Jesus directs the Apostles to prepare for the Passover and Judas agrees to betray Jesus. Every Catholic man can grow in happiness by building the Virtue of Obedience so he can always fulfill his sacred duty to attend Sunday Mass and by cultivating the Virtue of Diligence so he can strive to honor God with every thought, word and deed.
Liturgy
Omitted from the Liturgy: see Holy Week – Wednesday – Mt 26:14-25
Commentary
Following His triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Jesus teaches in the Temple in the days preceding the Passover, and spends the nights in Bethany, a small nearby town. Judas’ long-simmering sinfulness invites Satan into his soul and he sneaks away and betrays Jesus to the Jewish leadership (Lk 22:3-6) for a paltry 30 pieces of silver (Mt 26:14-16).
Commanded by God (Ex 12), Jews were required each year to commemorate God’s deliverance from physical and spiritual slavery in Egypt by eating a ritual meal which recalled the Night of the Passover; prayers were said, four ritual cups of wine were drank, and a male lamb, sacrificed at the Temple, was eaten along with bitter herbs. Jesus and His Apostles will keep the Passover and Jesus will transform the Passover ritual into the Sacrament of the Eucharist beginning at the Last Supper and culminating with His death on the Cross.
Jesus, the perfection of the Law, keeps the Passover, sending His Apostles to the owner of a home with the Upper Room to prepare the Passover feast. Mysteriously, Jesus directs the Apostles to find a man carrying water (highly unusual, for typically only women carried water) who has a room prepared and available despite the thousands of pilgrims in Jerusalem for the Passover; the Apostles find the man just as Jesus revealed and they prepare the Passover.
Be awed by Jesus Christ
Marvel how Jesus mysteriously prepares for His Passion: Person of the Trinity, Jesus saves the Jews from bondage in Egypt by establishing the Passover Feast over a thousand years before His Nativity; Divine Priest, Jesus establishes the ritual of the Passover Feast, keeps the Passover during His earthly life including the Passover of the Last Supper before His Passion; Son of God, with Divine Providence, Jesus mysteriously influences a householder to be ready for Jesus and the Apostles to keep the Passover in the Upper Room; Divine Prophet, Jesus exactly directs the Apostles to find the owner of the Upper Room.
Fulfill your sacred duty to attend Sunday Mass
Realize: Sadly, a large number of Catholic men fail to keep their mandatory weekly obligation (Latin obligatio, meaning “a binding pledge”, a “sacred duty”) to gratefully praise and give glory to God in the Holy Catholic Mass (CCC 2041-2042); no Catholic man has the authority to decide if he may miss his obligation to attend Sunday Mass and missing a Mass requires either prior approval from a priest or the man must confess the grave sin of missing Sunday mass in the Sacrament of Penance.
Believe: Somberly reflect upon the truth that Jesus died to establish the Eucharist (CCC 1339-1340).
Pray: Almighty Father, help me grow in the Virtue of Obedience (a part of Justice) so that I never again fail in my sacred duty to thank and give glory to You, receive Your Son in the Eucharist, and be strengthened by the Spirit in the Mass every Sunday.
Honor God with every thought, word and deed
Realize: Like Judas, when men betray Jesus through their evil thoughts and hidden actions, Jesus is fully aware of their betrayal; nothing a man thinks or does is hidden from Jesus, and everything a man thinks and does will be evidence in his personal Judgment when he dies.
Believe: Meditate upon your own unavoidable Judgment (CCC 1021-1022; 1038-1041).
Pray: Jesus, Divine Judge, help me grow in the Virtue of Diligence (a part of Temperance) so I always strive to never betray and always honor and serve You with my every thought, word and deed.