Tag: Wednesday of Holy Week

Flint

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Cross, Discipleship, Faith, Jesus, spirituality, sufferingLeave a comment

Wednesday of Holy Week
March 27, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032724.cfm

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?

Isaiah 50: 7-8

Have you had moments in your life when you’ve said to yourself, “This is it. Like it or not, face the music.”?

Some of these times are unhappy, even scary. Some of them are just overwhelming. But they are times when we realize we have no choice but to go forward – that the time has come for whatever the life-changing reality is before us.

Jesus is at such a moment. All the energies of his life have now converged to this confrontational moment where he fully discovers his Oneness with the Father and Holy Spirit.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We examine our own lives, and the shared life we live in the global community. How might the pattern of Jesus’s life, particularly in these critical moments, teach us the way to holiness and wholeness?

Poetry: from Philippians 2

I have always found this passage from Philippians to speak so much more than the printed words which carry it.

Let each of you look not only to your own interests, 
but also to the interests of others. 
Have this mind among yourselves, 
which was in Christ Jesus, who, 
though he was in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God 
something thing to be grasped at,  
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant,
being born in human likeness. 
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even death on a cross. 
Therefore God has highly exalted him 
and bestowed on him the name 
which is above every other name, 
so that at Jesus' Name, every knee should bend, 
in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 
and every tongue proclaim
to the glory of God the Father,
that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Music: Philippians Canticle – John Michael Talbot

Spy Wednesday

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Discipleship, dying, Faith, Gospel, Jesus, LentLeave a comment

Wednesday of Holy Week

April 8, 2020

Click here for readings

holy wednesdayJPG

Today, in Mercy, the betrayal of Jesus continues, as does his mounting courage to endure its consequences.

In our first reading, the experience of the prophet Isaiah foreshadows that of Jesus. We can hear Jesus praying in Isaiah’s words:

We hear Christ’s transcendent openness to the Father’s accompaniment:

Morning after morning
God opens my ear that I may hear;
And I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.

We hear Christ’s courage to face what life unfolds before him:

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.

We hear Christ’s utter commitment, despite suffering, to the Father’s Presence:

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.

As we pray with Jesus today, may we:

  • hear God’s purpose in our lives.
  • see grace unfold in all our circumstances
  • set our hearts, like flint, upon faith and trust in God

passover

As our Jewish sisters and brothers begin the Passover celebration, their rich faith heritage inspires always to find God in the journey, no matter where it leads us.

In the Gospel’s Passover moment, Jesus walks toward the painful experience of Gethsemane. He invites us to come and receive the reassuring blessing of his Father even as the night shadows fall.

Music: I Come to the Garden Alone – Sean Clive 

I come to the garden alone
while the dew is still on the roses,
And the voice I hear falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses

And He walks with me and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am his own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known

He speaks, and the sound of his voice is so sweet
The birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He give to me
Within my heart is to ringing.

And He walks with me and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am his own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known

I stay in the garden with Him,
Though the night around me is falling.
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.

And He walk with me and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

Fearful Tuesday

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Discipleship, Faith, Gospel, Jesus, Love, Prayer4 Comments

Tuesday of Holy Week

April 6, 2020

Click here for readings

Fearful Tuesday

Today, in Mercy, our Gospel tells the sad story of Jesus’s betrayal by his closest friends.

Pope Francis, in his Palm Sunday homily, reflected on the depth of these betrayals:

Jesus suffered betrayal by the disciple who sold him and by the disciple who denied him.  He was betrayed by the people who sang hosanna to him and then shouted: “Crucify him!” He was betrayed by the religious institution that unjustly condemned him and by the political institution that washed its hands of him.  

We can think of all the small or great betrayals that we have suffered in life.  It is terrible to discover that a firmly placed trust has been betrayed.  From deep within our heart a disappointment surges up that can even make life seem meaningless.  This happens because we were born to be loved and to love, and the most painful thing is to be betrayed by someone who promised to be loyal and close to us.  We cannot even imagine how painful it was for God who is love.

thorns

As we walk beside Jesus on this Fearful Tuesday, let us confide our hurts, current or remembered, asking to be gracefully transformed by them. Let us listen to Jesus’s pain and heart-break, asking to be a source of comfort and love to Him.

With Jesus, may we carry in our prayer all those throughout the world suffering abandonment, fear, loss, or betrayal at this painful time.

Music: I Will Carry You – Sean Clive
You may hear this song in many ways. Perhaps Jesus comforts you with it. Or you might comfort Jesus in his escalating suffering. Or together, Jesus and you may sing it over a suffering world.
(Lyrics below)

I will carry you when you are weak.
I will carry you when you can’t speak.
I will carry you when you can’t pray.
I will carry you each night and day.

I will carry you when times are hard.
I will carry you both near & far.
I’ll be there with you whenever you fall.
I will carry you through it all.

My arms are wider than the sky,
softer than a little child,
stronger than the raging,
calming like a gentle breeze.
Trust in me to hold on tight because

I will carry you when you can’t stand.
I’ll be there for you to hold your hand.
And I will show you that you’re never alone.
I will carry you and bring you back home.

Not pain, not fear, not death, no nothing at all
can separate you from my love.
My arms and hands will hold you close.
Just reach out and take them in your own.
Trust in me to hold on tight.
I will carry you.