Spy Wednesday

Deus, in adjutorium meum intende. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.

   The day is already speeding by for me. At 6:30am I fed the barn cat, changed the water and feed for the 20 week old chicks and 4 keets (baby guineas), took out a bag of trash that was forgotten before the pick-up this morning, retrieved the newspaper, fed the dog, made my coffee and took an hour to pray  my morning devotions.

   We were fortunate to be out of the path of the horrendous tornadoes that hit Dallas and vicinity, although we were under tornado watch for most of last evening.  The thunder and lightning were enough to have my little dog, Blue, shivering and clinging to my side. This morning is misty, but I managed to get Blue outside and sat on the veranda for awhile to let her take care of business and sniff out the squirrels.  It gave me a chance to say my rosary, anyway. 

   Now, there is another task at hand.  I'm supposed to help chant Tenebrae at Church tomorrow, Friday and Saturday mornings at 8am. I'll have to rush with the chicks first. I'm not really adept at reading (and chanting) the Latin without some practice, so that's what I'll be doing - as much as I can - today. The psalm tones are varied and I really have to pay close attention to the endings of the lines I chant. I did it for the first time last Holy Week and managed to "mess up" somewhat.  Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. For the Greater Glory of God.
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  Wednesday of Holy Week is called Spy Wednesday, the day that  Judas sneaked off to the Sanhedrin and agreed to betray Our Lord for thirty pieces of silver.  Each of the Evangelists' Gospels make note of the fact. Today is Luke's Gospel of the Passion (22: 1-17; 23: 1-53). It begins with this fact. "........And Satan entered into Judas, who was surnamed Iscariot, one of the twelve. And he went and discoursed with the chief priests and the magistrates how he might betray Him to them......"

   One of the passages from Isaiah which is read today in the Epistle (Isaias 53:1-12) foretells the Passion so well. ".......the Man of Sorrows......was led as a sheep to the slaughter and was dumb...He was covered with wounds and reputed with the wicked......He was bruised for our sins......Cut off out of the land of the living, He had the ungodly to guard his sepulchre and the rich to bury Him.....and by His bruises we are healed."

   The Introit is from St. Paul's Letter to the Philippians, 2: 10,8,11.  "In the name of Jesus let every knee bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; for the Lord became obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. Therefore our Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father."

We do have much to think about this Holy Week. Don't let it slip by without some real interior searching. How many times have we become like Judas and betrayed Our Lord? Judas repented, but in despair, and hanged himself. Christ has given us hope, always, for redemption, no matter what our sins against Him. Despair has no place in our thinking. Christ suffered, died and rose again for our salvation, not our condemnation.