Readings for Sunday, April 2, 2023

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

When he entered Jerusalem the whole city was shaken and asked, “Who is this?” And the crowds replied, “This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Matthew 21:10-11

Readings for Sunday

First Reading — I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. (Is 50:6)

Psalm — My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? (Ps 22)

Second Reading — He humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him. (Phil 2:8-9)

Gospel — The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” (Mt 26:54)

Readings for the Week

Monday, March 27: Dn 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 or 13:41c-62/Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6/Jn 8:1-11

Tuesday, March 28: Nm 21:4-9/Ps 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21/Jn 8:21-30

Wednesday, March 29: Dn 3:14-20, 91-92, 95/Dn 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56/Jn 8:31-42 

Thursday, March 30: Gn 17:3-9/Ps 105:4-5, 6-7, 8-9/Jn 8:51-59 

Friday, March 31: Jer 20:10-13/Ps 18:2-3a, 3bc-4, 5-6, 7/Jn 10:31-42 

Saturday, April 1: Ez 37:21-28/Jer 31:10, 11-12abcd, 13/Jn 11:45-56

Sunday, April 2: Mt 21:1-11/Is 50:4-7/Ps 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24 (2a)/Phil 2:6-11/Mt 26:14—27:66 or 27:11-54

Monday, April 3: Is 42:1-7/Ps 27:1, 2, 3, 13-14/Jn 12:1-11 

Tuesday, April 4: Is 49:1-6/Ps 71:1-2, 3-4a, 5ab-6ab, 15 and 17/Jn 13:21-33, 36-38 

Wednesday, April 5: Is 50:4-9a/Ps 69:8-10, 21-22, 31 and 33-34/Mt 26:14-25 

Thursday, April 6: Chrism Mass: Is 61:1-3a, 6a, 8b-9/Ps 89:21-22, 25 and 27/Rv 1:5-8/Lk 4:16-21 

Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper: Ex 12:1-8, 11-14/Ps 116:12-13, 16-16bc, 17-18 (see 1 Cor 10:16)/1 Cor 11:23-26/Jn 13:1-15 

Friday, April 7: Is 52:13—53:12/Ps 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17, 25 (Luke 23:46)/Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9/Jn 18:1—19:42 

Saturday, April 8: Easter Vigil: Gn 1:1—2:2 or 1:1, 26-31a/Ps 104:1-2, 5-6, 10, 12, 13-14, 24, 35 (30) or Ps 33:4-5, 6-7, 12-13, 20-22 (5b)/Gn 22:1-18 or 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18/Ps 16:5, 8, 9-10, 11 (1)/Ex 14:15—15:1/ Ex 15:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 17-18 (1b)/Is 54:5-14/Ps 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13 (2a)/Is 55:1-11/Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 (3)/Bar 3:9-15, 32—4:4/Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 11 (Jn 6:68c)/Ez 36:16-17a, 18-28/Ps 42:3, 5; 43:3, 4 (42:2)/Rom 6:3-11/Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23/Mt 28:1-10 

Sunday, April 9: Acts 10:34a, 37-43/Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 (24)/Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8/Jn 20:1-9 or Mt 28:1-10

Click here to find the daily readings on the USCCB website

 

Opening the Word

Editor’s Note: Fr. Peter shares insights from a variety of voices on the Sunday readings.

The Art of Dying

When I was much younger and idealistic, I might have been ready to die for some worthy cause. Friends about my age had the same experience.

There was something romantic about giving our lives then. Something glorious — or so we thought. There was the brotherhood and sisterhood of us all, peace and non-violence, nuclear arms opposition, equal opportunities for education and housing. Many of us now over fifty thought we would lay down our lives for any one of those dreams.

For some of us, things have changed. We’ve grown older and, perhaps, wiser, and it seems we’re not so eager to die anymore. The glamor has been tarnished, and, for some, the romance has turned from infatuation to disillusion. Death seems like a tragedy, continually rearing its strength to destroy in full or in part the fruit of our lives.

Yet death continues to remain the only doorway into real life. Without death there is no life — in this life or in any life. For that reason, then, one of the tasks of life is to learn how to die well, something we also need to teach our children. It takes a lifetime to learn how to die for one another, and that is why our young people need a community of adults who seek to master the art of dying. It is also why, for one long week, we tell the story of Jesus and of how, for the sake of us all, he did not back away from death. 

~Fr. Joseph Juknialis

Reflect

Who has sacrificed for you? Have you “paid it forward” with gratitude?

 

Fr. Joseph Juknialis, a retired priest of the Milwaukee Archdiocese, is the new author of reflections for Liguori Publications’ Our Parish Community bulletins. Fr. Joe has served in ministry as a parish priest and a teacher of homiletics at St. Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee. Retirement has given him time for hiking, canoeing, writing, poetry, gin rummy, the Green Bay Packers, and pursuing his appreciation of nature. In noting the most amazing aspect of his life, Fr. Joe says, “God has always brought me to the place I should be.”