April 7, 2004 - Wednesday of Holy Week

"My Time Is Near"

Readings:
Is 50:4-9; Ps 69:8-10, 21-22, 31 and 33-34; Mt 26:14-25

Introduction

Today we hear the bad news of the betrayal of Judas, together with the sad yet joyous good news of Jesus' Passover meal with his disciples. "My time is near. I will keep the Passover with my disciples." Jesus will eat the Passover meal surrounded by those who have followed him. The traitor leaves them to betray Jesus. But Jesus, the Servant of God and people, faces his death with the fullest trust in God. Jesus will celebrate this Passover in a new way making it the eucharist. This is like a testament he leaves his disciples. It is the deepest way he is going to stay among his disciples then and now.

Opening Prayer

God our Father,
when the hour of your Son Jesus had come
to accept suffering and death
out of love of you
and his saving love for us,
he did not refuse that suffering and deep pain.
In the hour of trial
that we may have to pass through,
do not let us become rebellious
but keep us trusting in you,
for you save us
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Scripture Readings

First Reading: Is 50:4-9a

The Lord God has given me
a well-trained tongue,
That I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.
Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear;
And I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
My face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.

The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near who upholds my right;
if anyone wishes to oppose me,
let us appear together.
Who disputes my right?
Let him confront me.
See, the Lord GOD is my help;
who will prove me wrong?

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 69:8-10, 21-22, 31 and 33-34

R (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.

For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother's sons,
because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
R Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak,
I looked for sympathy, but there was none;
for consolers, not one could I find.
Rather they put gall in my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
R Lord, in your great love, answer me.

I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving:
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not."
R Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Gospel Reading: Mt 26:14-25

One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went off 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 him over to them.

On the first day of the Festival of the 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 asked him in turn, "You do not mean me, do you, Lord?"

He answered, "He who will betray me is one of those who dips his bread in the dish with 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, who was betraying him, also asked, "You do not mean me, Master, do you?" Jesus replied, "You have said it."

Commentary

WHEN Jesus said, "One of you will betray me," they were deeply distressed and asked him in turn, "You don't mean me, do you, Lord?" In other words, they conceived the possibility. Everyone is capable of the worst. It has been said that one of the great tragedies of war is that we continue to brand the other side as "the enemy", even long after the war is over. They remain the "bad" people, we the "good". That's why we fight another war and another: we never learn that we are all good and bad. Humanity reaches out to embrace the other because the other is a lost part of oneself. But we learn a habit of dualism early in life: teacher's pet requires that there be a bad boy in the class. The fact that Judas is present to us nearly every day of Holy Week means that we are to try his shoes for size. We are to step into the shoes of each person in this great drama, "the greatest story ever told."

Fr. Torres in 1998 made the perceptive remark that "Judas sold himself" for thirty pieces of silver. I found another writer of like mind:

"Still as of old. Men by themselves are priced-
For thirty pieces Judas sold Himself, not Christ."
(H.H. Cholmondeley)

General Intercessions

Let us join our prayers to those of the Lord Jesus, as we say: Lord, hear your people.

- For all those whose love has been betrayed or rejected, we pray:

- For the people who are facing death, that they may trustingly put themselves into the Lord's hands, we pray:

- For all who suffer and face difficult decisions, that God may be their strength and inspiration, we pray:

- For all Christians, that they may seek the presence of the Lord in the eucharist, we pray:
Lord, stay with us. We love you, now and for ever.

Prayer over the Gifts

Praise be to you, eternal God,
for you invite us to the table of your Son.
Let us, Jesus' disciples today,
eat his bread of love and strength
and drink his wine of gladness,
that our trust in you may never fade
and that we love one another
in good days and in times of pain.
We ask you through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Our Saving God,
a new world could be born
when Jesus laid down his life for us
and left us the sign that you have made with us
a new and everlasting covenant.
Thank you for letting us celebrate
in memory of him
that sacrifice which brought us life
and unites us in him.
All thanks and praise to you
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Blessing

It is good to be with the Lord this Holy Week. It gives us the opportunity to reflect on the immense love with which God loves us. How do we answer his total love? How much do we echo and mirror it to the people around us? Especially you, parents, how much do you make your children feel God's love in you? May almighty God bless you all, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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