A Homily – Holy Week, Good Friday (Year A) A Holy Day of Obligation

A Homily – Holy Week, Good Friday (Year A) A Holy Day of Obligation

 

First Reading – Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 30(31):2, 6, 12 – 13, 15 – 17, 25 ©

Second Reading – Hebrews 4:14 – 16, 5:7 – 9 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Philemon 2:8 – 9

The Gospel According to John 18:1 – 19:42 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

The future is not set, and God does not intervene in the affairs of human beings.

Open your heart to the word of God, you will hear it in places you do not expect, from people you have discounted, just as it was with Jesus.

Understand.

The only way we can be healed through the suffering of others is if by witnessing their trials we change what is in our hearts; this is how is is reconciled to the good…there is no other way.

Consider the words of the psalmist and know that God’s refuge is not of this world, the protection God promises is beyond this world…have faith in those promises and the world to come. Trust in God, but do not hope for God to take sides with you in your in your conflicts with your sisters and brothers, here on Earth or in the satisfaction of your ambitions.

God will not intervene; God will not rescue you, and yet the strength of the divine is in you, giving you the ability to persevere in patience, and in love.

Consider what the apostle says, ask yourself these:

Is it true that in Jesus, the Son of God, there is no sin?

Is it true that all things come into being and have there existence in Jesus, who is God’s eternal Word?

Is it true that not one thing exists apart from the divine?

I ask again; is it true that in Jesus there is no sin? Is there sin? Do we understand what it is?

Paul viewed Jesus as a “high priest,” of sorts, not as God, the creator of the Universe. It took hundreds of years for that ideological transformation to take place in the hearts and minds of the believers. Paul understood that in his role as priest, Jesus was seen as connected to his followers in an intimate way, and connecting them to the divine as an intermediary. He understands people, he experiences their pain he relates to them.

All things exist in God, and in God’s Word, not one thing exists apart the divine, even human sin. We confess that God made every one of God’s children and a destiny for each of us in eternity; there is no exception.

In anticipation of that end, God asks that we walk in justice and pursue the good with joy; knowing that whatever we suffer here is temporary; it will pass away, and we are all in it together.

Be mindful of the Church and its vanity.

Know that Jesus was a man like any other; his death was merely an ordinary murder.

If you take up the call and accept the mission of being a Christian, do not preach anything else.

When you read the Gospel for today be mindful of the mythological nature of the narrative.

The events surrounding the passion did not happen the way John describes them, if they even happened at all, and John’s narrative if far different from those of the other Gospel writers. It is imbued with a theological meaning that did not exist in the early Church.

Without getting into the particulars of what specific events may or may not have taken place, we should be mindful to address the theological claims that John makes, insofar as they do or do not elucidate the way.

Listen!

Elucidation of the way is the purpose of the Gospel.

God made human beings and the whole of creation free. Jesus was free; the future he faced was not predetermined. He did not know for certain what would happen to him when he went into the Garden on the night he was arrested, though he went knowing that there would be danger.

There is not a single action that Jesus took the sake of fulfilling prophecy, and it is a misinterpretation of scripture to suggest that when Jesus gave himself up so that others would be spared he did so to fulfill the maxim that the Son of Man would not lose a single one of his followers.

Such interpolations mark a deviation from the way.

The claim that Jesus would not lose a single one of his people is an eschatological claim having to do with the “time beyond time” when God’s purpose in creation has been fulfilled. It had nothing to do with the dilemma he faced at particular moment.

First Reading – Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12 ©

The servant of the Lord, an expiatory Sacrifice

See, my servant will prosper, he shall be lifted up, exalted, rise to great heights.

As the crowds were appalled on seeing him – so disfigured did he look that he seemed no longer human – so will the crowds be astonished at him, and kings stand speechless before him; for they shall see something never told and witness something never heard before:

‘Who could believe what we have heard, and to whom has the power of the Lord been revealed?’

