Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent
Lectionary: 232
Reading 1
Jeremaih 18:18-20
The people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem said,
"Come, let us contrive a plot against Jeremiah.
It will not mean the loss of instruction from the priests,
nor of counsel from the wise, nor of messages from the prophets.
And so, let us destroy him by his own tongue;
let us carefully note his every word."
Heed me, O LORD,
and listen to what my adversaries say.
Must good be repaid with evil
that they should dig a pit to take my life?
Remember that I stood before you
to speak in their behalf,
to turn away your wrath from them.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 31:5-6, 14, 15-16
R. (17b) Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.
You will free me from the snare they set for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
R. Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.
I hear the whispers of the crowd, that frighten me from every side,
as they consult together against me, plotting to take my life.
R. Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.
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. Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.
Verse Before the Gospel
John 8:12
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will have the light of life.
Gospel
Matthew 20:17-28
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem,
he took the Twelve disciples aside by themselves,
and said to them on the way,
"Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests
and the scribes,
and they will condemn him to death,
and hand him over to the Gentiles
to be mocked and scourged and crucified,
and he will be raised on the third day."
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons
and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something.
He said to her, "What do you wish?"
She answered him,
"Command that these two sons of mine sit,
one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom."
Jesus said in reply,
"You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?"
They said to him, "We can."
He replied,
"My chalice you will indeed drink,
but to sit at my right and at my left,
this is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father."
When the ten heard this,
they became indignant at the two brothers.
But Jesus summoned them and said,
"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and the great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.
Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Reflection 1
Catholic Daily Reflections
Facing the Cross with Courage and Love
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” Matthew 20:17–19
What a conversation that must have been! As Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem with the Twelve just prior to the first Holy Week, Jesus spoke openly and clearly about what would be waiting for Him in Jerusalem. Imagine what the disciples would have thought. In many ways, it would have been too much for them to comprehend at the time. In many ways, the disciples probably preferred not to hear what Jesus had to say. But Jesus knew they needed to hear this difficult truth, especially as the moment of the Crucifixion drew near.
Oftentimes, the full message of the Gospel is difficult for us to accept. This is because the full message of the Gospel will always centrally point us to the sacrifice of the Cross. Sacrificial love and the full embrace of the Cross needs to be seen, understood, loved, fully embraced and confidently proclaimed. But how is this done? Let’s start with our Lord Himself.
Jesus was not afraid of the truth. He knew that His suffering and death was imminent, and He was ready and willing to accept this truth without hesitation. He didn’t see His Cross in a negative light. He did not look at it as a tragedy to be avoided. He didn’t allow fear to deter Him. Instead, Jesus looked at His imminent sufferings in the light of truth. He saw His suffering and death as a glorious act of love that He was soon to offer, and, therefore, He was not afraid to not only embrace these sufferings but also to speak of them with confidence and courage.
In our own lives, we are given the invitation to imitate Jesus’ courage and love every time we must face something difficult in life. When this happens, some of the most common temptations are to be angry about the difficulty, or to look for ways to avoid it, or to blame others, or to give into despair and the like. There are numerous coping mechanisms that kick in by which we tend to try and avoid the crosses that await us.
But what if we followed the example of our Lord instead? What if we faced any and every pending cross with love, courage and a willing embrace? What if instead of looking for a way out, we looked for a way in, so to speak? That is, we looked for a way to embrace our suffering in a sacrificial way, without hesitancy, in imitation of Jesus’ embrace of His cross. Every cross in life has the potential of becoming an instrument of much grace in our own lives and in the lives of others. Therefore, from the perspective of grace and eternity, crosses must be embraced, not avoided or cursed.
Reflect, today, upon any difficulty you are facing. Do you see it in the same way that Jesus sees it? Can you see every cross you are given as an opportunity for sacrificial love? Are you able to embrace it with hope and confidence, knowing that God can bring good out of it? Seek to imitate our Lord by joyfully embracing the difficulties you face and those crosses will ultimately share in the Resurrection with our Lord.
