MONDAY OF HOLY WEEK - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Hail to you, our King!
You alone have had compassion on our sins.

ISAIAH 42:1-7

Abba Father,

Thank You for Your Son, Jesus. Thank You for sending Him into the world to become one like us. He is the Son of God, He is God from God, light from light, true God from true God. Begotten not made, consubstantial with You, the Father and through Him, Your Eternal Word who is the same yesterday today and forever, all things came to be and without the Word there is not one single thing that exists. We are because You spoke this Divine Word. You called us out of nothingness into Your Light; we are redeemed by the Power of His Blood and His redeeming Sacrifice.

Father in heaven, You sent Your only Son into the world as one of us, incarnate of the Virgin Mother, like us in all things save sin. He, Your beloved Son, You sent as a servant and a slave. His sublime humility, love, and perfect obedience gladly subjected Himself to Your holy will, becoming the Lamb of God, the sacrificial lamb without spot, stain, or blemish to be offered to You, Holy and Living God, as a holocaust for the sins of the whole world and the salvation of souls.

He came into the world, and the world knew Him not. He was rejected, despised, treated with disdain, mocked, belittled, spat upon, and treated as one without dignity. O Lord, my God, I demand that my worth be recognized. I desire to be respected and treated right and get angry and upset when I am not. But Jesus, the Son of the Living God, was humble, and obedient unto death even death on the Cross.

The world in ignorance and its love for sin and darkness did not rest then until they killed Him, and this same world continues in every age, nation, culture, and language to annihilate His Name and His saving work. Grant, O Father, that the Church He established grow in faith, strength, and numbers and empowered by His Name and the Holy Spirit set out as He commanded us to make disciples in every nation. Let us work tirelessly to sow the seed of the Gospel so that many, if not all, may be saved and come to the knowledge of Truth.

Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom my soul delights.
I have endowed him with my spirit
that he may bring true justice to the nations.

Thus says God, the Lord,
he who created the heavens and spread them out,
who gave shape to the earth and what comes from it,
who gave breath to its people
and life to the creatures that move in it:
‘I, the Lord, have called you to serve the cause of right;
I have taken you by the hand and formed you;
I have appointed you as covenant of the people and light of the nations,
‘to open the eyes of the blind,
to free captives from prison,
and those who live in darkness from the dungeon.’

PSALM 26(27):1-3,13-14

The Lord is my light and my help.

The Lord is my light and my help;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
before whom shall I shrink?

When evil-doers draw near

to devour my flesh,
it is they, my enemies and foes,
who stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me

my heart would not fear.
Though war break out against me
even then would I trust.

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness

in the land of the living.
Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.
Hope in the Lord!

The Lord is my light and my help.

JOHN 12:1-11

My Soul's Beloved,

I desire to be like Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. I want to be the friend You visit often and are comfortable staying with because You know that You will always receive a warm and loving welcome. You loved them, and they, in turn, loved You very much. They were always overjoyed to welcome You to their home. You singled them out to rest from Your weary days of travelling on foot, bringing the message of the Gospel to as many before Your hour arrived. 

You had raised Lazarus to life four days after he had died, and there was no mistaking to anyone who witnessed this great sign of Your divine power and that You were who You said You were. But enemies of the Truth who are in cohort with Satan desired not only to murder You but Lazarus as well. This was known not only to You but to those close to You. Seated around the table with Lazarus, Your disciples with Martha lovingly waiting on You and Your friends, Mary anointed Your feet with very costly ointment. She poured it all generously over Your feet and lovingly wiped them with her hair. 

The Betrayer was irked by this outrageously extravagant gesture. He who knew the exact price of the precious ointment piously intoned: ‘Why wasn’t this ointment sold for three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor?’ Much did he care for the poor, the hypocrite. John the evangelist explains why this black hearted and treacherous villain complained. Then Judas Iscariot – one of his disciples, the man who was to betray him – said, He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he was in charge of the common fund and used to help himself to the contributions. Gently chiding Judas and knowing the part he would choose to play in contributing to Your ignominious and excruciating death, You said: ‘Leave her alone; she had to keep this scent for the day of my burial. You have the poor with you always; you will not always have me.’ It is good for us all to remember that our first and foremost obligation is to love and serve You with our whole being; everything else will fall into place when we do.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, our Savior and Redeemer, for the sake of Your sorrowful passion have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Meanwhile a large number of Jews heard that he was there and came not only on account of Jesus but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. Then the chief priests decided to kill Lazarus as well, since it was on his account that many of the Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus.