Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion

Lectionary: 40

Reading I

Isaiah 52:13—53:12

See, my servant shall prosper,
            he shall be raised high and greatly exalted.
Even as many were amazed at him--
            so marred was his look beyond human semblance
            and his appearance beyond that of the sons of man--
so shall he startle many nations,
            because of him kings shall stand speechless;
for those who have not been told shall see,
            those who have not heard shall ponder it.

Who would believe what we have heard?
            To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
He grew up like a sapling before him,
            like a shoot from the parched earth;
there was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him,
            nor appearance that would attract us to him.
He was spurned and avoided by people,
            a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity,
one of those from whom people hide their faces,
            spurned, and we held him in no esteem.

Yet it was our infirmities that he bore,
            our sufferings that he endured,
while we thought of him as stricken,
            as one smitten by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our offenses,
            crushed for our sins;
upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,
            by his stripes we were healed.
We had all gone astray like sheep,
            each following his own way;
but the LORD laid upon him
            the guilt of us all.

Though he was harshly treated, he submitted
            and opened not his mouth;
like a lamb led to the slaughter
            or a sheep before the shearers,
            he was silent and opened not his mouth.
Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away,
            and who would have thought any more of his destiny?
When he was cut off from the land of the living,
            and smitten for the sin of his people,
a grave was assigned him among the wicked
            and a burial place with evildoers,
though he had done no wrong
            nor spoken any falsehood.
But the LORD was pleased
            to crush him in infirmity.

If he gives his life as an offering for sin,
            he shall see his descendants in a long life,
            and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.

Because of his affliction
            he shall see the light in fullness of days;
through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,
            and their guilt he shall bear.
Therefore I will give him his portion among the great,
            and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty,
because he surrendered himself to death
            and was counted among the wicked;
and he shall take away the sins of many,
            and win pardon for their offenses.

 

 

 

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17, 25

R   (Lk 23:46) Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
            let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me.
            Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
R   Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
For all my foes I am an object of reproach,
            a laughingstock to my neighbors, and a dread to my friends;
they who see me abroad flee from me.
            I am forgotten like the unremembered dead;
I am like a dish that is broken.
R  Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
But my trust is in you, O LORD;
            I say, “You are my God.
In your hands is my destiny; rescue me
            from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.”
R  Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
            save me in your kindness.
Take courage and be stouthearted,
            all you who hope in the LORD.
R Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

 

 

 

Reading II

Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9

Brothers and sisters:
Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast to our confession.
For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who has similarly been tested in every way,
yet without sin.
So let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.

In the days when Christ was in the flesh,
he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears
to the one who was able to save him from death,
and he was heard because of his reverence.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;
and when he was made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

Verse Before the Gospel

Philippians 2:8-9

Christ became obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name which is above every other name.

The passion narratives are proclaimed in full so that all see vividly the love of Christ for each person. In light of this, the crimes during the Passion of Christ cannot be attributed, in either preaching or catechesis, indiscriminately to all Jews of that time, nor to Jews today. The Jewish people should not be referred to as though rejected or cursed, as if this view followed from Scripture. The Church ever keeps in mind that Jesus, his mother Mary, and the apostles all were Jewish. As the Church has always held, Christ freely suffered his passion and death because of the sins of all, that all might be saved.
 

Gospel

John 18:1—19:42

Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley
to where there was a garden,
into which he and his disciples entered.
Judas his betrayer also knew the place,
because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.
So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards
from the chief priests and the Pharisees
and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him,
went out and said to them, “Whom are you looking for?”
They answered him, “Jesus the Nazorean.”
He said to them, “I AM.”
Judas his betrayer was also with them.
When he said to them, “I AM, “
they turned away and fell to the ground.
So he again asked them,
“Whom are you looking for?”
They said, “Jesus the Nazorean.”
Jesus answered,
“I told you that I AM.
So if you are looking for me, let these men go.”
This was to fulfill what he had said,
“I have not lost any of those you gave me.”
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it,
struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear.
The slave’s name was Malchus.
Jesus said to Peter,
“Put your sword into its scabbard.
Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?”

