O my God, my Redeemer,

I standing by the Cross,

From the bottom of my heart I am sorry for all my sins.

 

 Mass is not celebrated today.

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

 Isaiah 52:13-53:12

It is now

When my servant will succeed;  he will be exalted and highly praised.

Just as many have been horrified at his disfigured appearance:

“Is this a man? He does not look like one,” so will nations be astounded, kings will stand speechless,

for they will see something never told, they will witness something never heard of.

 

Who could believe what we have heard, and to whom has Yahweh revealed his feat?

Like a root out of dry ground, like a sapling he grew up before us, with nothing attractive in his appearance,

no beauty, no majesty. He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows familiar with grief,

a man from whom people hide their face, spurned and considered of no account.

Yet ours were the sorrows he bore, ours were the sufferings he endured, although we considered him as one

punished by God, stricken and brought low.

 

Destroyed because of our sins, he was crushed for our wickedness.

Through his punishment we are made whole; by his wounds we are healed.

Like sheep we had all gone astray, each following his own way;

but Yahweh laid upon him all our guilt. He was harshly treated,

but unresisting and silent, he humbly submitted.

Like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearer he did not open his mouth.

 

He was taken away to detention and judgment—what an unthinkable fate! He was cut off from the land of the living,

stricken for his people’s sin. They made his tomb with the wicked, they put him in the graveyard of the oppressors, though he had done no violence nor spoken in deceit.

Yet it was the will of Yahweh to crush him with grief. When he makes himself an offering for sin,

he will have a long life and see his descendants. Through him the will of Yahweh is done.

 

For the anguish he suffered, he will see the light and obtain perfect knowledge.

My just servant will justify the multitude; he will bear and take away their guilt.

Therefore I will give him his portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong.

For he surrendered himself to death and was even counted among the wicked,

bearing the sins of the multitude and interceding for sinners.

 

Ps 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17, 25 Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

 

＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9

We have a great high priest, Jesus, the Son of God, who has entered heaven.

Let us, then, hold fast to the faith we profess. Our high priest is not indifferent to our weaknesses,

for he was tempted in every way, just as we are, yet, without sinning.

Let us, then, with confidence,  approach the throne of grace.

We will obtain mercy and, through his favor, help in due time.

 

Christ, in the days of his mortal life, offered his sacrifice with tears and cries.

He prayed to him, who could save him from death, and he was heard, because of his humble submission.

Although he was Son, he learned through suffering what obedience was, and,

once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation, for those who obey him.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

John 18:1-19:42*

(...)Bearing his cross, Jesus went out of the city to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha.

There he was crucified, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus in the middle.

Pilate had a notice written and fastened to the cross, which read: Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews. (...)

The chief priests said to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews'; but,

'This man claimed to be King of the Jews." Pilate answered them, "What I have written, I have written."

 

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one part for each of them.

But as the tunic was woven in one piece from top to bottom, they said, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots to decide who will get it."

This fulfilled the words of Scripture: They divided my clothing among them; they cast lots for my garment. This was what the soldiers did.

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister Mary, who was the wife of Cleophas, and Mary of whom he loved,

he said to the mother, "Woman, this is your son." Then he said to the disciple,

"This is your mother." And from that moment the disciple took her to his own home.

 

Jesus knew all was now finished and, in order to fulfill what was written in Scripture, he said, "I am thirsty."

A jar full of bitter wine stood there; so, putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a twig of hyssop,

they raised it to his lips. Jesus took the wine and said, "It is accomplished." Then he bowed his head and gave up the spirit. (...)

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"Am I indifferent?"

I once walked the Way of the Cross in Jerusalem. You start where the Antonia Fortress stood at the time of Jesus and,

for the first few steps, you walk where Jesus would have walked, as you stand on the smooth large stones of the Roman road.

The route then follows the streets as they are now. This can be off-putting at first, as you walk through shops and crowds,

but this is what Jesus would have done. Along the way, someone spat on the ground and a boy,

clutching his lunch, rushed past and pushed the cross out of the way. It was just another day for them.

 

In our liturgies and devotions, such as the Stations of the Cross,

much of the ordinariness of the event is overlooked to emphasize the powerful significance of Christ's saving Passion.

That sacrifice for humanity was made among humanity, and yet his people did not accept him (Jn 1:11).

The gestures of spitting and pushing out of the way can be symbols for us of the rejection or indifference with which many treat Christ's saving Passion.

Am I indifferent? Pray for those who don't care. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you...