9781644135945

The Light of the World
Peter never forgot during the rest of his life that he had once denied his Savior.
Neither did he cease to worry about it, nor to confess it openly before the world and
do penance for his sin. Peter himself in his preaching in the various countries he visited,
told frankly what Mark reports in his Gospel. With touching candor and humility he
confessed before all the great sin that he had committed and the kindness with which
Christ had forgiven him.
The more closely the enemies press about Christ, the more confidently He turns to His
Father. “My prayer shall be turned into my bosom. Judge Thou, O Lord, them that wrong
me; . . . rise up to help me” (Gradual). “Keep me, O Lord, from the hand of the wicked;
and from unjust men deliver me” (Offertory). “They that sat in the gate [in a public place]
were busied against me; and they that drank wine made me their song; but as for me, my
prayer is to Thee, O Lord” (Communion). Overwhelmed in the blackest night of suffering,
surrounded by enemies on every side, Christ thinks not of His suffering nor of His enemies;
He turns to the Father; He prays: “Keep Me, O Lord, from the hand of the wicked; and
from unjust men deliver Me” (Offertory); that is, raise Me up from the dead on the third
day, and exalt Me as the King and Lord of all.
“It behooves us to glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Introit). We stand at the
side of the crucified Lord and consider it true happiness to share in the cross of the Lord and
to drink His chalice. “Know you not that all we who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in
His death,” crucified with Him (Rom 6:3)? If we were real Christians, we would rejoice that we
are allowed to share in the disgrace of Christ’s cross, to lead a life of sacrifice and self-denial, of
privation and humiliation. Unfortunately we think of the passion of Christ in a selfish manner
and consider only the benefits that it conferred upon us.
Prayer
Almighty and eternal God, grant that we may so celebrate the Lord’s passion that we may deserve
to obtain Thy pardon.
May Thy mercy, O God, purify us from every deceit of our old nature and make us ready
to receive a holy renovation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Wednesday
In St. Mary Major in Rome, we recall the passion and death of the Lord in company with His
sorrowful mother. In a special way the Church reminds us of the treason of Judas. From ancient
times the Church has set aside Wednesday of Holy Week to commemorate the betrayal, and
she keeps a penitential fast in memory of this event.
Judas approaches. The Garden of Olives was the foot of the altar where Christ prayed before
He ascended the great altar of Calvary. He suffers unspeakable anguish of soul. So intense is His
interior suffering that His blood is forced through His pores in a bloody sweat. He turns to His
apostles, whom He has left at a short distance; “Arise, pray,” He admonishes them. While He is
yet speaking, the band sent to apprehend Him approaches. At the head of this motley crew is
the apostle Judas. He approaches Christ and greets Him with a kiss. “Dost thou betray the Son
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