So the band of soldiers, the tribune, and the Jewish guards seized Jesus,
bound him, and brought him to Annas first.
He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year.
It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews
that it was better that one man should die rather than the people.

Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus.
Now the other disciple was known to the high priest,
and he entered the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus.
But Peter stood at the gate outside.
So the other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest,
went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter in.
Then the maid who was the gatekeeper said to Peter,
“You are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?”
He said, “I am not.”
Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire
that they had made, because it was cold,
and were warming themselves.
Peter was also standing there keeping warm.

The high priest questioned Jesus
about his disciples and about his doctrine.
Jesus answered him,
“I have spoken publicly to the world.
I have always taught in a synagogue
or in the temple area where all the Jews gather,
and in secret I have said nothing.  Why ask me?
Ask those who heard me what I said to them.
They know what I said.”
When he had said this,
one of the temple guards standing there struck Jesus and said,
“Is this the way you answer the high priest?”
Jesus answered him,
“If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong;
but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?”
Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now Simon Peter was standing there keeping warm.
And they said to him,
“You are not one of his disciples, are you?”
He denied it and said,
“I am not.”
One of the slaves of the high priest,
a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said,
“Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?”
Again Peter denied it.
And immediately the cock crowed.

Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium.
It was morning.
And they themselves did not enter the praetorium,
in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover.
So Pilate came out to them and said,
“What charge do you bring against this man?”
They answered and said to him,
“If he were not a criminal,
we would not have handed him over to you.”
At this, Pilate said to them,
“Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.”
The Jews answered him,
“We do not have the right to execute anyone, “
in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled
that he said indicating the kind of death he would die.
So Pilate went back into the praetorium
and summoned Jesus and said to him,
“Are you the King of the Jews?”
Jesus answered,
“Do you say this on your own
or have others told you about me?”
Pilate answered,
“I am not a Jew, am I?
Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me.
What have you done?”
Jesus answered,
“My kingdom does not belong to this world.
If my kingdom did belong to this world,
my attendants would be fighting
to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.
But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”
So Pilate said to him,
“Then you are a king?”
Jesus answered,
“You say I am a king.
For this I was born and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

When he had said this,
he again went out to the Jews and said to them,
“I find no guilt in him.
But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover.
Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”
They cried out again,
“Not this one but Barabbas!”
Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged.
And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head,
and clothed him in a purple cloak,
and they came to him and said,
“Hail, King of the Jews!”
And they struck him repeatedly.
Once more Pilate went out and said to them,
“Look, I am bringing him out to you,
so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”
So Jesus came out,
wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak.
And he said to them, “Behold, the man!”
When the chief priests and the guards saw him they cried out,
“Crucify him, crucify him!”
Pilate said to them,
“Take him yourselves and crucify him.
I find no guilt in him.”
The Jews answered,
“We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die,
because he made himself the Son of God.”
Now when Pilate heard this statement,
he became even more afraid,
and went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus,
“Where are you from?”
Jesus did not answer him.
So Pilate said to him,
“Do you not speak to me?
Do you not know that I have power to release you
and I have power to crucify you?”
Jesus answered him,
“You would have no power over me
if it had not been given to you from above.
For this reason the one who handed me over to you
has the greater sin.”
Consequently, Pilate tried to release him; but the Jews cried out,
“If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar.
Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”

When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus out
and seated him on the judge’s bench
in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
It was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon.
And he said to the Jews,
“Behold, your king!”
They cried out,
“Take him away, take him away!  Crucify him!”
Pilate said to them,
“Shall I crucify your king?”
The chief priests answered,
“We have no king but Caesar.”
Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus, and, carrying the cross himself,
he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull,
in Hebrew, Golgotha.
There they crucified him, and with him two others,
one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.
Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross.
It read,
“Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.”
Now many of the Jews read this inscription,
because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city;
and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate,
 “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’
but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews’.”
Pilate answered,
“What I have written, I have written.”

