Daily Liturgy
Thursday April 29
your Son Jesus, reminds us today
that we are no greater than your and our servant,
Jesus, our Lord and Master.
Give us the love and endurance
to serve you and people
without waiting for awards or gratitude
and to accept the difficulties and contradictions,
which are part of the Christian life
and which are normal for followers
of him who bore the cross for us,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Reading 1: ACTS 13:13-25
From Paphos, Paul and his companions
set sail and arrived at Perga in Pamphylia.
But John left them and returned to Jerusalem.
They continued on from Perga and reached Antioch in Pisidia.
On the sabbath they entered into the synagogue and took their seats.
After the reading of the law and the prophets,
the synagogue officials sent word to them,
“My brothers, if one of you has a word of exhortation
for the people, please speak.”
So Paul got up, motioned with his hand, and said,
“Fellow children of Israel and you others who are God-fearing, listen.
The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors
and exalted the people during their sojourn in the land of Egypt.
With uplifted arm he led them out,
and for about forty years he put up with them in the desert.
When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan,
he gave them their land as an inheritance
at the end of about four hundred and fifty years.
After these things he provided judges up to Samuel the prophet.
Then they asked for a king.
God gave them Saul, son of Kish,
a man from the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.
Then he removed him and raised up David as their king;
of him he testified,
I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart;
he will carry out my every wish.
From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.
John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel;
and as John was completing his course, he would say,
‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.
Behold, one is coming after me;
I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.'”
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 89:2-3, 21-22, 25 AND 27
R. (2) For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The favors of the LORD I will sing forever;
through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.
For you have said, “My kindness is established forever”;
in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
“I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him,
That my hand may be always with him,
and that my arm may make him strong.”
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
“My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him,
and through my name shall his horn be exalted.
He shall say of me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the Rock, my savior.'”
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia: RV 1:5AB
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus Christ, you are the faithful witness,
the firstborn of the dead,
you have loved us and freed us from our sins by your Blood.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: JN 13:16-20
When Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet, he said to them:
“Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master
nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him.
If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it.
I am not speaking of all of you.
I know those whom I have chosen.
But so that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
The one who ate my food has raised his heel against me.
From now on I am telling you before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe that I AM.
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send
receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”
Intercessions
– For the leaders and ministers in the Church, that they may not seek honor and power, but in all simplicity, serve their brothers and sisters, we pray:
– For all those in public office, that they may not just seek power and private gain but give the best of themselves to work for the interests of people and country, we pray:
– For doctors and nurses, that they may serve the sick with great love and dedication, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord, our God,
as your Son Jesus himself serves us
in the signs of bread and wine,
he asks us to drink with him the cup
of self-sacrificing service.
Let your Son fill us with that love
which he alone can understand
that to be great is to serve others
and to use up our lives
to give them a chance to live.
May we seek no other reward
than to share the destiny of Jesus,
our Lord and Savior forever.
Prayer after Communion
Loving Father,
in this Eucharistic celebration
your Son Jesus has been with us
as the servant of us all.
Let him dispose our hearts
and give us his sensitive courage
to understand and accept others,
to accompany them on the road of life,
to suffer their pains, to rejoice with their joys
and to carry each other’s burdens,
that he may be with us,
now and for ever.
Blessing
“Servants are no greater than their master,” is Jesus’ reminder to us today. What moves service and makes it dedicated and unobtrusive is love. If we love people, they can come and ask us for any service. May God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Commentary
Jesus’ whole life was an example of fulfilling His Father’s will to the point of dying on the Cross. If we imitate Him, in service for the people in need – even at the cost of our personal comforts and likings, we will find true happiness which no one can remove from us (cf. 16:22; 17:13). “`I have given you an example’, Jesus tells His disciples after washing their feet, on the night of the Last Supper. Blessed Jose Escriva would comment on this passage saying: Let us reject from our hearts any pride, any ambition, any desire to dominate; and peace and joy will
reign around us and within us, as a consequence of our personal sacrifice.”
Lifting one’s heel against someone means hitting him brutally; metaphorically, therefore, it means violent enmity. Judas’ treachery fulfills the words of Psalm 41:10 where the psalmist complains bitterly of a friend’s treachery. Once again John the evangelist wants to tell his readers that the Old Testament prefigures the events that would be fulfilled in the life of Jesus.
Through the Last Supper discourse of Jesus, John is trying to answer the question of betrayal faced in the early community. How do you treat those who cause you grief or harm, especially those who are close to you in some way? Jesus addresses the issue of infidelity and disloyalty in relationships. He knew beforehand, that one of his own disciples would betray him. Such knowledge could have easily led Jesus to distance himself from such a person and to protect himself from the impending danger. Instead, Jesus expresses his love, affection, and loyalty to those who were his own, even to the one he knew would “stab him in the back” when he got the opportunity.
To share bread with someone was and is a gesture of friendship and trust. Jesus extends such friendship to Judas right at the moment when Judas is conspiring to betray his master. The expression “lift his heel against me” reinforces the brutal nature of this act of betrayal.
Jesus on the other hand, loved his disciples to the end and proved his faithfulness to them even to the death on the cross. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus opened a new way of relationship and friendship with God. The great honor and the great responsibility a Christian has is to bear witness to Christ and to proclaim him. As his disciples and ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20), we are called to speak for him and to act on his behalf. Are we ready to stand for Jesus at the cross of humiliation, rejection, and suffering?