Like a sapling he grew up in front of us, like a root in arid ground.

Without beauty, without majesty we saw him, no looks to attract our eyes; a thing despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering, a man to make people screen their faces; he was despised and we took no account of him.

And yet ours were the sufferings he bore, ours the sorrows he carried.

But we, we thought of him as someone punished, struck by God, and brought low.

Yet he was pierced through for our faults, crushed for our sins.

On him lies a punishment that brings us peace, and through his wounds we are healed.

We had all gone astray like sheep, each taking his own way, and the Lord burdened him with the sins of all of us.

Harshly dealt with, he bore it humbly, he never opened his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter-house, like a sheep that is dumb before its shearers never opening its mouth.

By force and by law he was taken; would anyone plead his cause?

Yes, he was torn away from the land of the living; for our faults struck down in death.

They gave him a grave with the wicked, a tomb with the rich, though he had done no wrong

and there had been no perjury in his mouth.

The Lord has been pleased to crush him with suffering.

If he offers his life in atonement, he shall see his heirs, he shall have a long life and through him what the Lord wishes will be done.

His soul’s anguish over he shall see the light and be content.

By his sufferings shall my servant justify many, taking their faults on himself.

Hence I will grant whole hordes for his tribute, he shall divide the spoil with the mighty, for surrendering himself to death and letting himself be taken for a sinner, while he was bearing the faults of many and praying all the time for sinners.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 30(31):2, 6, 12 – 13, 15 – 17, 25 ©

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

In you, O Lord, I take refuge.

  Let me never be put to shame.

In your justice, set me free,

Into your hands I commend my spirit.

  It is you who will redeem me, Lord.

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

In the face of all my foes

  I am a reproach,

an object of scorn to my neighbours

  and of fear to my friends.

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

Those who see me in the street

  run far away from me.

I am like a dead man, forgotten in men’s hearts,

  like a thing thrown away.

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

But as for me, I trust in you, Lord;

  I say: ‘You are my God.

My life is in your hands, deliver me

  from the hands of those who hate me.

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

Let your face shine on your servant.

  Save me in your love.’

Be strong, let your heart take courage,

  all who hope in the Lord.

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

 

Second Reading – Hebrews 4:14 – 16, 5:7 – 9 ©

The Lord Burdened Him with the Sins of All of Us

Since in Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme high priest who has gone through to the highest heaven, we must never let go of the faith that we have professed. For it is not as if we had a high priest who was incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us; but we have one who has been tempted in every way that we are, though he is without sin. Let us be confident, then, in approaching the throne of grace, that we shall have mercy from him and find grace when we are in need of help.

During his life on earth, he offered up prayer and entreaty, aloud and in silent tears, to the one who had the power to save him out of death, and he submitted so humbly that his prayer was heard. Although he was Son, he learnt to obey through suffering; but having been made perfect, he became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation.

 

Gospel Acclamation Philemon 2:8 – 9

Glory and praise to you, O Christ!

Christ was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross.

But God raised him high and gave him the name which is above all names.

Glory and praise to you, O Christ!

 

The Gospel According to John 18:1 – 19:42 ©

The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Key: N. Narrator. ✠ Jesus. O. Other single speaker. C. Crowd, or more than one speaker.

N. Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kedron valley. There was a garden there, and he went into it with his disciples. Judas the traitor knew the place well, since Jesus had often met his disciples there, and he brought the cohort to this place together with a detachment of guards sent by the chief priests and the Pharisees, all with lanterns and torches and weapons. Knowing everything that was going to happen to him, Jesus then came forward and said,

✠ Who are you looking for?

N. They answered,

C. Jesus the Nazarene.

N. He said,

✠ I am he.

N. Now Judas the traitor was standing among them. When Jesus said, ‘I am he’, they moved back and fell to the ground. He asked them a second time,

✠ Who are you looking for?

N. They said,

C. Jesus the Nazarene.

N. Jesus replied,

✠ I have told you that I am he. If I am the one you are looking for, let these others go.

