The final days of Lent
Invitation
May I take this opportunity to draw your attention to:
the daily reading of the Gospel?
This invitation aims to share with you the joy of the Gospel. Everyone, without exception,
can experience that joy by opening their heart
to the healing power of God’s word.
Available every day
Considration
After the unmasking of Judas, the betrayer, the Fourth Gospel says: Judas went away immediately. “It was night”. This is not incidental information in the sense of “it had, meanwhile, already grown dark”. The sentence is deeply charged. Judas enters the realm of darkness. It is precisely at this point that the words fall: “Now the Son of Man is glorified”. The fourth Gospel sees suffering, death and resurrection as a single 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, so that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.
From the Prophet Isaiah
O islands, listen to me!
Prick up your ears, distant nations!
From the womb the Lord has called me,
He has named me from the womb.
He has made my mouth a sharp sword
and sheltered me in the shadow of His hand.
He has made me a sharp arrow
and hidden me in His quiver.
He said to me:
“You are my servant,
Israel, through whom I shall be glorified.”
But I said:
“I have toiled in vain,
my strength has been spent in emptiness and wind,
yet the Lord upholds my cause,
and my reward comes from God.”
Now, however, 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 am honoured in the sight of 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 survivors of Israel.
“I now also make you a light to the nations,
so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
RESPONSORIAL Ps. 71(70), 1-2, 3-4a, 5-6ab, 15, 17
I will praise your righteousness.
To you, Lord, I take refuge;
please do not let me down.
You are just; save and deliver me;
listen and come to my aid.
Be my refuge, a place of safety;
You have always been my rock and my fortress.
Deliver me, my God, from the hands of sinners.
For You, my God, You are my hope;
You have been my hope, Lord, since my earliest childhood.
From my mother’s womb I have relied on You;
You have been my protector since my birth.
I will praise Your righteousness,
Your help all day long.
From my youth I have known this,
and even now I praise Your deeds.
VERSES BEFORE THE GOSPEL
Let us pay homage to our King.
Obedient to the Father,
He was led away to the cross,
like a lamb led to the slaughter.
GOSPEL John 13, 21–33, 36–38
One of you will betray Me. Before the cock crows, you will have denied Me three times.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
John
At that time, whilst Jesus was reclining at table with his disciples,
He was deeply moved and declared:
“Truly, truly, I say to you:
One of you will betray Me.”
The disciples looked at one another,
uncertain whom He meant.
One of the disciples,
the one whom Jesus loved,
was reclining close to 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 replied:
“It is he
to whom I will give the piece of bread that I am about to dip.”
After dipping the piece of bread,
He handed it to Judas Iscariot.
And when Judas had taken it,
Satan entered into him.
Jesus said to him:
“What you have to do,
do it quickly.”
But none of those sitting at the table
understood why He said this to him.
Since Judas was in charge of the money,
some thought that Jesus was telling him:
‘Buy what we need for the feast,’
or that he should give something to the poor.
When he had taken the piece of bread,
he went out at once.
It was night.
After he had gone, Jesus said:
“Now the Son of Man is glorified,
and God is glorified in Him.
“If God is glorified in Him,
God will also glorify Him in Himself,
yes, He will glorify Him soon.
“Little children, I shall be with you but a little while longer.
“You will seek Me, and just as I said to the Jews:
‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’
so I say to you now.”
Simon Peter said to Him:
“Lord, where are You going?”
Jesus answered him:
“Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now,
but you will later.”
Peter asked Him:
“Lord, why can I not follow You now?
“I will lay down my life for You.”
Jesus replied:
“Will you lay down your life for Me?
“Truly, truly, I say to you:
Before the cock crows,
you will have denied Me three times.”
Laudato Si
Encyclical of
POPE FRANCIS
On Care for Our Common Home
73. The writings of the prophets invite us to draw strength in difficult
moments by looking to the mighty God who created the universe. God’s
infinite power does not mean that we must lack his fatherly tenderness,
for in him tenderness and power are united. In reality, every healthy spirituality
involves both receiving divine love and, with confidence, adoring the Lord for
his infinite power. In the Bible, the God who liberates and saves is the
same God who created the universe, and these two modes of divine action
are closely and inseparably linked. “Ah, God my Lord! You have made heaven and the
earth in your great power, with outstretched arm. Nothing is impossible
for You […] You led your people, Israel, out of Egypt with signs and
wonders” (Jer. 32:17, 21). “The Lord is a God of eternity; He has created the
farthest corners of the earth. He does not grow weary or faint;
His understanding is unfathomable. He gives strength to the weary, and to
the powerless an abundance of strength” (Isa. 40:28b–29).
To be continued…
Every day at 1 am
The Bible text in this edition is taken fromThe New Bible Translation,
©Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.
Reflections from Liturgical Suggestions for Weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
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