Jesus’s Passion in Holy Week

Holy Week

MaundyThursday

Passion of Christ Part XIV

Let us awake and prudent to meet our Lord in the watches of the night

On 17th April 2025

 

   Even the disciples couldn't grasp the mystery of Jesus' death on the Cross and resurrection.  Peter started rebuking him. Jesus was telling them that he had to suffer and die on the crucifixion, and that on the third day he would be raised from the dead. Even St Peter was perplexed at first by the mystery of dying on the cross. Through Jesus' death and resurrection, the Father revealed to us that He is the Son of God and that we should believe in him. Jesus. We are to see things from a spiritual perspective rather than mere human being. Jesus is very worried about us, and only he knows the depth of the salvation God has prepared for us. Mt 16:21-23 From then onwards Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day. 22 Then, taking him aside ‘Heaven preserves you, Lord,’ he said, ‘this must not happen to you.’ 23 But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because you are thinking not as God thinks but as human beings do.’ The apostles and some of the disciples were accompanied him throughout his mission. Jesus is asking us how well we know him. Jesus mentioned his sacrifice multiple times in order for them to understand the mystery of salvation, as planned by the Heavenly Father. Before Jesus passion he has fulfilled his mission, to preach the Good News to the Israelites and other nations, but he will continue this mission to all the nations through the Apostles and disciples.

 

John 13:4–8 (NJB): and he got up from table, removed his outer garments and, taking a towel, wrapped it round his waist; 5 he then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ 7 Jesus answered, ‘At the moment you do not know what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ 8 ‘Never!’ said Peter. ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus became the humblest a servant by performing the lowliest service a servant can perform washing his master's feet at his house, where he was assigned to serve. He gave this example to his disciples and to all of us as a reminder of how a leader or servant should treat others.

 

    Luke 22:19–20 (NJB): Then he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ 20 He did the same with the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood poured out for you. Jesus established the New Covenant by offering his own blood in the form of wine to the Apostles. The Eucharist was instituted during the Passover Ceremony. But Jesus is obviously mentioned here because He shared His Body and Blood with us in order to create or qualify us for His eternal presence in this world. Receiving Holy Communion makes us one flesh and blood with Him for eternity. How wonderful it is, as Centurion remarked, as we pray and recite in the Holy Mass "Lord, I am not worthy you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed."

 

   St Augustine said in a reflection on Treatise on Gospel of John: This is surely what we read in the Proverbs of Solomon: If you sit down to eat at the table of a ruler, observe carefully what is set before you; then stretch out your hand, knowing that you must provide the same kind of meal yourself. What is this ruler’s table if not the one at which we receive the Body and Blood of him who laid down his life for us? What does it mean to sit at this table if not to approach it with humility? What does it mean to observe carefully what is set before you if not to meditate devoutly on so great a gift? What does it mean to stretch out one’s hand, knowing that one must provide the same kind of meal oneself, if not what I have just said: as Christ laid down his life for us, so we in our turn ought to lay down our lives for our brothers? This is what the apostle Paul said: Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we might follow in his footsteps. 

 

Jesus’s Passion in Holy Week

Holy Week

Passion of Christ Part VIII

Jesus was never turned away from the insults and spitting

On 16th April 2025

 

  Jesus was rejected by everyone, and he thought he had been removed from the Father's presence. Jesus' passion began at birth, and he thought he was finished, with no more power to bear all of his afflictions alone. The adversary floods around him all day and night, stabbing him with whips and lances to give him the maximum punishment on earth than anybody else in this world. Psalm 88:14–18 (NJB): 14 why, Yahweh, do you rebuff me, turn your face away from me? 15 Wretched and close to death since childhood, I have borne your terrors—I am finished! 16 Your anger has overwhelmed me, your terrors annihilated me. 17 They flood around me all day long, close in on me all at once. 18 You have deprived me of friends and companions, and all that I know is the dark. Even when Jesus was born, he was face death as per the decree of King Herod. The infants and new-born children were mascaraed.  Mt 2: 16-18 ‘Herod was furious on realizing that he had been fooled by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or less, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men.’  Jesus was taken away from all his friends and companions. A great passion and death were very inevitable for him. He felt the darkness everywhere as the heavenly light has taken away from him as a fulfilment of the will of Heavenly Father.  Psalm 38:9–10 (NJB): Lord, all my longing is known to you, my sighing no secret from you, 10 my heart is throbbing, my strength has failed, the light has gone out of my eyes.

 

  Isaiah 50:4–10 (NJB): Lord Yahweh has given me a disciple’s tongue, for me to know how to give a word of comfort to the weary. Morning by morning he makes my ear alert to listen like a disciple. 5 Lord Yahweh has opened my ear and I have not resisted, I have not turned away. 6 I have offered my back to those who struck me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; I have not turned my face away from insult and spitting. Jesus inherited the nature, image, and resemblance of the Heavenly Father, as well as all the apparent and invisible virtues. Blood ran down Jesus's face after the soldiers hit him and pulled his beard. Despite all the penalties and persecutions, he never turned aside. Jesus never avoided the Heavenly Father's presence.