N. This was to fulfil the words he had spoken, ‘Not one of those you gave me have I lost.’

Simon Peter, who carried a sword, drew it and wounded the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. Jesus said to Peter,

✠ Put your sword back in its scabbard; am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?

N. The cohort and its captain and the Jewish guards seized Jesus and bound him. They took him first to Annas, because Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had suggested to the Jews, ‘It is better for one man to die for the people.’

Simon Peter, with another disciple, followed Jesus. This disciple, who was known to the high priest, went with Jesus into the high priest’s palace, but Peter stayed outside the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who was keeping the door and brought Peter in. The maid on duty at the door said to Peter,

O. Aren’t you another of that man’s disciples?

N. He answered,

O. I am not.

N. Now it was cold, and the servants and guards had lit a charcoal fire and were standing there warming themselves; so Peter stood there too, warming himself with the others.

The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered,

✠ I have spoken openly for all the world to hear; I have always taught in the synagogue and in the Temple where all the Jews meet together: I have said nothing in secret. But why ask me? Ask my hearers what I taught: they know what I said.

N. At these words, one of the guards standing by gave Jesus a slap in the face, saying,

O. Is that the way to answer the high priest?

N. Jesus replied,

✠ If there is something wrong in what I said, point it out; but if there is no offence in it, why do you strike me?

N. Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.

As Simon Peter stood there warming himself, someone said to him,

O. Aren’t you another of his disciples?

N. He denied it, saying,

O. I am not.

N. One of the high priest’s servants, a relation of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said,

O. Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?

N. Again Peter denied it; and at once a cock crew.

They then led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the Praetorium. It was now morning. They did not go into the Praetorium themselves or they would be defiled and unable to eat the passover. So Pilate came outside to them and said,

O. What charge do you bring against this man?

N. They replied,

C. If he were not a criminal, we should not be handing him over to you.

N. Pilate said,

O. Take him yourselves, and try him by your own Law.

N. The Jews answered,

C. We are not allowed to put a man to death.

N. This was to fulfil the words Jesus had spoken indicating the way he was going to die.

So Pilate went back into the Praetorium and called Jesus to him, and asked,

O. Are you the king of the Jews?

N. Jesus replied,

✠ Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others spoken to you about me?

N. Pilate answered,

O. Am I a Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to me: what have you done?

N. Jesus replied,

✠ Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this kind.

N. Pilate said,

O. So you are a king, then?

N. Jesus answered,

✠ It is you who say it. Yes, I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.

N. Pilate said,

O. Truth? What is that?

N. and with that he went out again to the Jews and said,

O. I find no case against him. But according to a custom of yours I should release one prisoner at the Passover; would you like me, then, to release the king of the Jews?

N. At this they shouted:

C. Not this man, but Barabbas.

N. Barabbas was a brigand.

Pilate then had Jesus taken away and scourged; and after this, the soldiers twisted some thorns into a crown and put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him and saying,

C. Hail, king of the Jews!

N. and they slapped him in the face.

Pilate came outside again and said to them,

O. Look, I am going to bring him out to you to let you see that I find no case.

N. Jesus then came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said,

O. Here is the man.

N. When they saw him the chief priests and the guards shouted,

C. Crucify him! Crucify him!

N. Pilate said,

O. Take him yourselves and crucify him: I can find no case against him.

N. The Jews replied,

C. We have a Law, and according to that Law he ought to die, because he has claimed to be the Son of God.

N. When Pilate heard them say this his fears increased. Re-entering the Praetorium, he said to Jesus

O. Where do you come from?

N. But Jesus made no answer. Pilate then said to him,

O. Are you refusing to speak to me? Surely you know I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you?

N. Jesus replied,

✠ You would have no power over me if it had not been given you from above; that is why the one who handed me over to you has the greater guilt.