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus,
they took his clothes and divided them into four shares,
a share for each soldier.
They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless,
woven in one piece from the top down.
So they said to one another,
“Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be, “
in order that the passage of Scripture might be fulfilled that says:
            They divided my garments among them,
                        and for my vesture they cast lots.
This is what the soldiers did.
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary of Magdala.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved
he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”
Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

After this, aware that everything was now finished,
in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
Jesus said, “I thirst.”
There was a vessel filled with common wine.
So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop
and put it up to his mouth.
When Jesus had taken the wine, he said,
“It is finished.”
And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

Here all kneel and pause for a short time.

Now since it was preparation day,
in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath,
for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one,
the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken
and that they be taken down.
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first
and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.
But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,
they did not break his legs,
but one soldier thrust his lance into his side,
and immediately blood and water flowed out.
An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true;
he knows that he is speaking the truth,
so that you also may come to believe.
For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled:
            Not a bone of it will be broken.
And again another passage says:
            They will look upon him whom they have pierced.

After this, Joseph of Arimathea,
secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews,
asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus.
And Pilate permitted it.
So he came and took his body.
Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night,
also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes
weighing about one hundred pounds.
They took the body of Jesus
and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices,
according to the Jewish burial custom.
Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden,
and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried.
So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day;
for the tomb was close by.

 

 

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

 

“BEHOLD THE WOOD OF THE CROSS, WHICH HUNG THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.”

 

 Thus begins our Good Friday Celebration. And a celebration it is. We can never forget that, without the Crucifixion, there would not Resurrection. Jesus’ suffering and death was mandatory. Because of this, our suffering also becomes mandatory to unify ourselves with the Crucified Christ, and thus God. What better way to get close with someone than to suffer alongside them? Nothing else can replace the closeness that develops through a shared experience such as this. Jesus knows all our thoughts, emotions, and pain. It is through His crucifixion that we too can experience the death of our old selves. How can this Be? Because the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection, are beyond time and space. Yes, these events happened in a historical sense, but they both continue through a mystical one. We, as His children, are fortunate enough to experience every moment of our lives. Perpetually Jesus, through His actions, relieves us from our sins and takes then upon Himself. They are then nailed to the cross to die with Him. They are extinguished and forgotten, while we remain as new creations. AS the Suffering Servant verses in the reading from the Book of Isaiah tells us,

 

“Yet it was our infirmities that he bore,

            our sufferings that he endured,

while we thought of him as stricken,

            as one smitten by God and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our offenses,

            crushed for our sins;

upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,”

 

and then finally,

 

“by his stripes we were healed.”

 

To experience that healing, we only must acknowledge our wounds by acknowledging Him.

 

Jesus is not hiding from us; He is inside of us and all around us. The Prayer of Saint Patrick says it best,

 

“ Christ with me,

Christ before me,

Christ behind me,

Christ in me,

Christ beneath me,

Christ above me,

Christ on my right,

Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down,

Christ when I sit down,

Christ when I arise,

Christ in the heart of every man who

thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who

speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.”

 

That is the truth and central to our faith. When we remain in Him, He will remain within us. If we turn away from Him, He will never turn away from us. We have the greatest advocate in Jesus Christ. We become only as broken as we feel. Jesus has the capability of, not only healing our wounds, but alleviating the burden of  the guilt and remorse caused by them. He does not want us to be laden with sorrows but filled with joy. So much so that he died for our sins.

 

We are invited to participate in His Passion, ultimately leading to His death. We are invited to have our old lives, with its misery, to suffer a horrendous death only to be transformed into something better. This invitation that first brings about pain and torment, as we are shaped and molded by the experience, then leads us to the path of the Resurrection. We are then participants in all that it offers: a new life bound for eternity and paradise.

