TUESDAY OF HOLY WEEKGospel (Jn 13:21-33, 36-38) - The Word of God for Everyone

READING OF THE DAY

A reading from the Book of Isaiah

Is 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.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

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 WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear People of God,

Today’s Word of God lets everyone know that God is almighty and holy; In Him, there is not a stain of sin; There is always joy, happiness, and perfect peace. But God's Word in today's Gospel says that Jesus' soul was sorrowful and troubled when He knew that His trusted disciples would betray Him.

Jesus has two natures: the nature of God and human nature. Why did He bring His nature as God into a human body? And because of whom? It is because of His love for humankind. All because of loving humanity, He came down to earth to become human, bearing all the grief, humiliation, condemnation, suffering, and death to atone for the sins of mankind. He loves mankind to the utmost. Nevertheless, the human heart is indifferent, does not acknowledge, and does not give thanks to God, but instead betrays Him.

That betrayal happened among His trusted disciples, Judas Iscariot and Peter. Jesus foresaw that Judas would betray Him, so Jesus' soul was exceedingly sorrowful and deeply troubled. No amount of sorrow could express His sadness.

Besides Judas betraying his Teacher, Peter also denied him. Peter was Jesus' most beloved disciple, trusted by Him to be the leader among his brothers, the one who swore to sacrifice his life for the Master. But when Jesus, his Teacher, was being arrested, condemned, beaten, spit on, and wanted to be killed by the evil army, the disciple he trusted the most was the first to deny that he knew him. Jesus saw the image of Saint Peter denying his Master, and His heart was deeply sorrowful.

Today, God is still present among humans. He is deeply sorrow and disturbed when He sees humanity living increasingly distant from God, living in passions, sins, and disobeying God. People are sinking deeply into the path of sin, falling into many temptations and traps of Satan. God loves and calls everyone:

- To repent, change your life, abandon your sinful path, return to reconcile with God, to make up for all your weak sins that have offended Him.

- Do not put more thorns in God's head, or nails to God's hands and feet; Stop thrusting spears into His side.

- Always give thanks to God in your life, because of His great love, He sacrificed Himself and came to the world to become human, to suffer and die to save people from sin, from death, and to give people eternal life.

Thanks be to God. Amen.