TUESDAY OF HOLY WEEK - 2022

PASSION WEEK 2022

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Hail to you, our King!
Obedient to the Father, you were led to your crucifixion
as a meek lamb is led to the slaughter.

ISAIAH 49:1-6 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Before the dawn of creation the Creator knew that the crown of His creation would reject Him and even then He made provision to redeem the world through His Son. 

God created Adam and Eve, they sinned, they rejected God, and were banished from paradise but God sought a way to restore what His creatures had so callously rejected. 

Beloved, we must always be alert and awake to God's call - He called Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Samuel and a host of others from the Old Testament to the New and He continues to do until the end of time.

With God, nothing is lost and He can redeem all things by the power of His Word, His Eternal Word, the Incarnate Word who lived among us and was like us in all things save sin.

Israel rejected You just as our first parents rejected God and the world continues to reject You, Beloved. But all is not lost. You are the Light of the World and Your Light has gone out to all the nations and through the power of Your Holy Spirit the world is slowly but surely being reconciled to through the lives of all who believe in You, hope in You, and shine Your Light in the world. 

JOHN 13:21-33,36-38 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

There is much we can learn about You and ourselves as we contemplate this passage. The fact that You were troubled in spirit reveals that You were fully human. When we know that we have to face difficult, even painful times we too become troubled, and worse we stress, we are fearful, anxious, and lose our peace. 

But despite the fact that You knew exactly what was ahead of You there were things You had to say and do and You did so resolutely. You revealed to them that one of Your closest friends seated at the table eating bread with You and the rest was to betray You. At once all wondered who among them was the guilty one. To John, who asked You directly, 'Who is it, Lord!' You responded, ‘It is the one’ replied Jesus ‘to whom I give the piece of bread that I shall dip in the dish.’ He dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. 

The evangelist says,  At that instant, after Judas had taken the bread, Satan entered him. And addressing him You said,  ‘What you are going to do, do quickly.’ So many of us partake of the Holy Eucharist with unclean lips and unclean hearts and it does us no good but renders us even more unclean. If only we knew how we, like Judas, betray the Son of Man and the Son of God when we approach the Eucharist without first going to Confession to be absolved of grave sins, we would die rather than eat Your Body and drink Your Blood.

As soon as Judas had partaken of the Eucharist he had eaten condemnation to himself, Satan entered him and he rose up to do his dastardly deed, and John tells us, 'Night had fallen.'

Every grievous sin results in night falling on our soul.

You continue to talk to and encourage the rest of Your friends around the table. Soon they would be scattered by fear and You would be bereft of all companionship except that of Your Mother, the faithful women, and the disciple You loved - they alone remained steadfast to the end. 

When You announced to the group that the hour for Your departure was drawing near and they could not follow where You were going, Simon Peter said, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus replied, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow me now; you will follow me later.’ Peter said to him, ‘Why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ ‘Lay down your life for me?’ answered Jesus. ‘I tell you most solemnly before the cock crows you will have disowned me three times.’

Beloved, keep us humble, keep us aware of how much we need grace, and let us cling to You lest in our pride and our self-confidence we lose our soul.

Only in humility and obedience can we hope to be glorified with You as You are glorified by Your Father.