Dear Brother and Sister in Christ,

Welcome to Catholic Mass Readings in Biblemsg.com. We are on the April 4th, 2023 in the Holy Week 2023. Today’s Mass readings and reflection on Isaiah 49:1-6; John 13:21-33, 36-38.

Catholic Mass Readings

Main Theme of the Day: Holy Tuesday!

Today’s Readings

First ReadingIsaiah 49:1-6
Gospel ReadingJohn 13:21-33, 36-38

First Reading

Isaiah 49:1-6

1 Hear me, coastlands,
    listen, distant peoples.
Before birth the Lord called me,
    from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharp-edged sword,
    concealed me, shielded by his hand.
He made me a sharpened arrow,
    in his quiver he hid me.
3 He said to me, You are my servant,
    in you, Israel, I show my glory.

4 Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
    for nothing and for naught spent my strength,
Yet my right is with the Lord,
    my recompense is with my God.
5 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;
I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
    and my God is now my strength!
6 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.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 71:1-2, 3-4a, 5-6ab, 15ab and 17 (R. see 15ab)

Response: I will sing of your salvation

Gospel

John 13:21-33, 36-38

21 When he had said this, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. 23 One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. 24 So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. 25 He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him, “Master, who is it?” 26 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. 27 After he took the morsel, Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” 28 [Now] none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him. 29 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. 30 So he took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.

31 When he had left, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 [If God is glorified in him,] God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. 33 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.

36 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.” 37 Peter said to him, “Master, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 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.”

Catholic Homily for Today

Focus: God knows our human fragility and instability. He knows our wavering and fluctuating loyalty. He knows our tendencies for forsaking him and betraying him. Truly God is anguished. Yet, he never ceases to love us and keep us close to him

1.      What a noble and indiscriminating heart of Jesus! He knew the mindset and hearts of his disciples, he knew about the impending denial and betrayal but he accepted all of them. He shares his love and closeness with them. He is deeply agonized and disturbed. But God never rejects us despite our unworthiness. He always offers us ample opportunities to be converted

2.      What a heart-rending experience that there is treason from among the very close circle of Jesus itself! Judas Iscariot stayed with the Lord for 3 years. But, still, he could betray him. Being with Jesus, the true Light of the world did not lighten the life of Judas Iscariot. He continued to live in the “night” and “darkness”. It is very interesting to note the detail that “after Judas shared the bread and wine with the Lord, Satan entered into him”

3.      Therefore, it becomes very clear to us that mere external acts of moving together around Jesus or celebrating some spiritual or social moments with Jesus are no guarantee of closeness with Jesus. Let us not be presumptuous that our external allegiances to Jesus vouchsafe our fidelity

4.      Then, like Peter, we too may be overconfident and over-complacent about the stability and fidelity of our discipleship. His denial clearly reminds us of our own fluctuating loyalties and unsteady faith. Mere feelings and sentiments, mere great desires, mere tall promises will not make us strong or prove us as faithful disciples

5.      Let us humbly admit our human fragility. Let us feel and experience personally the anguish and inner trouble of Jesus on our behalf, due to our instability and infidelity. Let us surrender ourselves to the Lord and depend on him to strengthen our weak faith

Direction: Let us lay aside all our pretensions and presumptions in following the Lord. Let us be humble and honest to realize and admit our fragilities and fluctuations. Let us seek the Lord to solidify us.

Note

Hope you had a good experience reading the catholic reflection for the day. With another inspiring message we shall meet in the next post. Stay Tuned in Biblemsg.com Thank You.