Wednesday of Holy Week

Commemorating the suffering of Jesus.
The last 7 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.

Consideration

Following John, we have the account of the betrayal in Matthew’s version. Judas is clearly referred to as‘one of the twelve’. He is one chosen by the Lord, who betrays his master. Throughout the entire history of Christianity, this is the greatest possible scandal. What was the motive? Greed? John suggests that Judas was a thief, and Matthew also writes:‘What will you give me if I hand him over to you?’. But Judas may also have been disillusioned with a Messiah who did not seize power and did not drive out the Romans. Be that as it may, the fact of the betrayal remains; one does not simply invent such a thing. Woe to the disciple who betrays his master.

FIRST READING                      Isa. 50, 4-9a

I did not turn my face away from those who reviled me and spat upon me.

From the Prophet Isaiah

The Lord has given me
the tongue of a disciple,
so that I may speak to the faint-hearted.
In the morning he rouses me to speak,
in the morning he rouses me to listen,
so that I may hear what a disciple hears.
The Lord God has spoken to me,
and I have not resisted,
I have not turned back.
I offered my back to those who struck me,
my cheeks to those who plucked out my beard,
and I did not turn my face away
from those who reviled me and spat upon me.
The Lord God will help me:
Therefore I shall not be put to shame.
He stands by my side, my defender!
Who dares to accuse me?
Let us face one another!
Who is my adversary? Let him come forward against me!
The Lord is my helper!
Who can prove me guilty?

INTERLUDIUM                               Ps. 69(68), 8-10, 21bcd-22, 31, 33-34

Hear me, for You are merciful, Lord,
now is the time of grace.

For Your sake I have endured every insult,
though shame rose to my face.
I have become a stranger to my own kin,
my own brothers no longer recognise me.
The care of Your house has worn me out,
the scorn of those who scorn You has fallen upon me.

The insult has broken my heart,
the taunts are unbearable.
I waited in vain for compassion,
for comfort, but I found none.
They put poison in my food,
they quenched my thirst with vinegar.

I will praise God’s Name in my song,
praise Him gratefully wherever I go.
Look to me, you who are lowly, and rejoice,
take heart, all you who seek God.
God listens to what a poor man asks of Him,
He does not forget His prisoners.

VERSES BEFORE THE GOSPEL

Let us pay homage to our King,
for He alone has shown mercy
for our sins.

GOSPEL                         Mt. 26:14-25

The Son of Man is going, as it is written of Him,
but woe to the man by whom He is betrayed!

From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Matthew

At that time, one of the Twelve,
named Judas Iscariot,
went to the chief priests and said:
“What will you give me if I hand Him over to you?”
They paid him thirty pieces of silver.
And from that time on,
he looked for an opportunity to hand Him over.
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
the disciples came to Jesus and asked:
“Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?”
He replied:
“Go into the city and tell so-and-so:
The Master says:
My hour is near;
I wish to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.”
The disciples did as Jesus had instructed them,
and prepared the Passover meal.
When evening had fallen,
He sat down with the twelve disciples.
During the meal He said:
“Truly, I tell you:
one of you will betray Me.”
Deeply distressed, one after another they began to ask Him:
“Surely it is not I, Lord?”
He replied:
“The one who dips his hand into the dish with Me
will betray Me.
“The Son of Man is indeed going away,
as it is written of Him,
but woe to the man
by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!
“It would be better for him, that man,
if he had never been born!”
Judas, his betrayer, also spoke up and said:
“Surely it is not I, Rabbi?”
He replied to him:
“You have said so.”

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Laudato Si

Encyclical of

POPE FRANCIS

74. The experience of exile in Babylon brought about a spiritual
crisis which led to a deepening of faith in God. Thus
the people were urged, in the midst of their unfortunate situation, to
rediscover hope. Centuries later, at another time of trial and
persecution, when the Roman Empire sought to impose absolute rule,
the faithful once again found comfort and hope by strengthening their trust
in the almighty God, and they sang: “Great and marvellous
are your deeds, Lord, God Almighty. Righteous and true are your
ways” (Rev. 15:3). If God was able to create the universe out of nothing,
He can also intervene in this world and overcome every form of evil.
Injustice is therefore not invincible.

To be continued
Every day at 1 am