Readings for Tuesday of Holy Week[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible at Universalis
Commentary:
Reading 1 Is 49:1-6
This is the second of the four “Servant of the Lord” oracles from Isaiah. The “servant” is prepared for the work to be done and sent, not only to bring Israel back to the Lord but the entire world.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 71:1-2, 3-4a, 5ab-6ab, 15 and 17
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Psalm 71 is an individual lament. In this section we hear a profession of faith in the saving power of God. In the third strophe we also find a link to the “Servant of the Lord” in Isaiah. In both cases the servant is known by God and prepared for his service from the womb.
Gospel Jn 13:21-33, 36-38
We pick up the story of the final hours of Jesus’ time with the disciples following the washing of their feet. First we hear of Judas’ departure from the table to betray the Lord. Then we are told of Jesus’ discourse with Peter and his prediction of Peter’s denial.
Reflection:
This is where the wheels start to fall off. Jesus has just celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples and we witness events unfold. First Judas, following his cue from Christ, leaves the table to go and betray him. John’s Gospel has he disciples themselves still baffled because he had just said, “It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it“and then he handed the morsel to Judas!
We hear the emotion painted in the Lord’s words as he addresses the disciples once Judas is gone, “My children, I will be with you only a little while longer…” He refers to his closest friends as “My children”, the time is getting short and once more Peter makes a run at holiness. Remember he had just told the Lord earlier in the evening when the master was washing their feet, “Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well." Now he tell the Lord he will follow him into whatever situation he is going. Again Jesus must feel that pang of sorrow as he must tell the disciple to whom he has entrusted the “Keys to the Kingdom” that he too will betray the Lord.
Judas, the least, the one painted villain and Peter, the first, the leader of the Apostles, both fail the Lord at this critical time. Perhaps we were given these examples so that we, who follow the Lord’s path all these years later, will take comfort when we see our own betrayal of Jesus through sin. While our failures do not have the same consequences for Jesus as man, they do have the same diminishing impact on Jesus our Savior and the Son of God.
Look at the reaction of these two disciples who betray the Lord;
Judas, the Lord’s betrayer of the highest order was ripped open by guilt. Depending upon which story of his end we listen to (there are two in scripture Matthew 27; 3-6 or Peter’s version from Acts 1:18-19.
In the Gospel of Matthew, after Peter vociferously denies Jesus “At that he began to curse and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately a cock crowed. He went out and began to weep bitterly.” (Matthew 26;75) That reaction is born out in the Gospel of Mark as well.
The point here clear, we who betray the Lord, who deny him either by words or actions, suffer the same guilt. That guilt comes between us and the Lord – we dare not come to the Lord’s Table with that blood on our hands.
Today we pray once more to God, through his Son, that through the sacrifice the Lord has made on our behalf, we might be washed clean, made whole as Peter was and come once more to him in the most blessed sacrament of the altar, the wellspring of our salvation.
Pax
[1] After 05/07
[2] The dark image today is “Judas retires from the supper” by James Tissot, 1886-96
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible at Universalis
Commentary:
Reading 1 Is 49:1-6
This is the second of the four “Servant of the Lord” oracles from Isaiah. The “servant” is prepared for the work to be done and sent, not only to bring Israel back to the Lord but the entire world.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 71:1-2, 3-4a, 5ab-6ab, 15 and 17
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Psalm 71 is an individual lament. In this section we hear a profession of faith in the saving power of God. In the third strophe we also find a link to the “Servant of the Lord” in Isaiah. In both cases the servant is known by God and prepared for his service from the womb.
Gospel Jn 13:21-33, 36-38
We pick up the story of the final hours of Jesus’ time with the disciples following the washing of their feet. First we hear of Judas’ departure from the table to betray the Lord. Then we are told of Jesus’ discourse with Peter and his prediction of Peter’s denial.
Reflection:
This is where the wheels start to fall off. Jesus has just celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples and we witness events unfold. First Judas, following his cue from Christ, leaves the table to go and betray him. John’s Gospel has he disciples themselves still baffled because he had just said, “It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it“and then he handed the morsel to Judas!
We hear the emotion painted in the Lord’s words as he addresses the disciples once Judas is gone, “My children, I will be with you only a little while longer…” He refers to his closest friends as “My children”, the time is getting short and once more Peter makes a run at holiness. Remember he had just told the Lord earlier in the evening when the master was washing their feet, “Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well." Now he tell the Lord he will follow him into whatever situation he is going. Again Jesus must feel that pang of sorrow as he must tell the disciple to whom he has entrusted the “Keys to the Kingdom” that he too will betray the Lord.
Judas, the least, the one painted villain and Peter, the first, the leader of the Apostles, both fail the Lord at this critical time. Perhaps we were given these examples so that we, who follow the Lord’s path all these years later, will take comfort when we see our own betrayal of Jesus through sin. While our failures do not have the same consequences for Jesus as man, they do have the same diminishing impact on Jesus our Savior and the Son of God.
Look at the reaction of these two disciples who betray the Lord;
Judas, the Lord’s betrayer of the highest order was ripped open by guilt. Depending upon which story of his end we listen to (there are two in scripture Matthew 27; 3-6 or Peter’s version from Acts 1:18-19.
In the Gospel of Matthew, after Peter vociferously denies Jesus “At that he began to curse and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately a cock crowed. He went out and began to weep bitterly.” (Matthew 26;75) That reaction is born out in the Gospel of Mark as well.
The point here clear, we who betray the Lord, who deny him either by words or actions, suffer the same guilt. That guilt comes between us and the Lord – we dare not come to the Lord’s Table with that blood on our hands.
Today we pray once more to God, through his Son, that through the sacrifice the Lord has made on our behalf, we might be washed clean, made whole as Peter was and come once more to him in the most blessed sacrament of the altar, the wellspring of our salvation.
Pax
[1] After 05/07
[2] The dark image today is “Judas retires from the supper” by James Tissot, 1886-96
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