April 1, 2026
Wednesday of Holy Week
Lectionary:
259
Reading
I
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
Psalm 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.
Verse
Before the Gospel
Hail
to you, our King;
you alone are compassionate with our errors.
Or
Hail to you, our King, obedient to the Father;
you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter.
Gospel
One
of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot,
went to the chief priests and said,
“What are you willing to give me
if I hand him over to you?”
They paid him thirty pieces of silver,
and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
the disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Where do you want us to prepare
for you to eat the Passover?”
He said,
“Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,
‘The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near;
in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”‘“
The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered,
and prepared the Passover.
When it was evening,
he reclined at table with the Twelve.
And while they were eating, he said,
“Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
Deeply distressed at this,
they began to say to him one after another,
“Surely it is not I, Lord?”
He said in reply,
“He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me
is the one who will betray me.
The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,
but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.
It would be better for that man if he had never been born.”
Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply,
“Surely it is not I, Rabbi?”
He answered, “You have said so.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040126.cfm
Commentary on Isaiah 50:4-9
Today’s
reading presents the third Song of the Servant of Yahweh. The
fourth and last Song will be read during the liturgy of Good Friday.
This
‘Servant’ passage from Isaiah also speaks very graphically of what Jesus will
go through in his passion. God provides his Servant with the words he needs to
speak, especially for those who need encouragement. And Jesus will speak words
of encouragement to his disciples before his passion. He will speak to the
women who sympathise with him on the way to Calvary.
The
Lord God has given me
a trained tongue,
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Jesus
is the Word of God, communicating God’s love and encouragement. Later, Jesus
will say:
Come
to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble
in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matt 11:28-29)
The
Servant says:
Morning
by morning he wakens,
wakens my ear
to listen as those who are taught.
The Lord God has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious;
I did not turn backward.
This
is a way of describing the total submission of Jesus to his Father:
Although
he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered… (Heb 5:8)
and
[He] emptied
himself, taking the form of a slave… (Phil 2:7)
In
these actions, Jesus’ behavior is a contrast to that of a rebellious Israel. In
the Gospel, he frequently tells his disciples to listen; in other words, to
submit totally to the Way of life to which he is calling them.
The
Servant continues:
…I
was not rebellious;
I did not turn backward.
This
will be described in greater detail in the fourth Song (on Good Friday). The
Servant willingly submits to insults and beatings and will not return in kind.
To do so would be to bring himself down to the level of his attackers. Plucking
the beard was a great insult. He offers his back for a beating, something given
only to criminals. This, of course, will happen during the scourging, and
similarly for the mocking and spitting. It requires great inner strength not to
respond in kind to such provocation. But when it is undergone with dignity, it
is the attacker who seems small.
The
Servant makes no resistance to his attackers. He will not meet violence with
violence. He will not resist when he is beaten, when his beard is plucked, when
he is struck and spat upon. However, it must be made very clear that this is
not weakness, but a sign of great inner strength and peace, and:
The
Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame…
God
comes to help so that he is not “disgraced”—he is untouched by the insults.
This is the sign of the inner security and strength that comes from trusting in
God. Insults and violence cannot change the inner reality of the person. And
ultimately the Lord is on his side. Insults are either true or false. If they
are true, they are not really insults, but simply a statement of fact. If they
are false, they can be ignored. In either case, to respond with violence is to
show weakness and insecurity.
The
Servant meets insults and physical attacks with firmness. He will not be turned
away from the way that the Father is asking him to go. He knows that the
ultimate outcome will not be shame, but vindication and glory because:
It
is the Lord God who helps me…
Towards
the end of his public life, we are told that Jesus:
…set
his face to go to Jerusalem. (Luke 9:51)
Today’s
passage ends with the Servant saying:
Who
will contend with me?
Let us stand in court together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.
It is the Lord God who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
Jesus
is perfectly innocent of all the charges thrown against him. He has no fear of
court proceedings, even when they are corrupt. Final vindication will be his.
