16 April 2025 - Wednesday of Holy Week
Homily
Yesterday, our first reading was the second of the four songs of the Servant found in the Book of Consolation of Israel by the prophet Isaiah. Today we have the third of these songs, which we also read at the Palm Sunday mass. The Church has always seen in this Servant a prefiguration of the suffering Messiah.
It is a very beautiful text, which speaks to us of listening and of words, of attention and of consolation. The text begins with the mention of consolation. ‘The Lord my God has given me the language of the disciples, so that I may support with a word he who is exhausted.’ But before speaking, he had to listen. And to listen, his ears had to be alert and open: ‘Every morning, [my God] awakens my ear so that as a disciple, I may listen’. One can easily recognise in this text an influence on the Prologue of the Rule where Saint Benedict says to his disciple: ‘Listen, my son, to the precepts of the Master... incline the ear of your heart’.
Yesterday, as a Gospel text, we had the account of Jesus‘ last supper with his disciples, according to the Gospel of John. Today we have the same account according to the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew emphasises the sadness. Jesus’ sadness, of course, but also the deep sadness of the disciples and no doubt also that of Judas, who asks ‘Could it be I?’ Jesus' response, which is simply “You said it yourself”, corresponds quite well to the attitude of the Servant of the Book of Isaiah: ’... I did not rebel or turn away. I gave my back to those who beat me.’
Aware of our own sins, it is with the same sadness as that of the disciples that we enter the Easter Triduum. However, it is a sadness accompanied by joy, because we know that it is through Jesus' suffering and sadness that we have been forgiven. Over the next three days, during our celebrations, we will accompany Him through all the stages of His passion, to joyfully celebrate His resurrection on Easter night.
Armand Veilleux