Reflection 2
One Bread, One Body
CROSS WALK
“The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, who will condemn Him to death.” —Matthew 20:18
Jesus was telling His apostles about His imminent torture and death. He told them: “They will turn [Me] over to the Gentiles, to be made sport of and flogged and crucified” (Mt 20:19). After this heart-rending conversation about tragic suffering and death, Sts. James, John and their mother approached Jesus and asked for a promotion to the right and left hand of Jesus (Mt 20:21). They refused to relate to the message of the cross.
On another occasion, when Jesus first mentioned the cross, St. Peter said it would never happen. Jesus had to tell Peter, “Get out of my sight, you satan!” (Mk 8:33) The cross has been and still is a stumbling block to the worldly. They question how the Messiah can set people free if He was beaten and executed as a criminal. Pleasure-seekers think the cross “an absurdity” (1 Cor 1:23). The cross makes no sense to those with the attitude: “If it feels good, do it.”
Believers and unbelievers have one thing in common: they all don’t understand the cross. However, “to us who are experiencing salvation it is the power of God” (1 Cor 1:18).
Prayer: “Jesus, keep me near the cross.” May I know nothing except what shines in the light of the cross (1 Cor 2:2, RNAB).
Promise: “Remember that I stood before You to speak in their behalf, to turn away Your wrath from them.” —Jer 18:20
Praise: Maria forgave her father for hitting her when she was a teenager.
Reflection 3
Fr. Francesc JORDANA i Soler
(Mirasol, Barcelona, Spain)
“Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant”
Today, the Church, in this Lenten time —inspired by the Holy Spirit— proposes a text where Jesus suggests to His disciples —and, accordingly, to all of us— a change in mentality. Today, Jesus changes the human and earthly mentality of His disciples and opens up a new horizon of understanding concerning a new style of life for His followers.
We have a natural tendency towards a desire to dominate or subjugate things and people, to command and to order, to have things done as per our wishes, to have others accept our status, our position. But, now, Jesus is proposing to us just the opposite: “whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant” (Mt 20:26-27). “Servant”, “slave”: we cannot just take these words at their face value! We have heard them hundreds of times, sure, but now we must be able to assimilate the reality of what they actually mean, and confront it with our attitude and behavior.
The II Vatican Council asserts that “man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself.” We may be under the impression we are giving away life, but, in fact, we are retrieving it. He who does not live to serve does not serve to live. And, in this attitude Christ should be our perfect model —Jesus is fully man—, inasmuch as “the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mt 20:28).
Being a servant, being a slave, as Jesus asks us, is impossible for us. It falls short of our weak will: so we are to implore, to hope for and to profoundly wish these gifts are granted to us. Lent and its Lenten practices —fasting, charity and prayer— remind us that to receive these gifts we have to prepare ourselves adequately.
Prayers
My suffering Lord, You freely embraced the injustice of the Cross with love and courage. You saw beyond the apparent scandal and suffering and transformed the evil done to You into the greatest act of love ever known. Give me the grace to imitate Your perfect love and to do so with the strength and confidence that You had. Jesus, I trust in You.
Lord Jesus, make me a servant of love for your kingdom, that I may seek to serve rather than be served. Inflame my heart with your love that I may give generously and serve others joyfully for your sake.
Daily Reflections On Divine Mercy
Reflection 59: “Oh, Blood and Water…”
After Jesus’ death, one of the soldiers came to Him and was ordered to make certain He was dead. So that soldier pierced His precious body with a lance and immediately blood and water gushed forth from His wounded Heart. This has been prayerfully reflected upon throughout the ages and has been seen as a sign of the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion and the fact that the Blood of the Holy Eucharist and the Water of Baptism spring forth directly from the ultimate sacrificial gift of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice of the Cross (See Diary #187).
Renew, today, your gratitude for these Sacraments of God’s abundant Mercy. Ponder the fact that they were made possible only because Jesus was willing to sacrifice His life out of love for us. Let His sacrifice, this day, fill your own heart with gratitude and awe as you think about the price He willingly and freely paid so as to redeem us.
Lord, Your love is seen clearly in the Sacrifice of Your Cross. You held nothing back from us as You poured out Your Mercy to the last drop on the Cross. Help me to see and understand this great mystery of sacrificial love. Fill me with gratitude for all that You have done and help me to imitate this total self-giving toward others. Oh blood and water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus, as a font of Mercy for us, I trust in You.
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