Wednesday of Holy Week
Lectionary: 259
Reading I
Isaiah 50:4-9a
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.
He is near who upholds my right;
if anyone wishes to oppose me,
let us appear together.
Who disputes my right?
Let him confront me.
See, the Lord GOD is my help;
who will prove me wrong?
Responsorial Psalm
69:8-10, 21-22, 31 and 33-34
R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother’s sons,
because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak,
I looked for sympathy, but there was none;
for consolers, not one could I find.
Rather they put gall in my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving:
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Verse Before the Gospel
Hail to you, our King;
you alone are compassionate with our errors.
OR
Hail to you, our King, obedient to the Father;
you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter.
Gospel
Matthew 26:14-25
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.”
Reflection 1
Catholic Daily Reflections
Rejecting Empty Promises
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. Matthew 26:14–16
The desire for money can become a powerful incentive to betray our Lord. In this Gospel passage, it seems clear that Judas’ betrayal was based on his desire for money. He most likely had some level of faith in our Lord, or he wouldn’t have become His disciple. But even if Judas did have some level of faith, his desire for money appeared to overshadow the faith he may have had.
One of the central lessons we can learn from Judas is that the desire for money is a powerful incentive for the decisions we make. So many of the great saints have taught us that the path to holiness consists, first, in a purification of all our disordered affections. And since one of the most powerful attachments that many struggle with is an attachment to money, this is an important desire to purify in all of our lives.
It’s true that material possessions are not evil when they are used for the fulfillment of God’s will. But the desire for more, for an excess, will always cloud our ability to see clearly the will of God and live for His glory alone.
Once Judas had betrayed our Lord and Jesus was arrested, recall that Judas “deeply regretted what he had done.” And during Jesus’ trial, Judas went back to the chief priests and said “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood” in an apparent attempt to stop the trial. But Jesus’ death was set in motion and could not be stopped. As a result, Judas returned the money and sadly went off to hang himself (See Matthew 27:3–5).
The desire Judas had for money clouded his thinking. And his sin did to him what sin always does. As soon as his sin of betrayal was done, Judas saw the consequences of that choice. And the consequences grieved him deeply. He learned that choosing sin ends with an empty promise. He realized that thirty pieces of silver was not worth the value of his soul. But of course, even then Judas could have repented and received the mercy of God. But he didn’t. He simply ended his life in ultimate despair.
Reflect, today, upon the witness of Judas. Use him as a source of meditation and self-examination this Holy Week. What is it in your life that you desire more than our Lord? What temptation clouds your thinking and leads you to choices that you know will end in emptiness? Strive to eradicate every disordered desire within you this day and choose wisely the will of God instead. Do not let yourself continue to believe the lies that keep you from making Jesus and His holy will the one and only focus of your life.
Reflection 2
One Bread, One Body
DOCILE OR JUDAS?
“Then Judas, His betrayer, spoke: ‘Surely it is not I, Rabbi?’ ” —Matthew 26:25
The last word Judas spoke to Jesus was to call Him “Rabbi,” meaning “Teacher” (Mt 26:49). One of the first words spoken to the risen Christ was: “Rabbouni” (Jn 20:16). This is a variation of the word “Rabbi,” and it also means “Teacher.”
Judas, the betrayer of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene, the first person to meet the risen Christ, both called Jesus by the same title. The difference was that Mary Magdalene listened to her Teacher, while Judas did not. In other words, Mary Magdalene was docile, that is, teachable, and Judas wasn’t. Docility is the difference between love or betrayal, life or death, and heaven or hell.
For example, morning after morning the Lord will open your ears (Is 50:4). He will teach you “how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them” (Is 50:4). However, to speak these rousing words, you will have to suffer. You may have to expose your back and face to “buffets and spitting” (Is 50:6). Naturally, you don’t want to suffer or even hear about suffering. Will you rebel (see Is 50:5) or be docile? If you are docile to the Rabbi’s teaching about the suffering of the cross (see Lk 9:23), you will meet the Rabbi risen from the dead. Be docile, or you’ll be Judas.
Prayer: Rabbi, send me the Holy Spirit of docility.
Promise: “See, the Lord God is my Help.” —Is 50:9
Praise: Elizabeth decided to accept Jesus as the Messiah even though she risked losing her family.
Reflection 3
By Fr. Martin Hogan
The early church was very aware that Jesus was betrayed to his enemies by one of his closest associates. Even though this was a very uncomfortable reality for the first generation of believers, there was no attempt to gloss over the disturbing truth that, in the words of today’s gospel reading, Jesus was betrayed by someone who dipped his hand into the dish with Jesus, someone who broke bread with Jesus. The gospel reading declares that when Jesus announced that one of those sharing table with him would betray him, everyone present was ‘greatly distressed’. To be betrayed by someone you trust is very distressing both for the one betrayed and for all those associated with that person. Some of us may have had the experience of our trust being betrayed. We confide in someone and they use that information against us. This week tells us that, in the case of Jesus, the human betrayal that led to Jesus’ crucifixion did not have the last word; God had the last word by raising his Son from the dead. God brought good out of the evil of betrayal and the many other evils that Jesus endured in the last week of his life. God can also bring good out of the painful experiences that come our way because of others. These days of Holy Week invite us to trust that God can work in life-giving ways even in those dark experiences that might make us cry out in the words of this morning’s psalm, ‘I have reached the end of my strength’.
Prayers
My divine Lord, You and You alone must become the focus of my life. You and You alone are of the greatest value in life. Help me to shed all earthly desires in life so that I will not fall into the temptations that lead to empty promises and so that I will embrace the true and fulfilling promises that come from You. Jesus, I trust in You.
God our Father, we are exceedingly frail and indisposed to every virtuous and gallant undertaking. Strengthen our weakness, we beseech you, that we may do valiantly in this spiritual war; help us against our own negligence and cowardice, and defend us from the treachery of our unfaithful hearts; for Jesus Christ's sake. (Prayer of Thomas a Kempis)
Daily Reflections on Divine Mercy
Reflection 87: The Will of God in All Things
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could do the Will of God always? If you could simply make the choice to perfectly say “Yes” to God in all things and in every situation? The truth is that you can. The only thing hindering you from this absolute choice is your own stubborn will (See Diary #374).
It’s hard to admit that we are stubborn and full of self-will. It’s hard to let go of our own will and to choose, instead, the Will of God in all things. Hard though it may be, we must make this our firm resolve. And when we fail, we must resolve again. Never tire of trying again and again. Your unfailing effort brings joy to the Heart of our Lord.
Lord, I do desire to embrace Your Divine Will in all things. Help me to be free of my own selfish will and to choose only You in all things. I abandon myself into Your hands. When I fall, help me to get back up rather than to give into discouragement. Jesus, I trust in You.
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