Commemoration of the suffering of Jesus. High point of the church year.
Last 7 days of Lent
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. Everyone, no one excepted,
can experience that joy by opening their hearts
to the healing power of God’s word.
Available every day.
Consideration
We listen to the first song of the Servant of the Lord. People have often wanted to recognise the Persian king Cyrus in these verses. Indeed, he did not break the broken reed (Israel). He did not extinguish the languishing flame (Israel). Unlike the previous rulers, he was not a tyrant. The author dares to call him ‘anointed one’. He made justice shine and freed captives. Whatever the case, the early Christians read and filled in these texts with the image of Jesus, the servant, they had in mind. The liturgy could not help but apply all this to Jesus.
FIRST READING Isa 42:1-7
He does not cry out, nor does he raise his voice in the street.
From the Prophet Isaiah
Thus speaks the Lord :
“This is My Servant whom I sustain,
my chosen one in whom I take pleasure:
my spirit I pour out on him,
righteousness I make to shine upon the nations.
“He does not cry out, he does not shout
And in the street he does not raise his voice.
“The broken reed he will not break,
the languishing flax seed not quench,
in truth he will make righteousness shine.
“Untouched and unbroken
he will make justice prevail on earth :
the distant shores look forward to his teaching.”
Thus speaks God the Lord,
He, who created the firmament and stretched it,
who spread out the earth and its crops,
who gave breath to men upon it
and a spirit to all who move therein :
“I, the Lord, call you in righteousness,
I take thee by the hand and watch over thee
and make thee the sign of my covenant unto men
and a light to the nations.
“Blind thou shalt open the eyes,
deliver captives from their dungeon
and from prison all who sit in darkness.”
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 27(26), 1, 2, 3, 13-14
The Lord is my light and my guide.
The Lord is my light and my guide,
whom should I fear ;
The Lord is the brace of my life,
of whom should I fear?
Though evildoers storm to devour me ;
my enemies stumble, all my fighters succumb.
Though they stand in battle order before me, I am not afraid,
though they make war with me, I still trust.
During my life I still count on
to experience the Lord’s benefits.
Look forward to the Lord and stand firm bravely,
be bold in heart and trust in the Lord.
VERSE FOR THE GOSPEL
Do we pay homage to our King,
for He alone has shown mercy
for our guilt.
GOSPEL John 12, 1-11
Let her commit. She has maintained this custom in anticipation of my burial.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
John
Six days before Easter, Jesus came to Bethany,
where Lazarus lived
whom He had raised from the dead.
A meal was given there in His honour.
Martha served
and Lazarus was one of those who dined with Him.
Mary now took a pound of nardus balm,
real and very precious,
anointed Jesus’ feet with it
and dried them with her hair.
The house was full of the smell of balm.
Thereupon Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, said,
the same one who was to hand Him over :
“Why was that balm not sold for three hundred denarii
and the money given to the poor?”
He said this not because he was concerned for the poor ,
but because he was a thief
and took from the purse he kept what came into it.
Jesus, however, said :
“Let her go ahead.
“She has maintained this custom
anticipating the day of my burial”.
“For the poor you always keep with you,
Me, however, not always.”
Meanwhile, a lot of Jews had come to know
that Jesus was there
and came there,
not only for the sake of Jesus
but also to see Lazarus
whom He had raised from the dead.
The high priests then decided to get rid of Lazarus too,
because around him many Jews ran away and believed in Jesus.
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
237. Participation in the Eucharist on Sunday has a special meaning. This day, like the Jewish Sabbath, is seen as the day for a healthening of the human being’s relationship with God, with oneself, with others and with the world. Sunday is the day of resurrection, the “first day” of the new creation, whose firstfruits are the Lord’s risen humanity, guaranteeing the final transformation of all created reality. Moreover, this day proclaims “man’s eternal rest with God”. Thus, Christian spirituality complements the value of rest and celebration. Man tends to limit contemplative rest to the sphere of the barren and useless, forgetting that this deprives the work one does of its most important thing: its meaning. We are called to include in our actions a dimension of receptivity and disinterestedness, which is something other than simply doing nothing. It involves another mode of acting, which is part of our being. In this way, human action is safeguarded not only from empty activism, but also from unbridled gluttony and isolation of consciousness, which leads to the pursuit of exclusive personal gain. The law of Sunday rest required abstaining from work on the seventh day, for “then also your ox and your ass may rest, and the son of your slave woman and the stranger may catch his breath” (Ex. 23:12). Rest is a broadening of vision that allows one to recognise again the rights of the other. Thus, the day of rest, whose centrepiece is the Eucharist, spreads its light throughout the week and encourages us to make care for nature and the poor our own.
To be continued
The Bible text in this issue is taken from The New Bible Translation,
©Dutch Bible Society 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
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