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Year C. (2/4/10)
Good Friday of the Lord's passion
Reading 1
See,
my servant shall prosper,
he shall
be raised high and greatly exalted.
Even
as many were amazed at himC
so marred
was his look beyond human semblance
and his
appearance beyond that of the sons of manC
so shall
he startle many nations,
because
of him kings shall stand speechless;
for those
who have not been told shall see,
those who
have not heard shall ponder it.
Who
would believe what we have heard?
To
whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
He
grew up like a sapling before him,
like a
shoot from the parched earth;
there was
in him no stately bearing to make us look at him,
nor
appearance that would attract us to him.
He
was spurned and avoided by people,
a man of
suffering, accustomed to infirmity,
one of
those from whom people hide their faces,
spurned,
and we held him in no esteem.
Yet
it was our infirmities that he bore,
our
sufferings that he endured,
while we
thought of him as stricken,
as one
smitten by God and afflicted.
But
he was pierced for our offenses,
crushed
for our sins;
upon him
was the chastisement that makes us whole,
by his
stripes we were healed.
We
had all gone astray like sheep,
each
following his own way;
but the
LORD laid upon him
the guilt
of us all.
Though
he was harshly treated, he submitted
and
opened not his mouth;
like a
lamb led to the slaughter
or a
sheep before the shearers,
he was
silent and opened not his mouth.
Oppressed
and condemned, he was taken away,
and who
would have thought any more of his destiny?
When
he was cut off from the land of the living,
and
smitten for the sin of his people,
a grave
was assigned him among the wicked
and a
burial place with evildoers,
though he
had done no wrong
nor
spoken any falsehood.
But
the LORD was pleased
to crush
him in infirmity.
If
he gives his life as an offering for sin,
he shall
see his descendants in a long life,
and the
will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.
Because
of his affliction
he shall
see the light in fullness of days;
through
his suffering, my servant shall justify many,
and their
guilt he shall bear.
Therefore
I will give him his portion among the great,
and he
shall divide the spoils with the mighty,
because
he surrendered himself to death
and was
counted among the wicked;
and he
shall take away the sins of many,
and win
pardon for their offenses.
Ps
31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17, 25
Responsorial Psalm
R.
(Lk 23:46) Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
In
you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me
never be put to shame.
In
your justice rescue me.
Into
your hands I commend my spirit;
you will
redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
R.
Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
For
all my foes I am an object of reproach,
a
laughingstock to my neighbors, and a dread to my friends;
they who
see me abroad flee from me.
I am
forgotten like the unremembered dead;
I am
like a dish that is broken.
R. Father,
into your hands I commend my spirit.
But
my trust is in you, O LORD;
I
say, “You are my God.
In
your hands is my destiny; rescue me
from the
clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.”
R.
Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
Let
your face shine upon your servant;
save me
in your kindness.
Take
courage and be stouthearted,
all you
who hope in the LORD.
R.
Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
Reading 2
Brothers
and sisters:
Since
we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus,
the Son of God,
let us
hold fast to our confession.
For
we do not have a high priest
who is
unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one
who has similarly been tested in every way,
yet
without sin.
So
let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to
receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.
In
the days when Christ was in the flesh,
he offered
prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears
to the
one who was able to save him from death,
and he
was heard because of his reverence.
Son
though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;
and when
he was made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who
obey him.
Gospel
Jesus
went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley
to where
there was a garden,
into
which he and his disciples entered.
Judas
his betrayer also knew the place,
because
Jesus had often met there with his disciples.
So
Judas got a band of soldiers and guards
from the
chief priests and the Pharisees
and went
there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
Jesus,
knowing everything that was going to happen to him,
went out
and said to them, “Whom are you looking for?”
They
answered him, “Jesus the Nazorean.”
He
said to them, “I AM.”
Judas
his betrayer was also with them.
When
he said to them, “I AM, “
they
turned away and fell to the ground.
So
he again asked them,
“Whom are you looking for?”
They
said, “Jesus the Nazorean.”
Jesus
answered,
“I
told you that I AM.
So
if you are looking for me, let these men go.”
This
was to fulfill what he had said,
“I have
not lost any of those you gave me.”
Then
Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it,
struck
the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear.
The
slave’s name was Malchus.
Jesus
said to Peter,
“Put
your sword into its scabbard.
Shall
I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?”
So
the band of soldiers, the tribune, and the Jewish guards seized Jesus,
bound
him, and brought him to Annas first.
He
was the father-in-law of Caiaphas,
who was
high priest that year.
It
was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews
that it
was better that one man should die rather than the people.
Simon
Peter and another disciple followed Jesus.
Now
the other disciple was known to the high priest,
and he
entered the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus.
But
Peter stood at the gate outside.
So
the other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest,
went out
and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter in.
Then
the maid who was the gatekeeper said to Peter,
“You
are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?”
He said,
“I am not.”
Now
the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire
that they
had made, because it was cold,
and were
warming themselves.
Peter
was also standing there keeping warm.
The
high priest questioned Jesus
about his
disciples and about his doctrine.
Jesus
answered him,
“I
have spoken publicly to the world.
I
have always taught in a synagogue
or in the
temple area where all the Jews gather,
and in
secret I have said nothing. Why ask me?
Ask
those who heard me what I said to them.
They
know what I said.”
When
he had said this,
one of
the temple guards standing there struck Jesus and said,
“Is
this the way you answer the high priest?”
Jesus
answered him,
“If
I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong;
but if I
have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?”
Then
Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
Now
Simon Peter was standing there keeping warm.
