The Fifth Sunday of Lent!
Introit
On this day we hear in the Introit (Extraordinary Rite) -
Psalms 42:1-2
Judge me (or Judica me, in Latin), O God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy; deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man, for Thou are my God and my strength. Send forth Thy light and Thy truth: they have conducted me, and brought me unto Thy holy hill, and into Thy tabernacles. Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause form the nation that is not holy; deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man, for Thou art my God and my strength.
Passion Sunday
It is also Passion Sunday, and we cover our sacred artwork with purple cloths, and there they stay until the First Mass of Easter - at Midnight. In some traditions, the veiling takes place on Holy Thursday of Holy Week, but the older tradition starts with Passion Sunday - the beginning of Passiontide, the last two weeks before Holy Week. Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday, which is the Sixth Sunday of Lent.
The Epistle
The Epistle for Passion Sunday (Extraordinary Rite) comes from Hebrews 9:11-15. It teaches us that the sacrificing of the Old Testament has been fulfilled in the Sacrifice of Christ in the New Testament. His Sacrifice is once for all time, for the many whom He has called to the Kingdom. In the Mass we have not a repeated sacrifice, but a re-
The Gospel
The Gospel comes to us from John 8:46-59. In this passage, the Jews are challenging Jesus, and He emphatically states that He honors the Father - and they have dishonored Him. Not that He seeks His own glory - but the glory of the Father. "Amen, amen, I say unto you, if any man keep My word, he shall not see death for ever." Challenging Him further, the Jews declare He has a devil, because Abraham and the prophets are all dead - "Art Thou greater than our father, Abraham, who is dead?" And He concludes with, "Amen, amen, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I AM."
Jesus uses the same title God uses for Himself with Moses, "I AM." Here Jesus has definitively declared He IS God, for He is "I AM."
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