 

Deacon Tom

 

 

 

 

 

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

 

At the Procession with Palms - Gospel

 

 

 

 

 

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

Lectionary: 37 and 38

 

At the Procession with Palms - Gospel

Matthew 21:1-11

When Jesus and the disciples drew near Jerusalem

and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives,

Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them,

"Go into the village opposite you,

and immediately you will find an ass tethered,

and a colt with her.

Untie them and bring them here to me.

And if anyone should say anything to you, reply,

'The master has need of them.'

Then he will send them at once."

This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet

might be fulfilled:

Say to daughter Zion,

"Behold, your king comes to you,

meek and riding on an ass,

and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden."

The disciples went and did as Jesus had ordered them.

They brought the ass and the colt and laid their cloaks over them,

and he sat upon them.

The very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road,

while others cut branches from the trees

and strewed them on the road.

The crowds preceding him and those following

kept crying out and saying:

"Hosanna to the Son of David;

blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord;

hosanna in the highest."

And when he entered Jerusalem

the whole city was shaken and asked, "Who is this?"

And the crowds replied,

"This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee."

 

At the Mass - Reading I

Isaiah 50:4-7

The Lord GOD has given me

    a well-trained tongue,

that I might know how to speak to the weary

    a word that will rouse them.

Morning after morning

    he opens my ear that I may hear;

and I have not rebelled,

    have not turned back.

I gave my back to those who beat me,

    my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;

my face I did not shield

    from buffets and spitting.

 

The Lord GOD is my help,

    therefore I am not disgraced;

I have set my face like flint,

    knowing that I shall not be put to shame.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24

R. (2a)  My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

All who see me scoff at me;

    they mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads:

“He relied on the LORD; let him deliver him,

    let him rescue him, if he loves him.”

R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Indeed, many dogs surround me,

    a pack of evildoers closes in upon me;

They have pierced my hands and my feet;

    I can count all my bones.

R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

They divide my garments among them,

    and for my vesture they cast lots.

But you, O LORD, be not far from me;

    O my help, hasten to aid me.

R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

I will proclaim your name to my brethren;

    in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:

“You who fear the LORD, praise him;

    all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him;

    revere him, all you descendants of Israel!”

R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

 

 

Reading II

Philippians 2:6-11

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,

    did not regard equality with God

    something to be grasped.

Rather, he emptied himself,

    taking the form of a slave,

    coming in human likeness;

    and found human in appearance,

    he humbled himself,

    becoming obedient to the point of death,

    even death on a cross.

Because of this, God greatly exalted him

    and bestowed on him the name

    which is above every name,

    that at the name of Jesus

    every knee should bend,

    of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,   

    and every tongue confess that

    Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father.

 

Verse before the Gospel

Philippians 2:8-9

Christ became obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross.

Because of this, God greatly exalted him

and bestowed on him the name which is above every name.

 

Gospel

Matthew 26:14—27:66

One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot,

went to the chief priests and said,

"What are you willing to 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 approached Jesus and said,

"Where do you want us to prepare

for you to eat the Passover?"

He said,

"Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,

'The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near;

in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples."'"

The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered,

and prepared the Passover.

 

When it was evening,

he reclined at table with the Twelve.

And while they were eating, he said,

"Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me."

Deeply distressed at this,

they began to say to him one after another,

"Surely it is not I, Lord?"

He said in reply,

"He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me

is the one who will betray me.

The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,

but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.

It would be better for that man if he had never been born."

Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply,

"Surely it is not I, Rabbi?"

He answered, "You have said so."

 

While they were eating,

Jesus took bread, said the blessing,

broke it, and giving it to his disciples said,

"Take and eat; this is my body."

Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying,

"Drink from it, all of you,

for this is my blood of the covenant,

which will be shed on behalf of many

for the forgiveness of sins.

I tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine

until the day when I drink it with you new

in the kingdom of my Father."

