Gospel

I say to you, one of you will betray me. The cock will not crow before you deny me three times.

From the Gospel according to John. Jn 13:21-33, 36-38

Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him, “Master, who is it?”
Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.” So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him.
So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him. Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or to give something to the poor. So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.

When he had left, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.”

Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?”
Jesus answered him, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later.”
Peter said to him, “Master, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

I promise to be faithful to you.

So many unfulfilled promises. So many shattered commitments… Starting with our marriage vow: “I promise to accept you as you are and give myself to you every day of my life!”  However, how many days have I not kept my promise… Knowing that I made it before the Lord, before the altar representing His daily commitment in our lives. He, indeed, does not fail. Based on that, how could I demand anything from my husband/wife? How can I demand anything from God?.

Applied to married life

Alfred: I believe there are more days when I haven’t fully devoted myself to you than days when I have. 

Lou: I feel the same. Sometimes I find myself more focused on what you give me than on what I give you. 

Alfred: Well, that’s an indication that we’re not allowing the Holy Spirit to work among us, and that’s why we’re not faithful to the Sacrament. We need to pray more and be more humble. Shall we help each other? 

Lou: Sure! I shall be grateful “forever.”

Mother,

Help us to be faithful to our marriage promise. We made it to God. We cannot let Him down. He never fails. Praise be to Him forever.

GOSPEL
The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 15:1-39:

1. As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes, and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.
2. Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.”
3. Then the chief priests accused him of many things.
4. Pilate asked him again, “Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.”
5. But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.
6. Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked.
7. Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection.
8. So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom.
9. Then he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”
10. For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over.
11. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead.
12. Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?”
13. They shouted back, “Crucify him!”
14. Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!”
15. So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.
16. Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort.
17. And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him.
18. And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
19. They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him.
20. After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
21. They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.
22. Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull).
23. And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it.
24. And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.
25. It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.
26. The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”
27. And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left.
28. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days,
29. save yourself, and come down from the cross!”
30. In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself.
31. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
32. When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.
33. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
34. When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.”
35. And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”
36. Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.
37. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
38. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”
39. When all the people who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts.

The Word of the Lord.

How could you?

I contemplate Jesus carrying all my sins upon himself in Gethsemane. I’ve conducted a general examination of conscience, recalling them and imagining having to carry them all at once. It seemed like an unbearable burden. Now I imagine adding to that burden all the sins I will commit in the future, and now I add those of my family, friends, acquaintances, compatriots, all my contemporaries in the world, and I add all my ancestors and those who will come… Then I wonder, “Lord, how could you bear such a barbarity?” I understand that the Father sent an angel to sustain you.

Thank you, thank you, Lord. Blessed be you forever.

Applied to married life:

Miguel: Rocío, I don’t want Jesus to bear my future sins. It’s over. I’m going to fight tooth and nail to spare him from them.

Rocío: Oh, Miguel. Who would have thought? You can see how much you love the Lord. And it brings me so much joy. I’m sure you also greatly relieve him with your affection.

Mother,

We love Jesus. We want to continue accompanying him these days. May he continue to be our center of attention. We love him, Mother. We contemplate him with tremendous admiration and praise.

GOSPEL
From the Gospel according to John
Jn 11:45-56

Many of the Jews who had come to Mary
and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him.
But some of them went to the Pharisees
and told them what Jesus had done.
So the chief priests and the Pharisees
convened the Sanhedrin and said,
“What are we going to do?
This man is performing many signs.
If we leave him alone, all will believe in him,
and the Romans will come
and take away both our land and our nation.”
But one of them, Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year, said to them,
“You know nothing,
nor do you consider that it is better for you
that one man should die instead of the people,
so that the whole nation may not perish.”
He did not say this on his own,
but since he was high priest for that year,
he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,
and not only for the nation,
but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God.
So from that day on they planned to kill him.

So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews,
but he left for the region near the desert,
to a town called Ephraim,
and there he remained with his disciples.

Now the Passover of the Jews was near,
and many went up from the country to Jerusalem
before Passover to purify themselves.
They looked for Jesus and said to one another
as they were in the temple area, “What do you think?
That he will not come to the feast?”

The Word of the Lord.

Of the righteous and the unrighteous.

The Spirit can speak even through the mouths of God’s enemies. It is significant that the High Priest, by virtue of his office, was a channel of God even when he was betraying Him. Such is the power of God that reigns over the good and the bad, the righteous and the unrighteous.