 

Jesus’s Passion in Holy Week

 

Passion of Christ Part VII

 

‘The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’

 

While we meditate these verses from Psalm 88, here Psalmist is explaining how Jesus was left alone in the dungeon like among the dead. Psalm 88:5–9 (NJB): left alone among the dead, like the slaughtered lying in the grave, whom you remember no more, cut off as they are from your protection. 6 You have plunged me to the bottom of the grave, in the darkness, in the depths; 7 weighted down by your anger, kept low by your waves. Pause 8 You have deprived me of my friends, made me repulsive to them, imprisoned, with no escape; 9 my eyes are worn out with suffering. I call to you, Yahweh, all day, I stretch out my hands to you. Jesus was placed in this pit like an animal for slaughtering without any protection. All his friends and relatives abandoned him, as if they would no longer be with him. He felt like he was in a graveyard where the dead are buried. Jesus sensed that Heavenly Father had abandoned him to become a sacrificial victim. Jesus felt he had been buried in the grave forever, with no chance of ever living again. But Jesus trusted His Father and was obedient to Him to do His will.

 

 

   Ps 49:7-9(NJB)But no one can ever redeem himself for pay his own ransom to God,8 the price for himself is too high; it can never be 9 that he will live on forever and avoid the sight of the abyss. What a magnificent sacrifice he made by offering his own life as the greatest sacrifice on earth and in heaven. Another method Christ teaches us how to be leaders is to serve others. When aspiring to be a leader, we must first serve those to whom we belong. Matthew 20:26–28 (NJB): Among you this is not to happen. No; anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave, 28 just as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ I was so moved by hearing this Antiphon, Communion Antiphon for that day on 28th Feb 2023: ‘The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Matthew 20:18–19 (NJB): Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raised up again.’ Jesus was ready to be sacrificed for all human beings on earth for the present, past and future generation by his unconditional love for generations after generations. Here in these verses Jesus is predicting his death and the resurrection after three days.

Jesus’s Passion in Holy Week

 

Holy Week

Passion of Christ Part VI

On 14th April 2025

 

Lord, strengthen us by your Spirit to be part of Your mission to share and spread the Gospel to entire world.

 

 

   Matthew 16:21 (NJB): From then onwards Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day. He then made it clear to his apostles and disciples during his career that he would suffer in order to save the world. To his apostles, whom he regards as brothers and friends, he never withholds anything. Jesus consistently stated that his suffering and death on the Cross were sacrifices done in accordance with the Heavenly Father's will. He declared that he would be raised from the dead on the third day in order to permanently vanquish Satan and the death of souls. We can thus put our faith in Christ Jesus, who will save us and provide us everlasting eternal life. Matthew 16:22–23 (NJB): Peter started to rebuke him. ‘Heaven preserve you, Lord,’ he said, ‘this must not happen to you.’ 23 But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because you are thinking not as God thinks but as human beings do.’ When Jesus revealed the sufferings and death on the cross to the apostles, Peter was not ready to accept the reality of this mystery. Peter said, this should not happen to Jesus. Jesus rebuked Peter and called him Satan, because Peter was not thinking in Godly perspective but with the human standard. The sufferings, passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus has given us hope of life, and the faith in him made us to participate in his sufferings. Same way our sacrifices for the kingdom of God is essential to carry out the mission which Jesus has endured to us. Let us pray, Lord, strengthen us by Your Spirit to be part of Your mission to share and spread the Gospel to entire world.

 

Jesus’s Passion in Holy Week

On 13th April 2025

Passion of Christ Part V

 

We all will suffer death in our body, but God will raise us on the Last Day.

 

  The Psalm 88, the church is identified them as anticipating the kind of suffering that Christ endured. There are other two Psalms(22, 69) also mentioned about the sufferings and afflictions Jesus to be faced before his death on the Cross. Psalm 88:1–4 (NJB): Yahweh, God of my salvation, when I cry out to you in the night, 2 may my prayer reach your presence, hear my cry for help. 3 For I am filled with misery, my life is on the brink of Sheol; 4 already numbered among those who sink into oblivion, I am as one bereft of strength. This Psalm is very closely related to Jesus' punishment of being thrown into the dungeon, as ordered by High Priest Khaiaphas. While we visited the Holy Land we have read this chapter when we gone down to the dungeon and many were crying while one lector red this chapter as per the instruction from the priest(Fr Eugene) That is why pilgrims visiting the Holy Land travel to this deep well to experience Jesus' agony. Many visitors to the dungeon read this Psalm and ponder on Christ's sufferings. We might ponder on the aforementioned verses and reflect on them. Jesus cried out to his Father for rescue while he lay in this hole for one day and one night. He lost all of his power since he was alone in the dungeon, which was full of darkness. There was no one to help him, and no light could penetrate the dungeon. We know how much he suffered before his death on the Cross.

