WEDNESDAY OF HOLY WEEK
Psalter: Week 2 / (Violet)
Ps 69:8-10, 21-22, 31 & 33-34
Lord, in your great love, answer me.
1st Reading: Is 50:4-9a
The Lord Yahweh has taught me so I speak as his disciple and I know how to sustain the weary. Morning after morning he wakes me up to hear, to listen like a disciple
The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear.
I have not rebelled, nor have I withdrawn. I offered my back to those who strike me, my cheeks to those who pulled my beard; neither did I shield my face from blows, spittle and disgrace. I have not despaired, for the Lord Yahweh comes to my help. So, like a flint I set my face, knowing that I will not be disgraced. He who avenges me is near. Who then will accuse me? Let us confront each other. Who is now my accuser? Let him approach. If the Lord Yahweh is my help, who will condemn me? All of them will wear out like cloth; the moth will devour them.
Gospel: Mt 26:14-25
One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “How much will you give me if I hand him over to you?” They promised to give him thirty pieces of silver; and from then on, he kept looking for the best way to hand Jesus over to them.
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and said to him, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?” Jesus answered, “Go into the city, to the house of a certain man, and tell him, ‘The Master says: My hour is near, and I will celebrate the Passover with my disciples in your house.’”
The disciples did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover meal.
When it was evening, Jesus sat at table with the Twelve. While they were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you: one of you will betray me.” They were deeply distressed and they asked him, one after the other, “You do not mean me, do you, Lord?”
He answered, “The one who dips his bread with me will betray me. The Son of Man is going as the Scriptures say he will. But alas for that one who betrays the Son of Man: better for him not to have been born.” Judas, the one who would betray him, also asked, “You do not mean me, Master, do you?” Jesus replied, “You have said it.”
REFLECTION:
Fragmentation may be a bad thing but not all fragmentation are the same. Just take a look at Judas Iscariot. He is deteriorating fast. From a friend to Jesus, he turned into a secret foe betraying his master to those who oppose Him. The memories of those years when he sat at the feet of Jesus listening to His words did not deter him to act against his Master. His mind is blank, his heart empty. He sold for thirty pieces of silver his discipleship.
Contrast this with what happened at the Last Supper. Jesus took a piece of bread, a symbol of Himself and broke it into pieces. He distributed each piece to His disciples present, that they may become one, that future believers may become one, until fragmented humanity may become one in Him. Thus His self-giving and His consent to be broken “into pieces” healed the brokenness of the world. This means that not all fragmentation is bad. If the center is selfless love, then fragmentation becomes a positive force that could bind brokenness and division.
Daily Reflection
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
Readings and Reflections
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