Life without the Eucharist: Day 22
He was twenty-two days dying & not yet dead.
'Tis the Wednesday of Holy Week: Holy Week-link & Wikipedia-link Holy Week.
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Wednesday of Holy Week
The Book of Isaiah, chapter fifty, verses four thru nine(a);
Psalm Sixty-nine (R/. fourteen[c]), verses eight, nine & ten; twenty-one & twenty-two; & thirty-one, thirty-three, & thirty-four;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter twenty-six, verses fourteen thru twenty-five.
Commentary: Today's "Lenten Gospel Reflection" graphic from Word on Fire will not upload. Yesterday's "Lenten Gospel Reflection" graphic will upload. Other image files will upload, but not today's "Lenten Gospel Reflection" graphic. I've deleted & downloaded anew the file. I've closed & restarted my web browser. Nothing works.
Below is the "Lenten Gospel Reflection" graphic from the Wednesday of Holy Week 2019.
Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel the Lord recognizes Judas as his betrayer. And after this he performs his greatest wonder.Video reflection by Jem Sullivan, Ph.D. (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.
In the course of the supper, Jesus identifies himself so radically with the Passover bread and wine that they become his Body and his Blood. Like broken bread, the Lord says, his body will be given away in love; and like spilled wine, his blood will be poured out on behalf of many.
How does this terrible gathering come to a close? They sing! Matthew tells us, "Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." Can you imagine a condemned criminal blithely singing on the eve of his execution? Wouldn’t there be something odd, even macabre, about such a display?
But Jesus knows—and his Church knows with him—that this joyful outburst, precisely at that awful time, is altogether appropriate. This is not to deny for a moment the terror of that night or the seriousness of what will follow the next day; but it is to acknowledge that an act of total love is the passage to fullness of life.
Reflect: Songs of thanksgiving always concluded the Passover meal. "Eucharist" means thanksgiving. How are you thankful for the events of today’s Gospel?
"Easter of Hope" Reflection (Array of Hope):
In Today’s Gospel, Jesus is foretelling Judas’ betrayal. It was during this feast of Passover that Judas sells Jesus for the price of a slave. Thirty pieces of silver was the selling price for a human slave in Jesus’ time. Slavery was not a practice engaged by the Israelites, as it was offensive to enslave anyone after they, themselves, had suffered bondage. However, the Romans regularly bought and traded slaves from countries they had conquered. The chief priests engaged in this barbaric Roman practice by “procuring” Jesus for the price of a human slave. This is indicative of how much they had been influenced by the evil within their culture. Rather than remaining untainted by the sin of the Romans, small compromises had paved the way to this moment in which the Son of God, the Messiah would be bought as a slave by the chief priest, sold by his own disciple.Video reflection by Doctor John Bergsma (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Reflection.
In what ways do we rationalize sin or make compromises? In what ways can we turn back to Jesus and be more faithful? It is very easy to give into small compromises in our own lives, especially when it comes to the practice of our faith. We can rationalize our sins, and excuse such behaviors by saying “Well, I deserved a break”, or “It’s no big deal”, or “I don’t want to stand out.” We may never end up engaging in the kind of betrayal that Judas and the chief priest did, but our slowly descending compromises can lead us to make the ultimate compromise and sell Jesus for pleasure, greed, or an “easier life.”
Today’s Tip: Spend some time with Our Lord through prayer. Take out your journal and write down all the ways you may have settled or rationalized sin for convenience. Reflect on what you have written down and lay these moments at the feet of Christ. Then, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you as you write down ways you can rise above and combat these temptations.
Scripture Study—Exodus 90: Day 87
The Book of Numbers, chapter one, verses one thru four, seventeen, eighteen, & nineteen;
The Book of Numbers, chapter ten, verses eleven & twelve;
The Book of Numbers, chapter eleven, verses four, five, & six.
Commentary: The First Census of Israel (Numbers, 1:1-4, 17-19), Departure from Sinai (10:11-12), & Complaining in the Desert (11:4-6).
Scripture Study—The 3:16 Project
The Book of Malachi, chapter three, verse sixteen.
Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another; the LORD heeded & heard them, & a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who feared the LORD & thought on His Name.†
Otherwise, 8 April would be the commemoration of Saint Aedesius of Alexandria, Martyr (died 306), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperors Galerius & Constantius, a victim of the Great Persecution (303-313): Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Persecutions-link & Wikipedia-link Great Persecution.
Commentary: Brother of the fellow martyr St. Aphian of Caesarea [2 April].
'Twould also be the commemoration of Blessed Clement of Osimo, Priest, O.S.A. (1235-1291), prior general of the Augustinians (1284-1291, O.S.A.), formally the Order of Saint Augustine: Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link; Order-link O.S.A. & Wikipedia-link O.S.A.
'Twould also be the commemoration of Saint Julie Billiart, Virgin, S.N.D.deN. (1751-1816), foundress of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (1804, S.N.D.deN.): Saint-link ūna, Saint-link duæ, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link S.N.D.deN.
Commentary: Wayback Machine '18.
'Twould also be the commemoration of Blessed August Czartoryski, Priest, S.D.B. (1858-1893): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Twould also be the commemoration of Blessed Domingo of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Priest, O.SS.T. (1901-1927, A.K.A. Domingo Iturrate Zubero): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.
Papal Quote o' the Day
"Christians must share in the task of building up the city, creating new modes of neighborliness & relationship. They must also perceive an original application of social justice & undertake responsibility for this collective future."Saint Quote o' the Day
—Pope St. Paul VI (1897-1978, r. 1963-1978; feast: 29 May)
"If we only knew what a treasure we possess in hidden sufferings, we would gladly accept them as the greatest benefits."Archbishop Sheen Quote o' the Day
—St. Vincent de Paul (1581-1660, feast: 27 September)
"One of life's great scandals is pain, not only in ourselves, but in others. Pain will always be a trouble for the human mind as well as for the human body. How did our Lord look upon pain? When He went into the garden of Gethsemane on Holy Thursday night, there was an alternative presented to Him: the alternative of the sword & the cup. Our Blessed Lord had before Him, as it were, the cup of all the world's sin, which He would drink to its dregs in order that no other redeemer would be needed. As He abandoned Himself to His Father's will, coming down on that moonlit night was a band of about two hundred, led by Judas. Peter took out a sword to defend Jesus. And our Lord said to Peter, 'Put the sword back again into its scabbard. They who take the sword will perish by the sword. Shall I not drink the cup My Father gave?' My Father? Not Pilate, not Herod, not you & me, not the people? Is this the cup the loving Father gives? That's precisely the point. All pains, all trials of life, pass through God's hands first before they ever come to us. Before Satan could strike Job, God reviewed the punishments that Satan would visit upon Job & said, 'You may touch everything except his soul.' And so now our Blessed Lord is saying, 'The pains that we have are seen & known by the Father.' That was the way He looked on pain."Chesterton Quote o' the Day
—Ven. Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
"The act of belief, like every creative act known to man, like the act of the sculptor is cutting away marble, is an act of sacrifice; it must, in any case, sacrifice its own opposite."
—G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
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