N. From that moment Pilate was anxious to set him free, but the Jews shouted,

C. If you set him free you are no friend of Caesar’s; anyone who makes himself king is defying Caesar.

N. Hearing these words, Pilate had Jesus brought out, and seated himself on the chair of judgement at a place called the Pavement, in Hebrew Gabbatha. It was Passover Preparation Day, about the sixth hour. Pilate said to the Jews,

O. Here is your king.

N. They said,

C. Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!

N. Pilate said,

O. Do you want me to crucify your king?

N. The chief priests answered,

C. We have no king except Caesar.

N. So in the end Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

They then took charge of Jesus, and carrying his own cross he went out of the city to the place of the skull or, as it was called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified him with two others, one on either side with Jesus in the middle. Pilate wrote out a notice and had it fixed to the cross; it ran: ‘Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews.’ This notice was read by many of the Jews, because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city, and the writing was in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. So the Jewish chief priests said to Pilate,

C. You should not write ‘King of the Jews,’ but ‘This man said: “I am King of the Jews.”’

N. Pilate answered,

O. What I have written, I have written.

N. When the soldiers had finished crucifying Jesus they took his clothing and divided it into four shares, one for each soldier. His undergarment was seamless, woven in one piece from neck to hem; so they said to one another,

C. Instead of tearing it, let’s throw dice to decide who is to have it.

N. In this way the words of scripture were fulfilled:

They shared out my clothing among them.

They cast lots for my clothes.

This is exactly what the soldiers did.

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother,

✠ Woman, this is your son.

N. Then to the disciple he said,

✠ This is your mother.

N. And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home.

After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed, and to fulfil the scripture perfectly he said:

✠ I am thirsty.

N. A jar full of vinegar stood there, so putting a sponge soaked in the vinegar on a hyssop stick they held it up to his mouth. After Jesus had taken the vinegar he said,

✠ It is accomplished;

N. and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.

Here all kneel and pause for a short time.

It was Preparation Day, and to prevent the bodies remaining on the cross during the sabbath – since that sabbath was a day of special solemnity – the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then of the other. When they came to Jesus, they found he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water. This is the evidence of one who saw it – trustworthy evidence, and he knows he speaks the truth – and he gives it so that you may believe as well. Because all this happened to fulfil the words of scripture:

Not one bone of his will be broken; and again, in another place scripture says:

They will look on the one whom they have pierced.

After this, Joseph of Arimathaea, who was a disciple of Jesus – though a secret one because he was afraid of the Jews – asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave permission, so they came and took it away. Nicodemus came as well – the same one who had first come to Jesus at night-time – and he brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, following the Jewish burial custom. At the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in this garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been buried. Since it was the Jewish Day of Preparation and the tomb was near at hand, they laid Jesus there.

 

Holy Week, Good Friday (Year A) A Holy Day of Obligation

Observation - April 7th, 2023, Friday

April 7^th, 2023, Friday

Observation

 

a pale gold line

            the horizon

 

a blue gray sky

soft with clouds

ever brightening

 

the bare maple

warming

 

the spring sun

            at morning

A Homily – Holy Week, Maundy Thursday (Year A) A Holy Day of Obligation

A Homily – Holy Week, Maundy Thursday (Year A) A Holy Day of Obligation

 

First Reading – Isaiah 61:1 – 3, 6, 8 – 9 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 88(89):21 – 22, 25, 27 ©

Second Reading – Apocalypse 1:5 – 8 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Isaiah 61:1 (Luke 4:18)

The Gospel According to Luke 4:16 – 21 ©

 

First Reading – Exodus 12:1 – 8, 11 – 14 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 115(116):12 – 13, 15 – 18 ©

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 11:23 – 26 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 13:34

The Gospel According to John 13:1-15 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

Do not make the mistake of celebrating the martyrdom of Jesus and using it as a vehicle to prop-up Christian vanity and pride.

Understand.

Jesus was not a king or a priest, and we are not meant to be priests ourselves; Jesus was a prophet who asked us to be the servants of one another.

