
Again He removed and prayed with the same words.
And returning, He found them asleep again
For their eyelids were heavy;
they did not know what to answer Him.
When He returned for the third time, He spoke to them:
“Then sleep on and rest.
“The time has come,
the hour has come;
behold, the Son of Man
is delivered into the hands of sinners.
“Get up,
let us go:
my traitor is near.”
He had not yet spoken or there came Judas,
one of the 12,
accompanied by a mob with swords and clubs,
sent by the high priests, scribes and elders.
His betrayer had agreed a sign with them by saying:
“Whom I will kiss, it is He ;
seize Him and lead Him away under strict guard.”
He went straight to Jesus and said:
“Rabbi!”
And He kissed Him.
They grabbed Jesus and took hold of Him.
But one of those standing by drew his sword
and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant with one hack;
Then Jesus addressed them with the words:
“As against a robber
you have gone out with swords and clubs
to take Me captive.
“Daily I taught with you in the temple
and yet you did not seize Me.
“But so the scriptures were to be fulfilled.
Then all abandoned Him and fled.
Yet a young man went
who had wrapped a linen cloth around his bare body,
went after Him.
They seized Him,
but he abandoned his garments and fled naked.
One took Jesus to the high priest,
where all the high priests,
elders and scribes were gathered.
Peter followed Him at a distance
into the courtyard of the high priest’s palace
and took his place among the servants
to warm himself by the fire.
The high priests and the whole Sanhedrin
were looking for a testimony against Jesus
in order to put Him to death,
but they found none.
However, many did bring false testimonies against Him
but their testimonies did not agree.
Then some false witnesses acted against Him declaring:
“We heard Him say:
I will tear down this man-made temple
and in three days build another
which was not made by human hands.”
but even on this, their testimony was not unanimous.
Then the high priest stood up in their midst
and he asked Jesus:
“Do You not answer at all?
“What do these people testify against Thee?”
But Jesus remained silent and gave absolutely no answer.
Thereupon the high priest asked Him another question:
“Art Thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”
Jesus replied:
“Yes, I am!
and thou shalt see the Son of Man seated
At the right hand of Power
and come with the clouds of heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his robe and exclaimed:
“To what end do we need witnesses?
“Ye have heard the blasphemy.
“What do you think?”
All pronounced the verdict
That He deserved death.
Thereupon some began to spit on Him and,
after covering His face,
hitting Him with their fists while saying:
“Now be a prophet!”
The servants also served Him blows.
While Peter was downstairs in the courtyard,
there came one of the high priest’s maids.
When she saw Peter sitting warming himself ,
she took one look at him and said:
“You were also with Jesus the Nazarene.”
But he denied it:
“I don’t know, I don’t understand what you mean.”
And as he left for the gatehouse, a rooster crowed.
But when the girl noticed him there,
she once more assured the bystanders:
“That’s one of them too.”
He denied it again.
A moment after, the bystanders in turn said to Peter:
“True, you are also one of them;
surely you are also a Galilean.”
Then he began to curse and swear:
“I don’t know the man you are talking about.”
Immediately afterwards, a rooster crowed for the second time.
Now Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him:
Before a rooster crows twice ,
thou shalt deny Me three times.
And he burst into tears.
In the early morning they came to a decision:
the high priests with the elders and scribes,
all the Sanhedrin.
They handcuffed Jesus,
led Him away
and handed Him over to Pilate.
Pilate asked Him the question:
“Art thou the king of the Jews?”
He answered Him:
“Thou sayest it.”
When the high priests brought many accusations against Him,
Pilate questioned Him again and said:
“Dost Thou not answer at all?
“See what accusations they bring against Thee.”
But Jesus gave absolutely no more answer,
so Pilate was astonished.
Now Pilate was used to releasing one prisoner at every feast,
the one they asked for.
A certain Barabbas had just been imprisoned among the rioters;
they had committed murder in the riot.
The people came up and began asking Pilate
that he would do for them as always.
Pilate responded by asking:
“Do you want me to release the king of the Jews?”
He did recognise that the high priests had handed Him over out of envy
had handed Him over.
But the high priests incited the people
asking that He should rather release Barabbas after all.
Now Pilate took the floor again and asked them:
“What then shall I do with Him
whom ye call the king of the Jews?”
Now they shouted again:
“Crucify Him!”
Thereupon Pilate asked them:
“Then what evil has He done?”