Then, after singing a hymn,

they went out to the Mount of Olives.

 

Then Jesus said to them,

"This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken,

for it is written:

I will strike the shepherd,

and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed;

but after I have been raised up,

I shall go before you to Galilee."

Peter said to him in reply,

"Though all may have their faith in you shaken,

mine will never be."

Jesus said to him,

"Amen, I say to you,

this very night before the cock crows,

you will deny me three times."

Peter said to him,

"Even though I should have to die with you,

I will not deny you."

And all the disciples spoke likewise.

 

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane,

and he said to his disciples,

"Sit here while I go over there and pray."

He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee,

and began to feel sorrow and distress.

Then he said to them,

"My soul is sorrowful even to death.

Remain here and keep watch with me."

He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying,

"My Father, if it is possible,

let this cup pass from me;

yet, not as I will, but as you will."

When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep.

He said to Peter,

"So you could not keep watch with me for one hour?

Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again,

"My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass

without my drinking it, your will be done!"

Then he returned once more and found them asleep,

for they could not keep their eyes open.

He left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time,

saying the same thing again.

Then he returned to his disciples and said to them,

"Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?

Behold, the hour is at hand

when the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners.

Get up, let us go.

Look, my betrayer is at hand."

 

While he was still speaking,

Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived,

accompanied by a large crowd, with swords and clubs,

who had come from the chief priests and the elders

of the people.

His betrayer had arranged a sign with them, saying,

"The man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him."

Immediately he went over to Jesus and said,

"Hail, Rabbi!" and he kissed him.

Jesus answered him,

"Friend, do what you have come for."

Then stepping forward they laid hands on Jesus and arrested him.

And behold, one of those who accompanied Jesus

put his hand to his sword, drew it,

and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his ear.

Then Jesus said to him,

"Put your sword back into its sheath,

for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.

Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father

and he will not provide me at this moment

with more than twelve legions of angels?

But then how would the Scriptures be fulfilled

which say that it must come to pass in this way?"

At that hour Jesus said to the crowds,

"Have you come out as against a robber,

with swords and clubs to seize me?

Day after day I sat teaching in the temple area,

yet you did not arrest me.

But all this has come to pass

that the writings of the prophets may be fulfilled."

Then all the disciples left him and fled.

 

Those who had arrested Jesus led him away

to Caiaphas the high priest,

where the scribes and the elders were assembled.

Peter was following him at a distance

as far as the high priest's courtyard,

and going inside he sat down with the servants

to see the outcome.

The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin

kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus

in order to put him to death,

but they found none,

though many false witnesses came forward.

Finally two came forward who stated,

"This man said, 'I can destroy the temple of God

and within three days rebuild it.'"

The high priest rose and addressed him,

"Have you no answer?

What are these men testifying against you?"

But Jesus was silent.

Then the high priest said to him,

"I order you to tell us under oath before the living God

whether you are the Christ, the Son of God."

Jesus said to him in reply,

"You have said so.

But I tell you:

From now on you will see 'the Son of Man

seated at the right hand of the Power'

and 'coming on the clouds of heaven.'"

Then the high priest tore his robes and said,

"He has blasphemed!

What further need have we of witnesses?

You have now heard the blasphemy;

what is your opinion?"

They said in reply,

"He deserves to die!"

Then they spat in his face and struck him,

while some slapped him, saying,

"Prophesy for us, Christ: who is it that struck you?"

 

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard.

One of the maids came over to him and said,

"You too were with Jesus the Galilean."

But he denied it in front of everyone, saying,

"I do not know what you are talking about!"

As he went out to the gate, another girl saw him

and said to those who were there,

"This man was with Jesus the Nazorean."

Again he denied it with an oath,

"I do not know the man!"

A little later the bystanders came over and said to Peter,

"Surely you too are one of them;

even your speech gives you away."

At that he began to curse and to swear,

"I do not know the man."

And immediately a cock crowed.

Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken:

"Before the cock crows you will deny me three times."

He went out and began to weep bitterly.

 

When it was morning,

all the chief priests and the elders of the people

took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.

They bound him, led him away,

and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

 

Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned,

deeply regretted what he had done.

He returned the thirty pieces of silver

to the chief priests and elders, saying,

"I have sinned in betraying innocent blood."

They said,

"What is that to us?

Look to it yourself."

Flinging the money into the temple,

he departed and went off and hanged himself.

The chief priests gathered up the money, but said,

"It is not lawful to deposit this in the temple treasury,

for it is the price of blood."

After consultation, they used it to buy the potter's field

as a burial place for foreigners.

That is why that field even today is called the Field of Blood.

Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah

the prophet,

And they took the thirty pieces of silver,

the value of a man with a price on his head,

a price set by some of the Israelites,

and they paid it out for the potter's field

just as the Lord had commanded me.

 

Now Jesus stood before the governor, and he questioned him,

"Are you the king of the Jews?"

Jesus said, "You say so."

And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders,

he made no answer.

Then Pilate said to him,

"Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?"

But he did not answer him one word,

so that the governor was greatly amazed.

 

Now on the occasion of the feast

the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd

one prisoner whom they wished.

And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.

So when they had assembled, Pilate said to them,

"Which one do you want me to release to you,

Barabbas, or Jesus called Christ?"

For he knew that it was out of envy

that they had handed him over.

While he was still seated on the bench,

his wife sent him a message,

"Have nothing to do with that righteous man.

I suffered much in a dream today because of him."

The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds

to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus.

The governor said to them in reply,

"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?"

They answered, "Barabbas!"

Pilate said to them,

"Then what shall I do with Jesus called Christ?"

They all said,

"Let him be crucified!"

But he said,

"Why? What evil has he done?"

They only shouted the louder,

"Let him be crucified!"

When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all,

but that a riot was breaking out instead,

he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd,

saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood.

Look to it yourselves."

And the whole people said in reply,

"His blood be upon us and upon our children."

Then he released Barabbas to them,

but after he had Jesus scourged,

he handed him over to be crucified.

 

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium

and gathered the whole cohort around him.

They stripped off his clothes

and threw a scarlet military cloak about him.

Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head,

and a reed in his right hand.

And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying,

"Hail, King of the Jews!"

They spat upon him and took the reed

and kept striking him on the head.

And when they had mocked him,

they stripped him of the cloak,

dressed him in his own clothes,

and led him off to crucify him.

 

As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon;

this man they pressed into service

to carry his cross.

 

And when they came to a place called Golgotha

—which means Place of the Skull —,

they gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall.

But when he had tasted it, he refused to drink.

After they had crucified him,

they divided his garments by casting lots;

then they sat down and kept watch over him there.

And they placed over his head the written charge against him:

This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.

Two revolutionaries were crucified with him,

one on his right and the other on his left.

Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying,

"You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,

save yourself, if you are the Son of God,

and come down from the cross!"

Likewise the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said,

"He saved others; he cannot save himself.

So he is the king of Israel!

Let him come down from the cross now,

and we will believe in him.

He trusted in God;

let him deliver him now if he wants him.

For he said, 'I am the Son of God.'"

The revolutionaries who were crucified with him

also kept abusing him in the same way.

 

From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land

until three in the afternoon.

And about three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice,

"Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?"

which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Some of the bystanders who heard it said,

"This one is calling for Elijah."

Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge;

he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed,

gave it to him to drink.

But the rest said,

"Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him."

But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice,

and gave up his spirit.

 

Here all kneel and pause for a short time.

 

And behold, the veil of the sanctuary

was torn in two from top to bottom.

The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened,

and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.

And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection,

they entered the holy city and appeared to many.

The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus

feared greatly when they saw the earthquake

and all that was happening, and they said,

"Truly, this was the Son of God!"

