Final days of Lent
Invitation
May I ask for your attention for
the daily reading of the Gospel?
This invitation is to share the joy
of the gospel with you. Everyone, without exception,
can experience that joy by opening their heart
to the healing power of God’s word.
Available every day
Consideration
After the unmasking of Judas, the traitor, the fourth gospel says: Judas left immediately. ‘It was night’. This is not incidental information in the sense of ‘it had already grown dark’. The sentence is deeply charged. Judas enters the realm of darkness. The words: ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified’ are spoken at that very moment. The fourth gospel sees suffering, death and resurrection as a whole. Jesus enters the final phase in which God ultimately triumphs.
FIRST READING Isa. 49:1-6
I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
From the Prophet Isaiah
You islands, listen to me! Give ear, you peoples from far away!
From the womb of the Lord I have been called,
from the womb he has been my name.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword
and concealed me in the shadow of his hand.
He made me a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.
He has told me:
‘You are my servant,
Israel, through whom I shall be glorified.’
But I said:
‘I have laboured in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely the Lord will judge my case,
and my reward is with him.’
But now the Lord has spoken,
who formed me from the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
and to save Israel from destruction.
I stand honoured before the Lord
and my God is my strength.
He has said to me:
“You are not only my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel.
‘I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’
INTERLUDIUM Psalm 71(70):1-2, 3-4a, 5-6ab, 15, 17
I will praise your righteousness. To you, Lord, I take refuge,
never disappoint me.
You are just, save and deliver me,
hear me and come to my aid. Be to me a refuge, a safe place;
You have always been my rock and my fortress.
Deliver me, my God, from the hands of the sinful. For You, my God, are my hope,
my hope has been in you, Lord, since my earliest childhood.
From the womb I have relied on you,
you have been my protector since my birth. I will praise your righteousness,
your help all the day long.
From my youth I have experienced it,
and now I still praise your deeds.
VERSE FROM THE GOSPEL
Let us pay homage to our King.
Obedient to the Father
He was led away to the cross,
like an innocent lamb led to the slaughter.
GOSPEL John 13:21-33,36-38
One of you will betray me. Before the rooster crows, you will have disowned me three times.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
John
At that time, when Jesus and his disciples were at table,
he was deeply moved and confirmed :
“Truly, truly, I say to you:
One of you will betray me.’
The disciples looked at one another,
unsure who He meant.
One of the disciples,
the one whom Jesus loved,
was leaning against Jesus.
Simon Peter gave him a sign and asked him,
‘Who does he mean?’
Then he leaned against Jesus‘ chest and said,
’Lord, who is it?‘
Jesus answered,
’It is
to whom I shall give this piece of bread when I have dipped it.‘
And when he had dipped the piece of bread
he gave it to Judas Iscariot,
sons of perdition.
And after the devil had entered into him
Jesus said to him,
’That which thou doest
do quickly.”
But no one at the table
understood why He said this to him.
Because Judas kept the purse,
some thought that Jesus was telling him to:
Buy what we need for the feast,
or that he should give something to the poor.
When he had accepted the piece of bread
he went away immediately.
It was night. After his departure Jesus said:
“Now is the Son of Man glorified
and God is glorified in him.
‘If God is glorified in him
God will also glorify him in himself,
indeed, he will glorify him very soon.
’Little children, I shall be with you only a little while longer.
“You will look for me, and as I have said to the Jews:
Where I am going you cannot come,
so I say it now to you.
Simon Peter said to him,
‘Lord, where are you going?’
Jesus replied,
‘Where I am going, you cannot follow me now;
but you shall follow me afterwards.’
Peter asked him,
‘Lord, why can I not follow you now?
I will lay down my life for you.’
Jesus answered,
“Will you lay down your life for me?
‘Verily, verily, I say to you:
Before the rooster crows
you will have denied me three times.”
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Fratelli tutti
Encyclical of
POPE FRANCIS
On fraternity and social friendship
249. Today it is easy to be tempted to turn
the page and say that a long time has
passed and that we must look to the future. No, in God’s name! Without
memory we cannot progress, we can never grow without a full
and clear memory. We must ‘keep the flame of collective conscience
burning by bearing witness to the next generations of the
horror of what happened’, which ‘in this way awakens and preserves the memory
of the victims and keep it alive, so that the human conscience will
grow stronger against any tendency to dominate and destroy’.
The victims themselves – individuals, social groups or
nations – need this, so as not to give in to a logic that leads to
justifying reprisals and every act of violence in the name of the
great evil suffered. That is why I refer not only to the memory
of the horrors, but also to the memory of all those who, in the
midst of a poisoned and corrupt context, were able to regain their
dignity and, with small or large gestures, chose
solidarity, forgiveness and brotherhood. It is very good to remember the
good and clear memory. We must ‘keep the flame
of collective conscience
burning by bearing witness to the next generations of the
horror of what happened’, which ‘in this way awakens and preserves the memory
of the victims, so that the human conscience becomes ever
stronger against any tendency towards domination and destruction’.
The victims themselves – individuals, social groups or
nations – need to not give in to a logic that leads to
justifying reprisals and any violence in the name of the
great evil suffered. That is why I refer not only to the memory
of the horrors, but also to the memory of all those who,
amidst a poisoned and corrupt context, were able to regain their
dignity and, with small or large gestures, chose
solidarity, forgiveness and brotherhood. It does us a world of good to remember the
good. To be continued
Every day at 1am
The Bible text in this issue is taken from The New Bible Translation,
©Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Fratelli tutti Official English translation ___________________________________________________________________