And
they said to him,
“You
are not one of his disciples, are you?”
He
denied it and said,
“I
am not.”
One of
the slaves of the high priest,
a
relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said,
“Didn’t
I see you in the garden with him?”
Again
Peter denied it.
And
immediately the cock crowed.
Then
they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium.
It
was morning.
And
they themselves did not enter the praetorium,
in order
not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover.
So
Pilate came out to them and said,
“What
charge do you bring against this man?”
They
answered and said to him,
“If
he were not a criminal,
we would
not have handed him over to you.”
At
this, Pilate said to them,
“Take
him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.”
The
Jews answered him,
“We
do not have the right to execute anyone, “
in order
that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled
that he
said indicating the kind of death he would die.
So
Pilate went back into the praetorium
and
summoned Jesus and said to him,
“Are
you the King of the Jews?”
Jesus
answered,
“Do
you say this on your own
or have
others told you about me?”
Pilate
answered,
“I
am not a Jew, am I?
Your
own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me.
What
have you done?”
Jesus
answered,
“My
kingdom does not belong to this world.
If
my kingdom did belong to this world,
my attendants
would be fighting
to keep
me from being handed over to the Jews.
But
as it is, my kingdom is not here.”
So
Pilate said to him,
“Then
you are a king?”
Jesus
answered,
“You
say I am a king.
For
this I was born and for this I came into the world,
to
testify to the truth.
Everyone
who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Pilate
said to him, “What is truth?”
When
he had said this,
he again
went out to the Jews and said to them,
“I
find no guilt in him.
But
you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover.
Do
you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”
They
cried out again,
“Not
this one but Barabbas!”
Now
Barabbas was a revolutionary.
Then
Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged.
And the
soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head,
and
clothed him in a purple cloak,
and they
came to him and said,
“Hail,
King of the Jews!”
And
they struck him repeatedly.
Once
more Pilate went out and said to them,
“Look,
I am bringing him out to you,
so that
you may know that I find no guilt in him.”
So
Jesus came out,
wearing
the crown of thorns and the purple cloak.
And
he said to them, “Behold, the man!”
When
the chief priests and the guards saw him they cried out,
“Crucify
him, crucify him!”
Pilate
said to them,
“Take
him yourselves and crucify him.
I
find no guilt in him.”
The
Jews answered,
“We
have a law, and according to that law he ought to die,
because
he made himself the Son of God.”
Now
when Pilate heard this statement,
he became
even more afraid,
and went
back into the praetorium and said to Jesus,
“Where
are you from?”
Jesus
did not answer him.
So
Pilate said to him,
“Do
you not speak to me?
Do
you not know that I have power to release you
and I
have power to crucify you?”
Jesus
answered him,
“You
would have no power over me
if it had
not been given to you from above.
For
this reason the one who handed me over to you
has the
greater sin.”
Consequently,
Pilate tried to release him; but the Jews cried out,
“If
you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar.
Everyone
who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”
When
Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus out
and
seated him on the judge’s bench
in the
place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
It
was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon.
And
he said to the Jews,
“Behold,
your king!”
They
cried out,
“Take
him away, take him away! Crucify him!”
Pilate
said to them,
“Shall
I crucify your king?”
The
chief priests answered,
“We
have no king but Caesar.”
Then
he handed him over to them to be crucified.
So
they took Jesus, and, carrying the cross himself,
he went
out to what is called the Place of the Skull,
in
Hebrew, Golgotha.
There
they crucified him, and with him two others,
one on
either side, with Jesus in the middle.
Pilate
also had an inscription written and put on the cross.
It
read,
“Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.”
Now
many of the Jews read this inscription,
because the
place where Jesus was crucified was near the city;
and it
was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
So
the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate,
“Do
not write ‘The King of the Jews,’
but that
he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews’.”
Pilate
answered,
“What
I have written, I have written.”
When
the soldiers had crucified Jesus,
they took
his clothes and divided them into four shares,
a share
for each soldier.
They
also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless,
woven in
one piece from the top down.
So
they said to one another,
“Let’s
not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be, “
in order
that the passage of Scripture might be fulfilled that says:
They
divided my garments among them,
and
for my vesture they cast lots.
This
is what the soldiers did.
Standing
by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his
mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary
of Magdala.
When
Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved
he said
to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”
Then
he said to the disciple,
“Behold,
your mother.”
And
from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
After
this, aware that everything was now finished,
in order
that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
Jesus
said, “I thirst.”
There
was a vessel filled with common wine.
So
they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop
and put
it up to his mouth.
When
Jesus had taken the wine, he said,
“It
is finished.”
And
bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.
Here
all kneel and pause for a short time.
Now
since it was preparation day,
in order
that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath,
for the
sabbath day of that week was a solemn one,
the Jews
asked Pilate that their legs be broken
and that
they be taken down.
So
the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first
and then
of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.
But
when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,
they did
not break his legs,
but one
soldier thrust his lance into his side,
and
immediately blood and water flowed out.
An
eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true;
he knows
that he is speaking the truth,
so that
you also may come to believe.
For
this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled:
Not
a bone of it will be broken.
And
again another passage says:
They
will look upon him whom they have pierced.
After
this, Joseph of Arimathea,
secretly
a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews,
asked
Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus.
And
Pilate permitted it.
So
he came and took his body.
Nicodemus,
the one who had first come to him at night,
also came
bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes
weighing
about one hundred pounds.
They
took the body of Jesus
and bound
it with burial cloths along with the spices,
according
to the Jewish burial custom.
Now
in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden,
and in
the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried.
So
they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day;
for the tomb was close by.
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