There were many women there, looking on from a distance,

who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him.

Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph,

and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

 

When it was evening,

there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph,

who was himself a disciple of Jesus.

He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus;

then Pilate ordered it to be handed over.

Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it in clean linen

and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock.

Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb

and departed.

But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary

remained sitting there, facing the tomb.

 

The next day, the one following the day of preparation,

the chief priests and the Pharisees

gathered before Pilate and said,

"Sir, we remember that this impostor while still alive said,

'After three days I will be raised up.'

Give orders, then, that the grave be secured until the third day,

lest his disciples come and steal him and say to the people,

'He has been raised from the dead.'

This last imposture would be worse than the first."

Pilate said to them,

"The guard is yours;

go, secure it as best you can."

So they went and secured the tomb

by fixing a seal to the stone and setting the guard.

 

 

or

Matthew 27:11-54

Jesus stood before the governor, Pontius Pilate, who questioned him,

"Are you the king of the Jews?"

Jesus said, "You say so."

And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders,

he made no answer.

Then Pilate said to him,

"Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?"

But he did not answer him one word,

so that the governor was greatly amazed.

 

Now on the occasion of the feast

the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd

one prisoner whom they wished.

And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.

So when they had assembled, Pilate said to them,

"Which one do you want me to release to you,

Barabbas, or Jesus called Christ?"

For he knew that it was out of envy

that they had handed him over.

While he was still seated on the bench,

his wife sent him a message,

"Have nothing to do with that righteous man.

I suffered much in a dream today because of him."

The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds

to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus.

The governor said to them in reply,

"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?"

They answered, "Barabbas!"

Pilate said to them,

"Then what shall I do with Jesus called Christ?"

They all said,

"Let him be crucified!"

But he said,

"Why? What evil has he done?"

They only shouted the louder,

"Let him be crucified!"

When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all,

but that a riot was breaking out instead,

he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd,

saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood.

Look to it yourselves."

And the whole people said in reply,

"His blood be upon us and upon our children."

Then he released Barabbas to them,

but after he had Jesus scourged,

he handed him over to be crucified.

 

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium

and gathered the whole cohort around him.

They stripped off his clothes

and threw a scarlet military cloak about him.

Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head,

and a reed in his right hand.

And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying,

"Hail, King of the Jews!"

They spat upon him and took the reed

and kept striking him on the head.

And when they had mocked him,

they stripped him of the cloak,

dressed him in his own clothes,

and led him off to crucify him.

 

As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon;

this man they pressed into service

to carry his cross.

 

And when they came to a place called Golgotha

— which means Place of the Skull —,

they gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall.

But when he had tasted it, he refused to drink.

After they had crucified him,

they divided his garments by casting lots;

then they sat down and kept watch over him there.

And they placed over his head the written charge against him:

This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.

Two revolutionaries were crucified with him,

one on his right and the other on his left.

Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying,

"You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,

save yourself, if you are the Son of God,

and come down from the cross!"

Likewise the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said,

"He saved others; he cannot save himself.

So he is the king of Israel!

Let him come down from the cross now,

and we will believe in him.

He trusted in God;

let him deliver him now if he wants him.

For he said, 'I am the Son of God.'"

The revolutionaries who were crucified with him

also kept abusing him in the same way.

 

From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land

until three in the afternoon.

And about three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice,

"Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?"

which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Some of the bystanders who heard it said,

"This one is calling for Elijah."

Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge;

he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed,

gave it to him to drink.

But the rest said,

'Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him."

But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice,

and gave up his spirit.

 

Here all kneel and pause for a short time.

 

And behold, the veil of the sanctuary

was torn in two from top to bottom.

The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened,

and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.

And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection,

they entered the holy city and appeared to many.

The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus

feared greatly when they saw the earthquake

and all that was happening, and they said,

"Truly, this was the Son of God!"

