Friday, April 14, 2017
GOOD FRIDAY – YEAR A
02:30 PM Stations of the Cross and Service
Multilingual
07:30 PM Stations of the Cross and Service
Multilingual
First Reading
ISAIAH 52:13, 53:12
13 Look, my servant will
prosper, will grow great, will rise to great heights.
14 As many people were
aghast at him -- he was so inhumanly disfigured that he no longer looked like a
man-
15 so many nations will be
astonished and kings will stay tight-lipped before him, seeing what had never
been told them, learning what they had not heard before.
1 Who has given credence
to what we have heard? And who has seen in it a revelation of Yahweh's arm?
2 Like a sapling he grew
up before him, like a root in arid ground. He had no form or charm to attract
us, no beauty to win our hearts;
3 he was despised, the
lowest of men, a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering, one from whom, as it
were, we averted our gaze, despised, for whom we had no regard.
4 Yet ours were the
sufferings he was bearing, ours the sorrows he was carrying, while we thought
of him as someone being punished and struck with affliction by God;
5 whereas he was being
wounded for our rebellions, crushed because of our guilt; the punishment
reconciling us fell on him, and we have been healed by his bruises.
6 We had all gone astray
like sheep, each taking his own way, and Yahweh brought the acts of rebellion
of all of us to bear on him.
7 Ill-treated and
afflicted, he never opened his mouth, like a lamb led to the slaughter-house,
like a sheep dumb before its shearers he never opened his mouth.
8 Forcibly, after
sentence, he was taken. Which of his contemporaries was concerned at his having
been cut off from the land of the living, at his having been struck dead for
his people's rebellion?
9 He was given a grave
with the wicked, and his tomb is with the rich, although he had done no violence,
had spoken no deceit.
10 It was Yahweh's good
pleasure to crush him with pain; if he gives his life as a sin offering, he
will see his offspring and prolong his life, and through him Yahweh's good
pleasure will be done.
11 After the ordeal he has
endured, he will see the light and be content. By his knowledge, the upright
one, my servant will justify many by taking their guilt on himself.
12 Hence I shall give him
a portion with the many, and he will share the booty with the mighty, for
having exposed himself to death and for being counted as one of the rebellious,
whereas he was bearing the sin of many and interceding for the rebellious.
“The
Word of the Lord”
PSALMS 31: 2, 6, 12-13,
15-16, 17, 24
2 turn your ear to me,
make haste. Be for me a rock-fastness, a fortified citadel to save me.
6 you hate those who
serve useless idols; but my trust is in Yahweh:
12 I have no more place in
their hearts than a corpse, or something lost.
13 All I hear is slander
-- terror wherever I turn -- as they plot together against me, scheming to take
my life.
15 every moment of my life
is in your hands, rescue me from the clutches of my foes who pursue me;
16 let your face shine on
your servant, save me in your faithful love.
17 I call on you, Yahweh,
so let disgrace fall not on me, but on the wicked. Let them go down to Sheol in
silence,
18 muzzles on their lying
mouths, which speak arrogantly against the upright in pride and contempt.
19 Yahweh, what quantities
of good things you have in store for those who fear you, and bestow on those
who make you their refuge, for all humanity to see.
20 Safe in your presence
you hide them, far from human plotting, shielding them in your tent, far from
contentious tongues.
21 Blessed be Yahweh who
works for me miracles of his faithful love (in a fortified city)!
22 In a state of terror I
cried, 'I have been cut off from your sight!' Yet you heard my plea for help
when I cried out to you.
23 Love Yahweh, all his faithful:
Yahweh protects his loyal servants, but he repays the arrogant with interest.
24 Be brave, take heart,
all who put your hope in Yahweh.
Second Reading
HEBREWS 4:14-16; 5:7-9
14 Since in Jesus, the Son
of God, we have the supreme high priest who has gone through to the highest
heaven, we must hold firm to our profession of faith.
15 For the high priest we
have is not incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us, but has been put to
the test in exactly the same way as ourselves, apart from sin.
16 Let us, then, have no
fear in approaching the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace when
we are in need of help.
7 During his life on
earth, he offered up prayer and entreaty, with loud cries and with tears, to
the one who had the power to save him from death, and, winning a hearing by his
reverence,
8 he learnt obedience,
Son though he was, through his sufferings;
9 when he had been
perfected, he became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation
“The
Word of the Lord”
Gospel Reading
JOHN 18:1-19, 42
1 After he had said all
this, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron valley where there
was a garden into which he went with his disciples.
2 Judas the traitor knew
the place also, since Jesus had often met his disciples there,
3 so Judas brought the
cohort to this place together with guards sent by the chief priests and the
Pharisees, all with lanterns and torches and weapons.
4 Knowing everything
that was to happen to him, Jesus came forward and said, 'Who are you looking
for?'
5 They answered, 'Jesus
the Nazarene.' He said, 'I am he.' Now Judas the traitor was standing among
them.
6 When Jesus said to
them, 'I am he,' they moved back and fell on the ground.
7 He asked them a second
time, 'Who are you looking for?' They said, 'Jesus the Nazarene.'
8 Jesus replied, 'I have
told you that I am he. If I am the one you are looking for, let these others
go.'
9 This was to fulfil the
words he had spoken, 'Not one of those you gave me have I lost.'
10 Simon Peter, who had a
sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear.
The servant's name was Malchus.
11 Jesus said to Peter,
'Put your sword back in its scabbard; am I not to drink the cup that the Father
has given me?'
12 The cohort and its
tribune and the Jewish guards seized Jesus and bound him.
13 They took him first to
Annas, because Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest
that year.
14 It was Caiaphas who
had counselled the Jews, 'It is better for one man to die for the people.'
15 Simon Peter, with
another disciple, followed Jesus. This disciple, who was known to the high
priest, went with Jesus into the high priest's palace,
16 but Peter stayed
outside the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went
out, spoke to the door-keeper and brought Peter in.
17 The girl on duty at
the door said to Peter, 'Aren't you another of that man's disciples?' He
answered, 'I am not.'
18 Now it was cold, and
the servants and guards had lit a charcoal fire and were standing there warming
themselves; so Peter stood there too, warming himself with the others.
19 The high priest
questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.
20 Jesus answered, 'I
have spoken openly for all the world to hear; I have always taught in the
synagogue and in the Temple where all the Jews meet together; I have said
nothing in secret.
21 Why ask me? Ask my
hearers what I taught; they know what I said.'
22 At these words, one of
the guards standing by gave Jesus a slap in the face, saying, 'Is that the way
you answer the high priest?'
23 Jesus replied, 'If
there is some offence in what I said, point it out; but if not, why do you
strike me?'
24 Then Annas sent him,
bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.
25 As Simon Peter stood
there warming himself, someone said to him, 'Aren't you another of his
disciples?' He denied it saying, 'I am not.'
26 One of the high
priest's servants, a relation of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said,
'Didn't I see you in the garden with him?'
27 Again Peter denied it;
and at once a cock crowed.
28 They then led Jesus
from the house of Caiaphas to the Praetorium. It was now morning. They did not
go into the Praetorium themselves to avoid becoming defiled and unable to eat
the Passover.
29 So Pilate came outside
to them and said, 'What charge do you bring against this man?' They replied,
30 'If he were not a
criminal, we should not have handed him over to you.'
31
Pilate said, 'Take him yourselves, and try him by your own Law.' The Jews
answered, 'We are not allowed to put anyone to death.'
32 This was to fulfil the
words Jesus had spoken indicating the way he was going to die.
33 So Pilate went back
into the Praetorium and called Jesus to him and asked him, 'Are you the king of
the Jews?'
34 Jesus replied, 'Do you
ask this of your own accord, or have others said it to you about me?'
35 Pilate answered, 'Am I
a Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to
me: what have you done?'
36 Jesus replied, 'Mine
is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would
have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. As it is, my kingdom
does not belong here.'
37 Pilate said, 'So, then
you are a king?' Jesus answered, 'It is you who say that I am a king. I was
born for this, I came into the world for this, to bear witness to the truth;
and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.'
38 'Truth?' said Pilate.
'What is that?' And so saying he went out again to the Jews and said, 'I find
no case against him.
39 But according to a
custom of yours I should release one prisoner at the Passover; would you like
me, then, to release for you the king of the Jews?'
40 At this they shouted,
'Not this man,' they said, 'but Barabbas.' Barabbas was a bandit.
1 Pilate then had Jesus
taken away and scourged;
2 and after this, the
soldiers twisted some thorns into a crown and put it on his head and dressed
him in a purple robe.