We
could reflect today on how we respond to criticisms or statements about us we
regard as unfair or untrue. Are we prone to violence—physical or verbal? And,
even if we do not respond externally, do we allow statements and events to turn
us into cauldrons of anger, hatred, anxiety and tension? The Way of Jesus is
the way to peace.
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Commentary on Matthew 26:14-25
The
stage is being set for the final drama of Jesus’ mission. Judas has gone to the
chief priests to make a deal for handing Jesus over to them—to betray him. The
term, ‘betray’ (or in the Greek, ‘hand over’), is like a refrain all through
the Gospels and reaches a climax here. John the Baptist was handed over. Now,
we see Jesus being handed over—the term ‘betray’ occurs six times in today’s
passage alone. Later, the followers of Jesus will also be handed over, betrayed
into the hands of those who want to put an end to their mission.
Judas
sells his master, betrays him, for 30 pieces of silver. Only Matthew mentions
the actual sum given to Judas. The sum derives from a passage in Zechariah
(11:11-13), where it is the wages paid to the shepherd (Zechariah himself)
rejected by the people. He is then told by God to throw the money into the
Temple treasury as a sign of God’s rejecting those who reject him. Judas, too,
will throw back the money to the priests after realising what he has done.
What
people will do for money! Judas is not alone. What he did is happening every
day. Perhaps I, too, have betrayed and handed over Jesus more than once.
On
the first day of the Feasts of Unleavened Bread, Jesus’ disciples ask him where
he wants to celebrate the Passover. Little do they know the significance of
this Passover for Jesus—and for them.
The
Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover are closely linked, but there is a
distinction between them. The Passover was the commemoration of the Israelites
being liberated from slavery in Egypt, their escape through the Red Sea
(perhaps the Sea of Reeds?), and the beginning of their long trek to the
Promised Land. The feast began at sunset after the Passover lamb had been
sacrificed in the Temple, on the afternoon of the 14th day of the month Nisan.
Associated
with this, on the same evening, was the eating of unleavened bread—the bread
that Jesus would use when he said over it: “This is my Body”. The eating of
this bread continued for a whole week (to Nisan 21) as a reminder of the
sufferings the Israelites underwent, and the hastiness of their departure. It
was a celebration of thanks to God for the past, and of hope for the future.
Jesus
tells the disciples they are to contact a man who will provide all that they
need for a Passover meal.
During
the meal Jesus drops the bombshell:
One
of you is about to betray me [Greek, ‘hand me over’].
It
is revealing that none of them points a finger at someone else. They ask, “Is
it I, Lord?” Each one realises that he is a potential betrayer of Jesus. And,
in fact, in the midst of the crisis, they will all abandon him.
Nor
is it one of his many enemies who will betray Jesus. No, it is one of the
Twelve; it is someone who has dipped his hand into the same dish with Jesus, a
sign of friendship and solidarity.
All
of this has been foretold in the Scriptures, but how sad it is for the person
who has to take this role, even though it is a role he has deliberately chosen.
There is a certain cynicism when Judas asks with an air of injured innocence:
Surely
not I, Rabbi?
Jesus’
brief reply to him is:
You
have said so.
The
whole approaching drama is now set in motion.
Let
us watch it carefully during the coming three days, not just as spectators, but
as participants. We too have so often betrayed Jesus, we too have so often
broken bread with Jesus and perhaps have sold him for money, out of ambition,
out of greed, out of anger, hatred, revenge or even violence for our own
personal gain. We can, like Judas, either abandon him in despair or, like
Peter, come back to him with tears of repentance.
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Wednesday,
April 1, 2026
Season of Lent
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.
Gospel Reading - Matthew 26: 14-25
One of
the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What
are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" They paid him
thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to
hand him over. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples
approached Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat
the Passover?" He said, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,
'The teacher says, my appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate
the Passover with my disciples."'" The disciples then did as Jesus
had ordered and prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he reclined at table
with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, "Amen, I say to you,
one of you will betray me." Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to
him one after another, "Surely it is not I, Lord?" He said in reply, "He
who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The
Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the
Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born."
Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?"
He answered, "You have said so."