But they shouted even louder:
“Crucify Him!”
Because Pilate wanted the people to have their way,
he released Barabbas,
but Jesus he had scourged
and handed Him over to be crucified.
Now the soldiers brought Jesus into the palace,
that is, the pretorium,
and called the whole ward together.
They hung a purple robe on Him,
braided a crown of thorns and put it on Him.
Then they went to salute Him:
“Hail, King of the Jews.”
They beat Him on the head with a cane,
spat on Him
and paid homage to Him by falling to their knees.
After they had driven their game with Him,
they stripped Him of the purple robe,
put on His own clothes
and led Him away to crucify Him.
They commandeered a passer-by coming from the field,
Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus,
to carry His cross.
Thus they brought Jesus to the place Golgotha,
which translates as Place of Skulls.
There they offered Him wine spiced with myrrh,
but He refused.
After crucifying Him, they divided His clothes
and played dice for what each would get.
It was the third hour when they crucified Him.
The inscription with the reason for His condemnation read:
King of the Jews.
Along with Him, they also crucified two robbers,
one to His right, the other to His left.
Thus was fulfilled this scripture:
He was counted among the wicked.
Passers-by hailed Him
as they shook their heads and said:
“Ha, Thou there
who is tearing down the temple and rebuilding it in three days,
come down from the cross and save Thyself.”
In the same spirit, the high priests and scribes said
mockingly among themselves:
“Others He has saved
but Himself He cannot save.
“That Messiah, that King of Israel ,
now let Him come down from the cross;
then we will see and believe!”
Even those crucified with Him,
added taunts to Him.
From the sixth hour a darkness fell over the whole land,
until the ninth hour.
And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice:
“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabaktani!”
This is translated:
My God, my God,
why hast Thou forsaken Me?
Some bystanders who heard it said:
“Hear, He is calling Elijah.”
One of them went and got a sponge,
soaked it in sour wine,
put it on a reed
and offered Him to drink while saying:
“Leave me be!
” “We want to see if Elijah will come and take Him off.”
Jesus uttered a loud cry and gave up the ghost.
Then the veil of the temple tore
in two from top to bottom.
The hundred men who had taken up post opposite Him and saw
that He had given up the ghost under such circumstances,
exclaimed:
“Truly, this man was a Son of God.”
Women also stood watching from a distance;
among them were Mary Magdalene,
Mary, the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salóme.
They had followed Him during the time He stayed in Galilee,
followed Him to take care of Him;
furthermore many other women
who had come with Him to Jerusalem.
It had already become evening
and it was Preparation,
that is, the day before the Sabbath.
Joseph of Arimatéa,
a prominent member of the High Council,
who himself also lived in the expectation of the Kingdom of God,
therefore dared to go to Pilate
and ask for the body of Jesus.
Pilate was amazed that He would already be dead;
so he sent for the centurion
and asked him if Jesus had already died.
After being informed by the centurion ,
he willingly handed over the body to Joseph.
The latter bought a liner,
took Him from the cross
and wrapped Him in the garment.
Thereupon he laid Him in a tomb
which was carved in the rock
and rolled a stone for its entrance.
Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joses,
watched where He was laid.
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
236. In the Eucharist, creation finds its greatest exaltation. The grace that tends to manifest itself palpably reaches a miraculous expression, when God himself, having become man, goes so far as to allow himself to be eaten by his creature. At the height of the mystery of the Incarnation, the Lord wanted to reach our innermost being through a piece of matter. Not from above, but from within, so that we could meet Him in our world itself. In the Eucharist, the fullness is already realised and lies the vital centre of the universe, the centre overflowing with love and inexhaustible life. United with the incarnate Son, who is present in the Eucharist, all the cosmos gives thanks to God. Indeed, the Eucharist is itself an act of cosmic love: “Yes. cosmic! For even if the Eucharist is celebrated at the humble altar of a country church, in a sense it is always celebrated at the altar of the world.”The Eucharist unites heaven and earth, embraces and permeates all creation. The world, having come out of God’s hands, returns to Him in joyful and full adoration: in the Eucharistic Bread “creation is directed towards deification, the holy wedding, unification with the Creator Himself”. Therefore, the Eucharist is also a source of light and motivation for our environmental concerns and gives us direction to be guardians of all creation.
To be continued
The Bible text in this issue is taken from The New Translation of the Bible,
©Dutch Bible Society 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
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