3 They kept coming up to
him and saying, 'Hail, king of the Jews!' and slapping him in the face.
4 Pilate came outside
again and said to them, 'Look, I am going to bring him out to you to let you
see that I find no case against him.'
5 Jesus then came out
wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said, 'Here is the
man.'
6 When they saw him, the
chief priests and the guards shouted, 'Crucify him! Crucify him!' Pilate said,
'Take him yourselves and crucify him: I find no case against him.'
7 The Jews replied, 'We
have a Law, and according to that Law he ought to be put to death, because he
has claimed to be Son of God.'
8 When Pilate heard them
say this his fears increased.
9 Re-entering the
Praetorium, he said to Jesus, 'Where do you come from?' But Jesus made no
answer.
10 Pilate then said to
him, 'Are you refusing to speak to me? Surely you know I have power to release
you and I have power to crucify you?'
11 Jesus replied, 'You
would have no power over me at all if it had not been given you from above;
that is why the man who handed me over to you has the greater guilt.'
12 From that moment
Pilate was anxious to set him free, but the Jews shouted, 'If you set him free
you are no friend of Caesar's; anyone who makes himself king is defying
Caesar.'
13 Hearing these words,
Pilate had Jesus brought out, and seated him on the chair of judgement at a
place called the Pavement, in Hebrew Gabbatha.
14 It was the Day of
Preparation, about the sixth hour. 'Here is your king,' said Pilate to the
Jews.
15 But they shouted,
'Away with him, away with him, crucify him.' Pilate said, 'Shall I crucify your
king?' The chief priests answered, 'We have no king except Caesar.'
16 So at that Pilate
handed him over to them to be crucified. They then took charge of Jesus,
17 and carrying his own
cross he went out to the Place of the Skull or, as it is called in Hebrew,
Golgotha,
18 where they crucified
him with two others, one on either side, Jesus being in the middle.
19 Pilate wrote out a
notice and had it fixed to the cross; it ran: 'Jesus the Nazarene, King of the
Jews'.
20 This notice was read
by many of the Jews, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the
city, and the writing was in Hebrew, Latin and Greek.
21 So the Jewish chief
priests said to Pilate, 'You should not write "King of the Jews", but
that the man said, "I am King of the Jews". '
22 Pilate answered, 'What
I have written, I have written.'
23 When the soldiers had
finished crucifying Jesus they took his clothing and divided it into four
shares, one for each soldier. His undergarment was seamless, woven in one piece
from neck to hem;
24 so they said to one
another, 'Instead of tearing it, let's throw dice to decide who is to have it.'
In this way the words of scripture were fulfilled: They divide my garments
among them and cast lots for my clothes. That is what the soldiers did.
25 Near the cross of Jesus
stood his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of
Magdala.
26 Seeing his mother and
the disciple whom he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, 'Woman,
this is your son.'
27 Then to the disciple
he said, 'This is your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into
his home.
28 After this, Jesus knew
that everything had now been completed and, so that the scripture should be
completely fulfilled, he said: I am thirsty.
29 A jar full of sour
wine stood there; so, putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a hyssop stick,
they held it up to his mouth.
30 After Jesus had taken
the wine he said, 'It is fulfilled'; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.
31 It was the Day of
Preparation, and to avoid the bodies' remaining on the cross during the Sabbath
-- since that Sabbath was a day of special solemnity -- the Jews asked Pilate
to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away.
32 Consequently the
soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with
him and then of the other.
33 When they came to
Jesus, they saw he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs
34 one of the soldiers
pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water.
35 This is the evidence
of one who saw it -- true evidence, and he knows that what he says is true --
and he gives it so that you may believe as well.
36 Because all this
happened to fulfil the words of scripture: Not one bone of his will be broken;
37 and again, in another
place scripture says: They will look to the one whom they have pierced.
38 After this, Joseph of
Arimathaea, who was a disciple of Jesus -- though a secret one because he was
afraid of the Jews -- asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate
gave permission, so they came and took it away.
39 Nicodemus came as well
-- the same one who had first come to Jesus at night-time -- and he brought a
mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.
40 They took the body of
Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, following the Jewish burial
custom.
41 At the place where he
had been crucified there was a garden, and in this garden a new tomb in which
no one had yet been buried.
42 Since it was the
Jewish Day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
“The
Gospel of the Lord”
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