Texts taken from the “On Your Word” Missal March-April

Easter Triduum - Good Friday «Passion of the Lord»
proper

FIRST READING

From the book of the prophet Isaiah (Is 52:13 - 53:12)
Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. As many were astonished at him - so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the sons of man -,
so shall he startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for they shall see what has not been told them, and they shall understand what they have not heard. Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When he makes himself an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see the light and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. - The word of God.

Commentary on the first reading

The fourth song of the Servant of the Lord concludes the series of passages by the prophet Isaiah concerning this mysterious figure, whom we saw announce and identify the Lord Jesus six hundred years before his coming to earth. The fourth song portrays the scenes of the Passion in a striking way and gives them a decisive, perfect theological and spiritual interpretation. The Servant of Yahweh is crushed not for sins he committed, but for «our iniquities». Who could have related the suffering of one man to the sins of everyone else, if not the word of God? What relationship can there be between a sin of mine, committed today, and Jesus' death on the cross, which took place so many centuries ago? What connection can a spiritual sin, committed in my thoughts, of which no one is aware, have with Christ's suffering? The decisive phrase is contained in today's passage: «by his wounds we are healed». There is not much to understand: this is a fact, a truth of faith. His painful wounds are directly related to my spiritual healing.

SECOND READING

From the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9)
Brothers and sisters, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our profession of faith. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, that we may receive mercy and find grace, and so receive help at the right time. [Christ, indeed,] in the days of his earthly life, offered prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to God who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his complete surrender to him. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and, having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. -
The word of God.

Commentary on the second reading

The Gospel speaks only once of the Lord's grave suffering experienced in Gethsemane, when he took upon himself the sin of humanity. The Letter to the Hebrews extends this moment to all the «days of his earthly life»; it tells us, in fact, that throughout his life Jesus offered prayers and supplications «with loud cries and tears». Once he became man, God immediately felt the weight of sin, and from the beginning his state of suffering began: Gethsemane was only its culmination, the final moment. Generally, we think little about how much we cost the Lord: every act of his earthly life, however, was an act of taking on our burden. Today let us meditate on this in interior adoration. The whole Trinity participates in the redemptive act: the Father in the Son's pain, the Son in obedience to the Father, the Spirit in conveying all divine love to this act of death and resurrection. And if obedience was the way of redemption, the final phrase and its logic follow: if Jesus was made perfect through obedience, then by obeying Jesus we too become perfect.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

(Guidelines for dialogued reading: ✠ = Jesus; C = Narrator; D = Disciples and friends; F = Crowd; A = Other characters).
The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John (Jn 18:1-19:42)

They arrested Jesus and bound him
C At that time, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley, where there was a garden, which he entered with his disciples. Judas, his betrayer, also knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas went there, after taking a cohort of soldiers and some guards provided by the chief priests and the Pharisees, with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and said to them: ✠ «Whom are you looking for?». C They answered him: F«Jesus the Nazorean». C Jesus said to them: ✠ «I am he!». C Judas, his betrayer, was also standing with them. When he said to them «I am he», they drew back and fell to the ground. Again he asked them: ✠ «Whom are you looking for?». C They said: F «Jesus the Nazorean». C Jesus answered:✠ «I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go», C to fulfill the word he had spoken: «I have not lost any of those you gave me». Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Jesus then said to Peter: ✠ «Put your sword into its sheath. Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?».

They led him first to Annas
C Then the soldiers, with the commander and the Jewish guards, arrested Jesus, bound him, and led him first to Annas. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews: «It is better for you that one man should die for the people». Meanwhile Simon Peter followed Jesus with another disciple. This disciple was known to the high priest and entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. Peter, however, stood outside near the door. So the other disciple, known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter in. The young gatekeeper said to Peter: A «You are not also one of this man's disciples, are you?». C He answered: D «I am not». CMeanwhile the servants and guards had lit a fire because it was cold, and were warming themselves; Peter was also with them, warming himself. The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered him: ✠ «I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews gather, and I have said nothing in secret. Why do you question me? Question those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said». C When he had said this, one of the guards standing there struck Jesus with his hand, saying: A «Is that how you answer the high priest?». C Jesus answered him: ✠ «If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong; but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?». C Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

You are not also one of his disciples, are you? I am not!
C Meanwhile Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him: A «You are not also one of his disciples, are you?». C He denied it and said: D «I am not». C One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said: A «Did I not see you with him in the garden?». C Peter again denied it, and at once the cock crowed. 

