Daily Retreat 04/12/06

2006 Apr 12 Wed: Wednesday of Holy Week

Is 50: 4-9a/ Ps 68(69): 8-10. 21-22. 31 and 33-34/ Mt 26: 14-25

From today’s readings: "The Lord GOD is My help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set My face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.... For the LORD hears the poor, and His own who are in bonds, He spurns not.... My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with My disciples...."

The Triumphant Servant of the Lord

Christ’s victory over sin and death is the greatest triumph of all time, and yet, He was not at all gloatingly triumphant - rather, He meekly and lovingly endured all the injuries and insults of His Passion and Death for the sake of all who would turn to Him for salvation.

For Christ, remember, never set out to triumph over Caiphas and the Sanhedrin, Pilate and the Romans, for these were merely agents of the real Enemy whom Jesus came to vanquish. All those who definitively align themselves with the Devil will ultimately share his fate of damnation, but among those who once ally themselves with Evil, some are providentially moved to repentance by the example of the Suffering Servant, Who conquered evil by refusing to return it when He said, "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."