WEDNESDAY OF HOLY WEEK - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

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

ISAIAH 50:4-9

My Soul's Beloved,

You placed Yourself wholly under Your Father's will. To do His will was food and drink to You. The cost was great, Beloved. You had to give Yourself into the hands of the world. You came to Your own, and Your own rejected You so completely, so horrifically, they tortured You, treated You like a slave, abused You, accused You falsely and did all in their power to ensure that You died by crucifixion, the most excruciating form of death. Yet, if like the disciples who believed, the rest of the Jews recognized who You were and believed how differently and happily the outcome of Your sojourn into the world would be. 

But it was not to be Lord, for the powerful in the world are too attached to their love of money, power, status, and recognition to give it up. These worldly goods are addictive, and the craving for more is a bottomless pit that can never be satisfied. The Pharisees, the Chief Priests, and those with authority in the Sanhedrin loved their creature comforts and their narrow vision of the Law and the Prophets too much to recognize that salvation had come to Israel. Their long-awaited Messiah was truly among them, and they were prepared to spill innocent blood rather than acknowledge that 'Something greater than Jonah is here.'

Thank You, Lord, for teaching us that God always has the last word. The Resurrection from the dead is the answer to all life's ills. If we live with You and die with You, we will reign with You.

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.

The Lord comes to my help,
so that I am untouched by the insults.
So, too, I set my face like flint;
I know I shall not be shamed.

My vindicator is here at hand. Does anyone start proceedings against me?
Then let us go to court together.
Who thinks he has a case against me?
Let him approach me.
The Lord is coming to my help,
who will dare to condemn me?

PSALM 68(69):8-10,21-22,31,33-34

In your great love, O Lord, answer my prayers for your favour.

It is for you that I suffer taunts,
that shame covers my face,
that I have become a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my own mother’s sons.
I burn with zeal for your house
and taunts against you fall on me.

Taunts have broken my heart;

I have reached the end of my strength.
I looked in vain for compassion,
for consolers; not one could I find.
For food they gave me poison;
in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

I will praise God’s name with a song;

I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
The poor when they see it will be glad
and God-seeking hearts will revive;
for the Lord listens to the needy
and does not spurn his servants in their chains.

In your great love, O Lord, answer my prayers for your favour.

MATTHEW 26:14-25

My Soul's Beloved,

There are Judas' in the Church, and among the hierarchy constantly looking for opportunities to betray You for thirty pieces of silver or less. They are prepared to sell their honor and soul for paltry gain and eternal damnation for earthly gain. Temptations abound in every life. Lord, how we overcome them with the help of grace or not determines whether or not we will be seated at Your right or Your left in Your Kingdom.

After agreeing to betray You, Judas had the temerity to present himself at the Passover Meal. Fully intending to hand You over to Your enemies, he brazenly ate and drank with You and the rest of the Apostles.  He ate the Holy Eucharist, he permitted You to wash his feet all the while plotting in his black, evil heart to hand You over to Your murderers. 

When You spoke of what You knew would occur and openly revealed that one of the Twelve would betray You, all except Judas was distressed and each in turn asked, 'No I, Lord, surely?' You replied, ‘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!’ So many consecrated bishops and priests celebrate Holy Mass, touch Your Sacred Body, and eat and drink Your Flesh and Blood, even while knowingly aware and guilty of grave, mortal sins! They know what they are doing, for the Word of God is clear, '1 Corinthians 11:29 For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgement against themselves.'

How many of us Catholics approach the Eucharist when we are aware that we are unworthy to receive You, Lord, and yet we do so for fear of what people may say or because we do not fully comprehend the gravity of our sins.

The absolute brazenness of Judas must be admired. He dared to look You in the face and say, ‘Not I, Rabbi, surely?’ You confirmed his guilt, saying, ‘They are your own words.’ 

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