The inspired wisdom of the Church shines forth from the scripture readings that are part of the liturgy of Holy Week. The Isaiah is so close to the experience of Jesus that "according to the Scriptures" becomes  a divine verification. The Old Testament is God's Word, the story of His Love for mankind, his promise of mercy for all peoples, for each one of us We are saved by the Father,  Son and Holy Spirit. praise be to God.

Dear Lord, let these moments of conviction in faith remain and govern my actions this day.

Again we hear of Judas the betrayer. Why was the he needed. Why did John's Jews need someone to " hand Him over"? Did He not appear daily in the temple? The multitude knew Him. How was Judas able to take our responsibility, it is our sins that continue to betray Christ.

Dear Lord let me learn to fear my sin that despises your love and brings the Son of God to such a pitiful end.

 The Isaiah reading today holds all that I need to know on earth. No matter how alone we feel without support; fighting to face the world and all its temptations and petty annoyances; no matter how lonely and misunderstood ; no matter the injustice of the evil we are confronted with; no matter how we fall into sin; we are known to the Lord and loved by him.

Lord I pray that I always know that you are with me and show this by my works; help me to avoid sin which is the death of my soul.

Judas seems to be a necessary part of the salvation brought to the world by the incarnate Lord. Is there a difference between predetermined and preknown? Jesus knows how despicable will be the actions of St Peter when confronted with the hostility of the trial. St John seems to be the only one of those trusted and elevated by Jesus who did not fail in the last hours; but St John was supported by Our Lady whose help is still always available. 

Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

 Today I need to do the will of the Lord and avoid the potential numbness that periodically affects. me. Judas who seems to have been a bad apple from the start and yet was a necessary element in the events of this week as recorded by the evangelists, protests, as I do too when confronted by an action that causes him to consider his own failings. He does protest too much. It is easy to complain about our clergy forgetting that we too are human and weak.

Dear Lord let me shake  off this negative that i am living at the moment. I do need your grace. let me seek it in your sacrament of penance.

Lazarus was at table with Jesus and his disciples. This is the man that had been brought back from the dead. He was  a living witness to the authority of our saviour. The Jews ( What does John mean by "Jew" ) wanted to kill him too. The image of Mary drying Jesus' feet with her hair is difficult to cope with but Jesus' response to Judas' protests is a pointer to where our priorities should be; Jesus should always be first and everything else will follow.

Let me experience your grace and let me live your  teachings in true sincerity.

 I have not known during my life pain as felt by the "suffering servant" or the "agony in the garden". The suffering for the sake of my sins has yet to come to me. I didn't want to suffer so have denied my sins, but they and I am always known. My suffering to come has already been alleviated by Him who humbled Himself even to death. Today's readings contain all that we need to know or do. How can I face their immensity.

Dear Lord let the pains you suffered during this week be known by your servants and not just be part of a familiar story of times past.

Everything necessary about our lives can be found in the liturgies of these days. The intensity of the emotions that fill me are impossible to maintain. Our priests need more grace than I can stand to meet what it is you ask of them. I can aim for holiness but it is the holiness won by the torture and death of the  cross and so I cannot bear it.

Let me this day strive to do your will and let the grace poured out at Calvary be not wasted.

 The hardest thing of all is to respond with love to other people ".Stiff-necked " applies to all humanity not  just the Jews, Today we hear that the Lord is going to gather in the scattered sons of Israel and resettle them where their home will be for ever.

Lord gather in us the lost souls who have desecrated the Church which is your body here on earth.

And the already gathered in are today considering how to deal with Jesus whose recent miracle of bringing back Mary' s brother Lazarus has inspired many to expect even more from Jesus. Their leaders are now sure that they want to kill him. They will have to bring the multitude to their way of thinking if there  is to be a successful outcome.

Lord show us the way that we the believers can force our leaders to be true to their true vocation / ordination, leading us to you.

 Much of what we read in scripture gives us not the detail we as modern man have come to expect in any communication John's disciples knew of Jesu from John's preaching but of that we seem to have only Baptism and a few words about John being unfit to unbuckle his shoe. This morning we are told that John's disciples were amazed by Jesus for what John, even without any miracle.  had announced about this man was true 

Let our faith not be weakened by teaching that tries to find a different version of Jesus in the scriptures for you our Lord are "the Way, the Truth and the Life"

Baptism is the sacrament together with matrimony that does not depend on the authority of "The Keys" the rest especially the Eucharist are within the Institutional Church. The Institutional Church is undoubtedly what Jesus made when he began to build on Peter. The Church that totally disturbs us today comes from the wounds and death of Christ.

Dear Lord  stir up the hearts of our pastors that they know truly their purpose in life and care for the sheep with love that comes from you.

 His Word was made flesh and dwelt among  us" I have never really understood what is meant by God's "Word". I have glossed over it and thought that it signified Jesus and of course it does but God also spoke through the Old Testament prophets and it was this "Word" they delivered to the "chosen people".I have read in philosophy books the  concept that all existence has its base in the Logos and I think that it is this word translated from the Greek has become the "Word" in English.  But what this means is still a source of confusion to me.

Dear Lord, let Mary's Fiat be my goal in life and let me avoid anything that can be a source of sin,

Thinking more about the "Word" I suppose that anything which reveals God to us . Anything that  turns our beings to the Father is His Word revealed through the Holy Spirit. It is the  Trinity our revealed God.

May I become more grounded in my Faith, Our Lady is the source of Jesus' humanity and our Church may she intercede to have God's grace purify us so that we too can be ready to be "according to your will".