WEDNESDAY OF HOLY WEEK - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

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

ISAIAH 50:4-9 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

I am redeemed by Your Blood, I am saved, I am made an heir of the Kingdom of God, I have been raised with You for I have been given a share in Your own Holy Spirit. Who can stand against me when You O my Lord and my Savior stand for me?

The prophet Isaiah foretells clearly all that God has accomplished through You for our salvation. You are the Eternal Word of the Father and in Your Word o Lord, is life, healing, wholeness, comfort for the weary and broken soul, forgiveness, mercy, and pardon. Thank You for Your Word which is always accessible to us in Sacred Scripture. Your Word has eh power to speak to us and to lift us up. 

You teach us how to suffer through Your own agonizing suffering - through Your passion, and death by crucifixion on the cross at Calvary. Thank You for paying the price that we could not pay and if You had not paid it we would have tasted eternal death instead of eternal life.

We are so easily offended, so easily upset, retaliate at the slightest provocation and seek vengeance from those who harm us - but You show us a more noble way. You teach by example not to offer resistance when our enemies overpower us no matter how great the temptation to offer blow for blow.

For my part, I made no resistance,
neither did I turn away.
I offered my back to those who struck me,
my cheeks to those who tore at my beard;
I did not cover my face
against insult and spittle.

You desire us instead to turn to You, seek help from You, and trust You to take vengeance on our behalf. You O Lord will vindicate us. Just as God raised You high and gave You a Name above every other name so too will we be raised with You if we remain Your faithful disciples as these words confirm:

The Lord is coming to my help,

who will dare to condemn me?

PSALM 68(69):8-10,21-22,31,33-34 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

These are the days O Lord, blessed, grace-filled days, to enter ever more deeply into the mystery of Your passion and death. You gave Yourself up completely into the hands of Your enemies and they in turn gave themselves over to Satan. Nothing was out of bounds, and nothing was too barbaric or too horrific. They went to the most extreme lengths to ensure that You suffered more than it is humanly possible to suffer and it was love alone that made it possible for You to find the courage and the strength to endure until You gave up Your Spirit. 

We now have an eternal and glorious intercessor before God who pleads for us night and day. We receive mercy and pardon only because You paid the ransom that we never could for our sins. Because of what You have done for us O my Beloved, we can always approach the throne of Mercy and receive all the graces and help we need to make our pilgrim journey from this valley of tears to the Kingdom of God. Thank You.

MATTHEW 26:14-25 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Judas Iscariot echoes what every evil person before him and since has done and continues to do when they shamelessly and unblushingly betray not only strangers and enemies but also family members and close friends who trusted and loved them. One of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?’ They paid him thirty silver pieces, and from that moment he looked for an opportunity to betray him.

Judas considered the Lord and Giver of Life worth only thirty paltry pieces of silver. For this measly sum, he was prepared to betray his Lord, his Master, his Teacher, his Brother, and his Friend with whom he lived and broke bread with daily. You knew all, every moment was taking You inexorably to Your passion, crucifixion, and bloody death, as one of the Twelve he too was invited to partake of the Last Supper. would share with them. He was present when You instituted the Holy Eucharist. 

When You reveal plainly, ‘I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me.’ Each asks in turn, ‘Not I, Lord, surely?’ You revealed who it was saying, ‘Someone who has dipped his hand into the dish with me, will betray me. The Son of Man is going to his fate, as the scriptures say he will, but alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had never been born!’ Judas brazenly says, ‘Not I, Rabbi, surely?’ And You reply, ‘They are your own words.’ When evil takes hold of us like it did Judas, we too lose all sense of shame. 

Preserve me Lord from grave sin, from betraying You. Keep me safe for eternal life.