These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
In the days when Christ was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him . . . So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace. (Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040723.cfm
Standing before the mystery of the Cross only love remains.
I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. (1 Cor 11:23-26
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040623-Supper.cfm
The oldest account of the institution of the Eucharist is this passage from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. The Eucharist comes not just from the Last Supper that Jesus had with his disciples but from all the meals that Jesus shared with his disciples.
I gave my back to those who beat me; My face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. (Is 50:4-9a)
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?" (Mt 26:14-25)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040523.cfm
As we enter more deeply into Holy Week, it is important that we remember the words of the Second Vatican Council (1965): “What happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today.” The Council cautioned that “the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God.” Finally, the Council added: in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone” (Nostra Aetate, 4).
I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. (Is 49:1-6)
One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus' side. (Jn 13:21-33, 36-38)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040423.cfm
A central figure of the Fourth Gospel (the one we call “According to John”) is the Beloved Disciple. In the Upper Room, it is the Beloved Disciple, not Peter or John or any of the others who is closest to Jesus. Although generally considered to be anonymous, perhaps the Beloved Disciple is actually named by the gospel writer in chapter 11. Nevertheless, the Beloved Disciple stands in for all of us, the beloved disciples of the Lord. The second Servant Song reminds us that the light is to “reach to the ends of the earth.”
Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased. (Is 42:1-7)
And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him. (Jn 12:1-11)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040323.cfm
There are four Songs of the Servant of the Lord in the Prophecy of Isaiah. They are assigned to Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday and Holy Wednesday. On Good Friday we will hear the fourth song, the Song of the Suffering Servant. These songs were used extensively in the preaching of the early church. Today’s song echoes the voice heard at the Baptism of Jesus. The dinner in the home of Bethany takes on added significance with the meal that Martha serves, the extravagant gesture of the anointing of Jesus by Mary, and then the plot to kill Lazarus.
