Commemorating the suffering of Jesus.
Last 7 days of Lent
Invitation
May I hereby draw your attention to
the daily reading of the Gospel?
This invitation wishes 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
This is the third song to the servant. The prophet suffers for the sake of his mission but perseveres and trusts in the midst of persecution. He is certain that God is on his side and expects a speedy and total reversal of the situation. The liturgy has filled this reading with the scourging and the crown of thorns. When we listen to the fourth song of the suffering servant on Good Friday, we will become very still. It is almost like the passion story itself.
FIRST READING Isa 50:4-9a
My face I did not turn away from those who scorned and spat at me.
From the Prophet Isaiah
The Lord has given me
the tongue of a good student,
so that I can speak to the despondent.
In the morning He awakens me to speak,
in the morning He awakens me to listen,
so that I may hear what a disciple hears.
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 my face I did not turn away
from those who libeled and spat at me.
God the Lord will help me :
Therefore I will not be ashamed.
He is beside me, my defender !
Who dares to accuse me ?
Let us face each other !
Who is my opponent ? He treads on me !
The Lord is my helper !
Who convinces me of guilt ?
INTERLUDIUM Ps 69(68), 8-10, 21bcd-22, 31, 33-34
Hear me because Thou art merciful, Lord,
now is the time of mercy.
For Your sake I have endured every reproach,
though my shame rose to my face.
A stranger I became to my kin,
my own brothers no longer know me.
Caring for Your house has worn me out,
on me came down the scorn of those who hate You.
The scorn has broken my heart,
unbearable is the scorn.
I waited in vain for compassion,
for comfort, but I did not find it.
They put poison in my food,
they quenched my thirst with vinegar.
God’s Name I will praise in my singing,
Praising Him gratefully everywhere.
Behold, ye ranks, and rejoice,
take courage, all of you who seek God.
God listens to what a poor person asks Him,
does not forget His prisoners.
VERSE FOR THE GOSPEL
Do we pay homage to our King,
for He alone has shown mercy
for our guilt.
GOSPEL Mt 26:14-25
The Son of Man goes away, as it is written of Him,
but woe to the man by whom He is delivered up !
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Matthew
At that time, one of the twelve,
called Judas Iscariot,
went to the high priests and said :
“What will you give me if I play Him into your hands?”
They paid him thirty pieces of silver.
And from then on
he looked for a favourable opportunity to hand Him over.
On the first day of unleavened bread
the disciples came to ask Jesus :
“Where would Thou have us prepare the paschal meal for Thee?”
He replied :
“Go to the city and say to such and such :
The Master makes known :
My hour is at hand ;
at thee will I with My disciples hold the paschal meal.”
The disciples did as Jesus had instructed them
and prepared the paschal meal.
When evening had fallen
He lay with the 12 disciples.
During the meal, He spoke :
“Verily, I say to you :
one of you will deliver Me up.”
Alarmed, one after another began to ask Him :
“Surely it is not I, Lord ?”
He replied :
“He who puts his hand into the dish with Me
shall deliver Me up.
“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 !”
Judas, his betrayer, also took the floor and said :
“It’s not me, is it, Rabbi?”
He answered him :
“Thou sayest.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
239. For us Christians, believing in a one God, who is a Trinitarian community, leads us to think that all of reality bears within it an indeed Trinitarian stamp. St Bonaventure came to say that before sin, the human being could discover how every creature “bears witness that God is Trinitarian”. The reflection of the Trinity could be recognised in nature, “when neither that book was obscure to man, nor man’s eye was clouded”. 2 The Franciscan saint teaches us that every creature carries within it a specifically Trinitarian structure, so real that it could be spontaneously beheld, if the human being’s eye were not limited, obscure and brittle. In this way, he points us to the challenge of learning to read reality trinitarian.
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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