Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
Upon whom I have put my Spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
Not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
A bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
Until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.
Thus says God, the LORD,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spreads out the earth with its crops,
Who gives breath to its people
and spirit to those who walk on it:
I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
To open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
R. (1a) The Lord is my light and my salvation.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
When evildoers come at me
to devour my flesh,
My foes and my enemies
themselves stumble and fall.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart will not fear;
Though war be waged upon me,
even then will I trust.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Hail to you, our King;
you alone are compassionate with our faults.
Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany,
where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served,
while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him.
Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil
made from genuine aromatic nard
and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair;
the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples,
and the one who would betray him, said,
“Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages
and given to the poor?”
He said this not because he cared about the poor
but because he was a thief and held the money bag
and used to steal the contributions.
So Jesus said, “Leave her alone.
Let her keep this for the day of my burial.
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came,
not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus,
whom he had raised from the dead.
And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too,
because many of the Jews were turning away
and believing in Jesus because of him.
Father Kirk's Daily Lenten Reflection
Monday of Holy Week: April 3, 2023
This week the church moves slowly and prayerfully with Jesus to the hill of Calvary to the tragic and bloody and brutal end to Jesus’ earthly life. Judas, we know, played a central role as the one among Jesus’ closest 12 who betrayed him. Judas was the classic example of religious hypocrisy.
Fr. Kevin Estabrook made a poignant note of this in his 2014 homily on this day: “Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve apostles. Yet, never has the liturgical calendar given a date for his feast day; no people in the entire world claim him as their patron. Artists in the early Christian centuries would often deliberately obscure Judas to avoid honoring him with the other eleven apostles. We almost don’t even like to say his name. Yes, each of the apostles was burdened with human weakness, but they eventually came to accept the grace of God and became great evangelizers and martyrs for the faith. But not Judas. Today we hear of Judas’ avarice: in the house of Bethany, he objected when oil was used to anoint the feet of Jesus, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and used to steal from the contributions.”
Judas was a failure and a hypocrite and a traitor and a thief who will be remembered for all eternity as the one trusted confidant of Jesus who sold his soul to the devil and led Jesus to the slaughter.
In these final days of Lent let us be evermore diligent in our Lenten observances of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, acts of charity, and selfless service. May we prayerfully keep in mind these words of the psalmist: “I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted; wait for the Lord."