 

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

 

Today we enter Holy Week, the highest and most important week on the Church Calendar. We are invited today to meditate on the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. First, we sing joyful songs as we proclaim Him the Messiah, celebrating with the throngs of people welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem. Palms are laid before Him, songs are sung, and cheers rise from the crowds. Our minds can wander to those times in our lives when we found ourselves in right relationship with our God and our hearts rejoiced as a result. The praises chanted before the first Gospel Proclamation today might be ones that we can relate to in our own lives. We might have shouted out similar things or felt the same way:

 

 “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“ Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

 

Then, as quickly as the feeling came, it faded. We saw light, hope, and salvation. We then stepped back into the darkness, reverting to old thoughts and ways. The physical overwhelmed the spiritual, and our mind became empty of those thoughts which led us to recognize Jesus for who He was in the first place. Just as those who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem were soon to be among those who ridiculed Him, spat on Him, and condemned Him, we too turned away from Him and chose a path that led us into spiritual bankruptcy and a life that Jesus was far removed from.

 

Ironically enough, this is something that can be encouraged when encountered, if not welcomed by us. It can become part of a process of healing: understanding what a life without Jesus Christ is like, then what a new life with Him can emerge from the ashes of our brokenness and misery. Uniting ourselves with the Crucified Christ, just as we have throughout this Lenten Season, we can both suffer with Him and reject Him with the fury of the crowds that surrounded Him during His darkest hour.  Pride and wrath can be our masters as we embrace our sins and celebrate our debauchery. We walk the path to Calvary, bruised and battered, or we beat Jesus and torment Him as He does so. We can or have experienced both scenarios, each having the common denominator of no relationship with Jesus: only anger and torment.

 

The self-inflicted suffering becomes a foundation which we can then relate with Jesus’ own suffering and ask for His help. Suffering and pain can have the ability to forge ourselves into new creations. Suffering always has an end. Darkness never overcomes light. Crying out to Jesus in our time of need can and will bring Him into our hearts and then our old selves will slowly fade away. If we let it. We are the only ones who can prevent a transformative experience with Jesus and a new life. We either let Him into our hearts and let Him stay, or easily dismiss what is being offered.

 

Passion Sunday gives us a better understanding of what Jesus did for the forgiveness of our sins and a guarantee of everlasting life; if only we listen to what He is saying. All this was foretold and accepted by Jesus Christ. He understood completely what the result of His ministry was going to be and He embraced it. We too must embrace our suffering with an understanding that our suffering will lead to greater things through Jesus, who is the gate to the Father.

When Jesus surrendered His spirit to the Father, it did not indicate an end, but a beginning. The time in Holy Week should be a time of contemplating, increased fasting, and increased prayer. That is why we read the Passion today: in preparation for Jesus’ actual death at the 3 o’clock hour Good Friday. We have an opportunity to deepen our contact with Him and get closer to Him. Acts of charity and reading Sacred Scripture should be done with increased normalcy. It becomes a time of giving back by us; we who have been so self-centered and selfish for most of our lives. This cycle can be changed by walking the Passion and feeling the death of our God. Removing ourselves from the daily monotony of an existence without Him, we can try and live it with Him.  

 

Beyond the cross is the Resurrection, but we cannot even fully comprehend what that means for us unless we understand the supreme sacrifice first. Understand this: all of God’s Creation is being redeemed and the people who choose Jesus with it. We can either decide to be left behind or join those who know a better way; journeying into the light which is Jesus Christ. As Abbot Christian Leisy says,

 

“ …all that we celebrate throughout this Holy Week is a clear reminder that God is with us now, working on our behalf. The power of the resurrection of Christ has a daily and real effect in our lives by the working of the Holy Spirit in us and with us as an undying source of grace and joy for us now and always.”

So, when we experience the Passion, we are ultimately making our way to the Resurrection and rebirth. We are shaped and molded along the way. This is the opportunity that Jesus and the Church gives us. Starting today,

 

NAMASTE

Deacon Tom