Know this!

 God does not favor one nation above any other, or one person over their sister and brother, one family, one tribe or one nation.

 That is not the way.

 The way is found in love, equality and equanimity. The way is found in justice tempered by mercy and humility. Jesus followed the way, from the beginning of his ministry to tits end on the cross on Calvary.

 Be mindful.

 The sacred texts cannot be a repository for our nationalistic and jingoistic instincts. God is a God of love and mercy, not a God of palace intrigues, God is not the god of war and battle. Jesus is not a king or a ruler, he is not a priest but a prophet. He came to us in friendship, as a comforter and healer. He came to show us the way.

 Be mindful of the intentional way that Jesus begins his ministry, and the way he connects it to the work of the prophet Isaiah.

 The way is meant to bring relief to those who suffer, give sight to the blind and freedom to those in captivity. This is true whether their blindness is physical or spiritual, whether their bondage is of this world or the next.

 The way is found in love.

 Consider the cult of animal sacrifice there is no merit in it, there never was. The sacrificial medium is a vehicle of corruption and a tool of oppression for the masses, it always has been. God is not a sorcerer, and there is sorcery prescribed in these sacrificial rites. Theses depictions of God are false, monstrous and immoral.

 Be mindful.

 It is unjust to punish the people for the crimes of its leaders. Justice does not divide human beings into the blessed and damned, worthy and unworthy, the ugly and beautiful. Justice is blind.

 Listen!

 Trust in God not in men, for all men are liars and all women too, that means you…accept it.

 Take no oaths, take no vows, allow your resolve to stand in their place and be true to it, all the while knowing that you will fail at many things.

 Know this!

 The promises God makes for our wellbeing and salvation are not of this world, and the expectation for justice in this world must be rooted in human relationships.

 Trust God, be merciful, live justly, walk humbly these are the hallmarks of the faith.

 Remember this!

 Throughout your days, until their end, be generous and share your table; serve those who have less than you, share your cup and your bread…this is the way.

 Forget the apocryphal imagery and mythological symbolism of the “Son of Man,” the cryptic words about the glory of God; in whom and how it appears. Forget those things because they are irrelevant.

 Be mindful.

 To follow Jesus is to lead with love, therefore love as Jesus loved. Be caring, be merciful, be just. Be prepared to risk everything for the sake of love, even your life. In this way you will be true to Jesus, and everyone will it.

 There is no other way.

 Faith (which is the trust we place in God); faith is not about words, it is about actions, it is about love. Faith is not ideology, it is not partisan, it is not dogmatic, it is not doctrinaire. Faith is not a legally binding agreement. Faith is not concerned with creeds, or secrets, or magic words. Faith is trust and love is its natural expression.

 Read the Gospel for today carefully, read it as the authors intended it to be read, as a record of the love Jesus bore toward the world. Keep that love in front of you, always, and do this:

 Follow Jesus and forgive Judas, he is one of those about whom Jesus said to God: “Forgive them, they know not what they do.”

 Do as Jesus did, pardon him. Forgive Judas as you are meant to, forgive him as you are meant to forgive all who have done you harm. Forgive him when you seek forgiveness for the hurts you have caused others.

 This is the way, and there is no other.

 

First Reading – Isaiah 61:1 – 3, 6, 8 – 9 ©

The Lord Has Anointed Me

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for the Lord has anointed me.

He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to bind up hearts that are broken; to proclaim liberty to captives, freedom to those in prison; to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord, a day of vengeance for our God, to comfort all those who mourn and to give them for ashes a garland; for mourning robe the oil of gladness, for despondency, praise.

But you, you will be named ‘priests of the Lord’, they will call you ‘ministers of our God.’

I reward them faithfully and make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their race will be famous throughout the nations, their descendants throughout the peoples.

All who see them will admit that they are a race whom the Lord has blessed.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 88(89):21 – 22, 25, 27 ©

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

I have found David my servant

  and with my holy oil anointed him.

