DAILY GOSPEL: 19/04/2011
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68
Tuesday of Holy Week
Book of Isaiah 49:1-6.
Hear me, O islands, listen, O distant peoples. The Lord called me from birth, from my mother's womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm. He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, Yet my reward is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God.
For now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, That Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; And I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
Psalms 71(70):1-2.3-4a.5-6ab.15.17.
In you, LORD, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue and deliver me; listen to me and save me!
Be my rock and refuge, my secure stronghold; for you are my rock and fortress.
My God, rescue me from the power of the wicked, from the clutches of the violent.
You are my hope, Lord; my trust, GOD, from my youth.
On you I depend since birth; from my mother's womb you are my strength; my hope in you never wavers.
On you I depend since birth; from my mother's womb you are my strength; my hope in you never wavers.
My mouth shall proclaim your just deeds, day after day your acts of deliverance, though I cannot number them all.
God, you have taught me from my youth; to this day I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 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 he 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 he took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.
When Judas had left them, 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't I 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."
Hear me, O islands, listen, O distant peoples. The Lord called me from birth, from my mother's womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm. He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, Yet my reward is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God.
For now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, That Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; And I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
Psalms 71(70):1-2.3-4a.5-6ab.15.17.
In you, LORD, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue and deliver me; listen to me and save me!
Be my rock and refuge, my secure stronghold; for you are my rock and fortress.
My God, rescue me from the power of the wicked, from the clutches of the violent.
You are my hope, Lord; my trust, GOD, from my youth.
On you I depend since birth; from my mother's womb you are my strength; my hope in you never wavers.
On you I depend since birth; from my mother's womb you are my strength; my hope in you never wavers.
My mouth shall proclaim your just deeds, day after day your acts of deliverance, though I cannot number them all.
God, you have taught me from my youth; to this day I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 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 he 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 he took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.
When Judas had left them, 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't I 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."
Saint John Chrysostom (c.345-407), priest at Antioch then Bishop of Constantinople, Doctor of the Church
Homilies on conversion following his return from the country, no.1 (DDB 1978, p. 32)
"Judas left at once. And it was night"
Judas had expressed his repentance, saying: «I have sinned in betraying innocent blood» (Mt 27,4). But the devil, who had heard these words, understood that Judas was following a good path and was dismayed by this change of heart. Then he considered: «Was he thinking that his master is all kindness? The very moment he was about to be betrayed by him he wept his fate and besought him in numberless ways. It would be surprising if this master of his did not take him back as soon as he wholeheartedly repents, or will not cease to draw him back to himself if he stands up and acknowledges his sin in this way. Wasn't this the reason he was crucified?» After these reflections he cast a deep disquiet into Judas' mind and caused a great despair, capable of undoing him, to rise up within him; he jostled him about to the extent of pushing him into suicide, snatching life from him after stripping away his feelings of repentance.
Unquestionably Judas would have been saved if he had continued to live: we have only to look at the example of the executioners. Indeed, if Christ saved those who crucified him and if, even on the cross, he still prayed to the Father and interceded for the forgiveness of their sin (Lk 23,34), how could he have not welcomed the betrayer with all loving-kindness, so long as he proved the sincerity of his conversion?... Peter drew back three times even after sharing in communion with the holy mysteries, but his tears absolved him (Mt 26,75; Jn 21,15f.). Paul, the persecutor, the blasphemer, the proud; Paul who persecuted not only the Crucified but all his disciples too, became an apostle once he was converted. God asks no more than a light repentance to grant us the remission of our sins.
Unquestionably Judas would have been saved if he had continued to live: we have only to look at the example of the executioners. Indeed, if Christ saved those who crucified him and if, even on the cross, he still prayed to the Father and interceded for the forgiveness of their sin (Lk 23,34), how could he have not welcomed the betrayer with all loving-kindness, so long as he proved the sincerity of his conversion?... Peter drew back three times even after sharing in communion with the holy mysteries, but his tears absolved him (Mt 26,75; Jn 21,15f.). Paul, the persecutor, the blasphemer, the proud; Paul who persecuted not only the Crucified but all his disciples too, became an apostle once he was converted. God asks no more than a light repentance to grant us the remission of our sins.
St. Elphege, Archbishop and Martyr (954-1012)
SAINT ELPHEGE
Archbishop, Martyr
(954-1012)
Archbishop, Martyr
(954-1012)
St. Elphege was born in the year 954, of a noble Saxon family. He first became a monk in the monastery of Deerhurst, near Tewkesbury, England, and afterwards lived as a hermit near Bath, where he founded a community under the rule of St. Benedict, and became its first abbot.
At thirty years of age he was chosen Bishop of Winchester, and twenty-two years later he became Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1011, when the Danes landed in Kent and took the city of Canterbury, putting all to fire and sword, St. Elphege was captured and carried off in the expectation of a large ransom. He was unwilling that his ruined church and people should be put to such expense, and was kept in a loathsome prison at Greenwich for seven months.
While so confined some friends came and urged him to lay a tax upon his tenants to raise the sum demanded for his ransom. "What reward can I hope for," said he, "if I spend upon myself what belongs to the poor? Better give up to the poor what is ours, than take from them the little which is their own." As he still refused to give ransom, the enraged Danes fell upon him in a fury, beat him with the blunt sides of their weapons, and bruised him with stones until one, whom the Saint had baptized shortly before, put an end to his sufferings by the blow of an axe.
He died on Easter Saturday, April 19, 1012, his last words being a prayer for his murderers.
His body was first buried in St. Paul's, London, but was afterwards translated to Canterbury by King Canute. A church dedicated to St. Elphege still stands upon the place of his martyrdom at Greenwich.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