Reflection
Yesterday
the Gospel spoke of the betrayal of Judas and of the denial of Peter. Today, it
speaks once again of the betrayal of Judas. In the description of the Passion of
Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, the failure of the disciples is strongly
stressed. Despite having lived three years together with Jesus, not one of them
defends Jesus. Judas betrays Him, Peter denies Him, and the others flee.
Matthew
narrates everything, not to criticize or to condemn, neither to discourage the readers,
but to underline that acceptance and the love of Jesus exceed the defeat and the
failure of the disciples! This way of describing the attitude of Jesus was a
help for the Communities at the time of Matthew.
Because
of the frequent persecutions, many were discouraged and had abandoned the
community and asked themselves: “Will it be possible to return? Will God accept
and forgive us?” Matthew responds by suggesting that we can break the relationship
with Jesus, but Jesus never breaks it with us. His love is greater than our infidelity. This is a very
important message which we get from the Gospel during Holy Week.
•
Matthew 26: 14-16: The Decision of Judas to betray Jesus. Judas
took the decision after Jesus did not accept the criticism of the disciples
concerning the woman who wastes a very expensive perfume only to anoint Jesus (Mt
26: 6-13). He went to the chief priest and asked: “What are you prepared to give
Me if I hand Him over to you?” They agreed on the sum of thirty silver pieces.
Matthew recalls the words of the Prophet Zechariah to describe the price agreed
upon (Zc 11, 12). At the same time, the betrayal of Jesus for thirty silver coins
recalls the sale of Joseph by his brothers, decided by the buyers for twenty coins
(Gn 37: 28). It also is reminiscent of the price of thirty coins to be paid for
the wounding of a slave (Ex 21: 32).
•
Matthew 26: 17-19: The preparation for the Passover. Jesus was coming
from Galilee. He did not have a house in Jerusalem. He spent the night in the Garden
of Olives (cf. Jn 8: 1). In the days of the feast of the Passover the people of
Jerusalem increased three times in number because of the enormous number of
pilgrims who went there from all parts. For Jesus it was not easy to find a big
room to celebrate the Passover together with the pilgrims coming from Galilee. He
ordered His disciples to find a person in whose house He had decided to celebrate
the Passover. The Gospel does not offer any other information and allows the
imagination to complete what is missing in the information. Was this a person
known by Jesus? A relative? A disciple? Throughout the centuries the
imagination of the Apocrypha has tried to complete this information, but with
little credibility.
•
Matthew 26: 20-25: The announcement of the betrayal of Judas. Jesus
knew that He will be betrayed. Although Judas did things secretly. Jesus knew. But
despite that, He wants to act fraternally with the group of friends to which
Judas belongs. When all were together for the last time, Jesus announces who is
the traitor “Someone who has dipped his hand into the dish with Me will betray Me.”
This way of announcing the betrayal renders even clearer the contrast. For the Jews,
the communion around the table, to dip the hand together in the same dish, was the
maximum expression of intimacy and trust. In this way, Matthew suggests that
despite the betrayal made by someone who was a friend, the love of Jesus is greater
than the betrayal!
What
strikes us in the way in which Matthew describes these facts? Between the denial
and the betrayal there is the institution of the Eucharist (Mt 26: 26- 29): the
betrayal of Judas first (Mt 26: 20-25); the denial of Peter and the flight of
the disciples, afterwards (Mt 25: 30-35). Thus, he stressed for us the
incredible love of Jesus, which exceeds the betrayal, the denial, and the flight
of the friends. His love does not depend on what others do for Him.
Personal Questions
•
It seems obvious that Judas will betray Jesus from our reading the
Gospel but put yourself there at the time. Would you have suspected a member of
yourclose group to do this? How would
you interpret the indications Jesus was giving at the time?
•
In Holy Week it is important to reserve some moments to become aware
of the unbelievable gratuity of God’s love for me.
Concluding Prayer
Sing
to God, play music to His name, build a road for the Rider of the Clouds,
rejoice in Yahweh, dance before Him.
Father
of orphans, defender of widows, such is God in His holy dwelling. (Ps 68: 4-5)