My hand shall always be with him

  and my arm shall make him strong.

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

My truth and my love shall be with him;

  by my name his might shall be exalted.

He will say to me: ‘You are my father,

  my God, the rock who saves me.’

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

 

Second Reading – Apocalypse 1:5 – 8 ©

Jesus Christ Has Made Us a Line of Kings and Priests

Grace and peace to you from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the First-Born from the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth. He loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood, and made us a line of kings, priests to serve his God and Father; to him, then, be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen. It is he who is coming on the clouds; everyone will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the races of the earth will mourn over him. This is the truth. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’ says the Lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Isaiah 61:1 (Luke 4:18)

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me.

He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor.

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

 

Gospel Luke 4:16 – 21 ©

The Spirit of the Lord Has Been Given to Me, for He Has Anointed Me

Jesus came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.

He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.

He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’

 

First Reading – Exodus 12:1 – 8, 11 – 14 ©

The Passover is a Day of Festival for All Generations, for Ever

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:

  ‘This month is to be the first of all the others for you, the first month of your year. Speak to the whole community of Israel and say, “On the tenth day of this month each man must take an animal from the flock, one for each family: one animal for each household. If the household is too small to eat the animal, a man must join with his neighbour, the nearest to his house, as the number of persons requires. You must take into account what each can eat in deciding the number for the animal. It must be an animal without blemish, a male one year old; you may take it from either sheep or goats. You must keep it till the fourteenth day of the month when the whole assembly of the community of Israel shall slaughter it between the two evenings. Some of the blood must then be taken and put on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where it is eaten. That night, the flesh is to be eaten, roasted over the fire; it must be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. You shall eat it like this: with a girdle round your waist, sandals on your feet, a staff in your hand. You shall eat it hastily: it is a passover in honour of the Lord. That night, I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, man and beast alike, and I shall deal out punishment to all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord! The blood shall serve to mark the houses that you live in. When I see the blood I will pass over you and you shall escape the destroying plague when I strike the land of Egypt. This day is to be a day of remembrance for you, and you must celebrate it as a feast in the Lord’s honour. For all generations you are to declare it a day of festival, for ever.”’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 115(116):12 – 13, 15 – 18 ©

The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ.

How can I repay the Lord

  for his goodness to me?

The cup of salvation I will raise;

  I will call on the Lord’s name.

The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ.

O precious in the eyes of the Lord

  is the death of his faithful.

Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;

  you have loosened my bonds.

The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ.

A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;

  I will call on the Lord’s name.

My vows to the Lord I will fulfil

  before all his people.

The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ.

 

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 11:23 – 26 ©

Every Time You Eat this Bread and Drink this Cup, You Are Proclaiming the Death of the Lord

This is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 13:34

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

I give you a new commandment: love one another just as I have loved you, says the Lord.

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

 

The Gospel According to John 13:1 – 15 ©

Now He Showed How Perfect His Love Was

It was before the festival of the Passover, and Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to pass from this world to the Father. He had always loved those who were his in the world, but now he showed how perfect his love was.

They were at supper, and the devil had already put it into the mind of Judas Iscariot son of Simon, to betray him. Jesus knew that the Father had put everything into his hands, and that he had come from God and was returning to God, and he got up from table, removed his outer garment and, taking a towel, wrapped it round his waist; he then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘At the moment you do not know what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ ‘Never!’ said Peter ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus replied, ‘If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with me.’ ‘Then, Lord,’ said Simon Peter ‘not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!’ Jesus said, ‘No one who has taken a bath needs washing, he is clean all over. You too are clean, though not all of you are.’ He knew who was going to betray him, that was why he said, ‘though not all of you are.’

When he had washed their feet and put on his clothes again he went back to the table. ‘Do you understand’ he said ‘what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.’

 

Holy Week, Maundy Thursday (Year A) A Holly Day of Obligation