Applied to Married Life:

Luis: I find it difficult to believe that God speaks to me through you because I see your sin, since you have it just like I do.
Maite: I understand because I feel the same way.
Luis: But the reality is that it is He who has chosen you to be a minister of God’s graces for me. And that is why I should be attentive to God’s voice through you.
Maite: That’s a very timely reflection. Sometimes I dismiss what comes from you because of the way it’s said. I don’t see charity in your corrections, and I think they can’t come from God anymore. But this reflection makes me think.
Luis: God is God, and He manifests Himself through His ministers, whether they are saints or not.

Mother,

May we be more attentive to God’s action through our spouse. They are a channel of grace for me. Praise be to God.

GOSPEL

From the Gospel according to John

Jn 10:31-42

The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus.

Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father.

For which of these are you trying to stone me?”

The Jews answered him,

“We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy.

You, a man, are making yourself God.”

Jesus answered them,

“Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, ‘You are gods”‘?

If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came,

and Scripture cannot be set aside,

can you say that the one

whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world

blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me;

but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me,

believe the works, so that you may realize and understand

that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

Then they tried again to arrest him;

but he escaped from their power.

He went back across the Jordan

to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained.

Many came to him and said,

“John performed no sign,

but everything John said about this man was true.”

And many there began to believe in him.

The Word of the Lord.

Family in action.

Lord, thank you for the many good works you do every day in our lives. Indeed, they are the works of the Father, those and only those, because you always act in His name. Today I feel you asking me if I also behave like a child, doing the works of my Father. I thoroughly review these days and wonder about it. We too can do the works of the Father: I remember that husband, who had no faith. But someone whom God had placed in his path said to him, if you cannot pray, I will pray for you. After a while, inexplicably, that husband converted, and in what a way. His relationship with God became a priority in his life.

Applied to married life:

Carlos: For these days, I propose a family plan. We can do extraordinary things, if God wills it through us. We can do works that speak of God. What do you think? We can achieve love at home, being a “Family in action”: With you, wife, even when you are angry with me, or if it is me who gets angry… In every small detail of the home… When we talk with God and our children, who need to deepen their understanding…

Carmen: Doing works so that love and warmth reign in the home, creating an environment where everyone wants to be. This must be like a little piece of heaven for our family. A place where our hearts rest, where we share sorrows and joys, where our souls also rest in Jesus. Isn’t that the home of God? Those are the works of God that we can do in the family, and that demonstrate that we are His children.

Mother,

No one can tell me anymore that you do not exist because I have experienced Your action in my life. I know you are by my side. I know you lead me to your Son. Do not leave me, Mother. I live for you. Glory to God. Amen.

GOSPEL
From the Gospel according to John
Jn 8:31-42

Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him,
“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham
and have never been enslaved to anyone.
How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
A slave does not remain in a household forever,
but a son always remains.
So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.
I know that you are descendants of Abraham.
But you are trying to kill me,
because my word has no room among you.
I tell you what I have seen in the Father’s presence;
then do what you have heard from the Father.”

They answered and said to him, “Our father is Abraham.”
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children,
you would be doing the works of Abraham.
But now you are trying to kill me,
a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God;
Abraham did not do this.
You are doing the works of your father!”
So they said to him, “We were not born of fornication.
We have one Father, God.”
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me,
for I came from God and am here;
I did not come on my own, but he sent me.”

The Word of the Lord.

God’s patience.

Far from feeling aversion towards non-believers or those who are distant, we should feel compassion. How much they would like to see what we see! And the tragedy is that they don’t see it.
On the other hand, we must be careful not to let the gift of faith go to our heads, lest we stop seeing Christ, as happened to the Pharisees who had the Son of God before them and, believing they already knew everything, only saw what the eyes of the flesh see.

Applied to married life:

Teresa: What have we done wrong? Our children still have one foot in the world.
Manuel: Well… I think it’s a matter of faith now. It’s not so much about insisting on what we’ve already told them many times.
Teresa: That’s true. We’re so eager for them to discover it and make a certain decision that sometimes we even exasperate them.
Manuel: That’s why I say, it’s better to pray and offer sacrifices for them and have the patience that God is having with them, as He did with us. It’s time to demonstrate our faith.

Mother,

The devil wants to instill pride in us so that we stop seeing with the eyes of faith. You, who by the grace of God are the Almighty Supplicant, deliver us from this evil. Amen.