Word of Life

 

On 12th April 2025  

Meditating the Words of Jesus from Holy Scriptures 

Lord, make us upright to follow and obey your statutes 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for uprightness: they shall have their fill.  (Matthew 5:6, NJB) Our father, St. Joseph, the patriarch of the Holy Family and the spouse of the Virgin Mary, was a just man, as we can see. A magnificent saint and silent servant of God's kingdom, he never spoke but obeyed God's commands. His Heavenly Father was pleased with him and gave Joseph custody of His Son and Mother. He was an upright man and never want to despise Virgin Mary even he found she was pregnant. Her husband Joseph, being an upright man and wanting to spare her disgrace, decided to divorce her informally (Matthew 1:19, NJB) God has chosen St Joseph because he was in hunger and thirst for live in uprightness. This way he found favour in the Lord to be the head of the Holy Family. “I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will perform my entire will.” 23 To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of David’s descendants, Jesus, as Saviour, (Acts 13:22–23, NJB) As God had discovered, David having a good heart. As promised by the Heavenly Father, God has chosen David as King of Israel and bestowed upon him an eternal kingdom and dynasty through Jesus Christ, Son of God and son of David. King David was an honest, upright and faithful servant of God. Let us pray to our Lord, to make us upright and faithful servant like St. Joseph and his father King David. 

A Pilgrimage to the Church of Lady of Perpetual Help

 

On 3rd April 2025

A Pilgrimage to the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

  We went to Our Lady of Perpetual Church in Fujairah(UAE) on Sunday, March 30, 2025, as a pilgrimage to attend Holy Mass and for a holy hour of adoration. All of us had a unique experience. Since I could recall my conversion to Catholicism, it held great significance for me. Our Lord patiently waited for my soul during a protracted procedure. My conversion brought to memory how deeply Mother Mary cared about my decision to become a Catholic when I first began to meditate. She is a strong instrument or Co-Redemptrix of preparing people for Jesus and his kingdom, making them his disciples, and assigning every one of them a specific mission. The Holy Spirit reminded me of all my past experiences while I prayed in the church. The Holy Spirit was reminding me of all the earlier experiences I had with Mother Mary (Our Lady of Perpetual Succor) while I was praying in the church. She and I first interacted when I was a child, and my family would visit my mother's residence in a nearby village. We all sleep in the house's main hall, brothers, sisters, and cousins. On the majority of those times, I was able to sleep beneath the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Succor. I can see her face when I raise my eyes, and she might glance at me since she was dear to my heart, not me. Somehow, she never stopped staring at me, even if I didn't want to acknowledge this. I was reminded to pray Our Father, Glory be and sign of the Cross as she was staring at me, so I did so as I lay down to sleep. Since our church is known as the Marthoma Syrian Church, a sect that is distinct from Kerala's Orthodox and Jacobite churches, we never mention Mother Mary in our prayers at home or at church. At home, we never say the Rosary. The second incidence occurred in Muscat in 1979 when I was twenty years old. I was really depressed at the moment I lost my job. After noticing my predicament, a friend of mine who lived in my neighborhood called me to his house one day and told me to remain composed and pray to Jesus in perseverance. He was the one who taking me to Church on Sundays for to attend the Mass in Marthoma Church and he was a Marthomite. He was carrying a Catholic Bible, which I was unaware had two different translations; it was a POC Malayalam Catholic Bible, and since he was not a Catholic, he should never read it. What surprised me even more was that he had taken a picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Succor from the Bible. "This picture of Mother Mary has had a great impact on my life," he said, adding, "I ask her for intercession for many of my sufferings and she never hates me, always hears my pleas, and helps me." Then I noticed that he was sobbing quietly and that tears were streaming from his eyes. None of these suggestions made sense to me or had any immediate impact. In order to alleviate my sadness, my roommates have taken me to a neighboring government hospital to see a psychiatrist. After speaking with the doctor, he told me not to worry and sent me on my way. I miraculously recovered and began working for a different multinational company.

   I was thinking why should I be honored by the visit of Mother Mary, as St Elisabeth said: Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?  (Luke 1:43, NJB) Later during the years of my conversion, I understood Mother Mary had healed me from the mental depression. The above two incidents in my life got a great impact in my life for the searching the truth of my faith. Then in 1990 I got married to a Catholic girl. After the marriage, in 1997 I got the conversion by attending two of the retreats. Lord has provided me the truth, through the Word of God, consecrate them in the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17, NJB) When I got the real conversion in 1997, I was recollected both the incidents of encountering Mother Mary. I make it short the intervention of Mother Mary in my life and its never ending. She has presented me to Jesus, and I thank her all that wonderful things she has done in my life.