My kingdom is not of this world
C Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas' house to the praetorium. It was morning, and they themselves did not enter the praetorium, so that they might not be defiled and could eat the Passover. So Pilate went out to them and asked: A «What accusation do you bring against this man?». C They answered him: F «If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you». C Pilate said to them: A «Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law». C The Jews replied: F «We are not permitted to put anyone to death». CThus the words Jesus had spoken were fulfilled, indicating the kind of death he was to die. Pilate then went back into the praetorium, summoned Jesus, and said to him: A «Are you the King of the Jews?». C Jesus answered: ✠ «Do you say this on your own, or have others told you about me?». C Pilate answered: A «Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?». C Jesus answered: ✠ «My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have fought to prevent my being handed over to the Jews; but my kingdom is not from here». C Pilate said to him: A «So you are a king?». C Jesus answered: ✠ «You say I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice». C Pilate said to him: A «What is truth?». C After saying this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them: A «I find no fault in him. But you have a custom that I release one prisoner for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?». C Then they cried out again: F «Not this man, but Barabbas!». C Barabbas was a bandit.

Hail, King of the Jews!
C Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple cloak. They came up to him and said: F «Hail, King of the Jews!». C And they struck him. Pilate went out again and said to them: A «Look, I am bringing him out to you so that you may know that I find no fault in him». C Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak. Pilate said to them: A «Behold the man!». C When the chief priests and the guards saw him, they cried out: F «Crucify him! Crucify him!». C Pilate said to them: A «Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no fault in him». C The Jews answered him: F «We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God». C When Pilate heard these words, he was even more afraid. He went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus: A «Where are you from?». C But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate then said to him: A «Do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you and power to crucify you?». C Jesus answered him: ✠ «You would have no power over me if it had not been given you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin».

Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!
C From that moment Pilate tried to release him. But the Jews cried out: F «If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend! Everyone who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar». C When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the Stone Pavement, in Hebrew Gabbatha. It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, about noon. Pilate said to the Jews: A «Behold your king!». C But they cried out: F «Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!». C Pilate said to them: A «Shall I crucify your king?».C The chief priests answered: F «We have no king but Caesar». C Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

They crucified him, and with him two others
C So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read: «Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews». Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate: F «Do not write: “The King of the Jews,” but: “This man said, I am the King of the Jews”». C Pilate answered: A «What I have written I have written».

They divided my garments among them
C When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier, and also his tunic. The tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said to one another: «Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be». Thus the Scripture was fulfilled that says: «They divided my garments among them, and for my tunic they cast lots». And the soldiers did this.

Behold, your son! Behold, your mother!
C Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother: ✠ «Woman, behold, your son!». C Then he said to the disciple: ✠ «Behold, your mother!». C And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, to fulfill the Scripture, said: ✠ «I thirst». C A jar full of vinegar stood there; so they put a sponge soaked in vinegar on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said: ✠ «It is finished!». C Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
(Here all kneel and pause briefly)

And immediately blood and water came out
C It was the day of Preparation, and the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross during the Sabbath, since that Sabbath was a solemn day, so they asked Pilate to have their legs broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth. These things occurred so that the Scripture might be fulfilled: «Not a bone of him shall be broken». And again another passage of Scripture says: «They will look on him whom they have pierced».

They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with spices
C After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took his body. Nicodemus also came - the man who had first come to Jesus by night - and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about thirty kilograms. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the Jewish burial custom. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. - The word of the Lord. 

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

John's account of the Passion is the most solemn and precise of the four, because the apostle was present at the events and is the only one among the Twelve to witness them through all their stages. Listening to the perfect narrator brings us into the great event of Jesus' death in a way that has no equal. The evangelist asks us to read all the events of Christ's Passion as an act of love, as a consequence of his divine nature, whose substance is love, the gift of self. The whole drama is in Gethsemane: afterward Jesus enters into suffering knowing that every good for humanity will come from it, from the first person, Adam, to the last who will live on earth. It is impossible to comment: as we listen, we can only repeat to ourselves: «All this out of love, only out of love...». The love of Jesus as he is scourged, as he speaks with Pilate, as he takes up the cross, as he climbs Calvary, as he is nailed to the cross, as he speaks with his Mother, as he surrenders himself to the Father. Everything out of love, only out of love. Then we will see and know our whole life within this reality, and understand that we depend entirely on this love, and that without this love we cannot even imagine living for a single moment.