March 30, 2026 Monday of Holy Week Gospel: John 12:1-11
Today is Monday of Holy Week. The Gospel passage from Saint John presents to us the narrative of Jesus sharing a meal in Bethany with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.
Saint John tells us that Martha, as was her custom, served Jesus to the best of her ability (cf. Jn 12:1). Lazarus reclined quietly at the table with Jesus (cf. Jn 12:2). Mary offered Jesus the finest expression of devotion she could give she anointed His feet with a very costly ointment and dried them with her hair (cf. Jn 12:3). He wants to tell us that this was a family in harmonious relationship with Jesus.
Yet in this harmonious scene, a discordant voice arose. Saint John informs us that Judas Iscariot—the one who would betray Jesus—said to Him, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” (cf. Jn 12:5). Such voices also persist within Christian communities. As materialism, pragmatism, and consumerism gradually take hold, people grow increasingly focused on earthly values. Consequently, they are unwilling to follow the example of Martha and Mary by offering all they possess to God. Their hearts are often captivated by the world’s money, power, and status before others—captivations that divert our gaze from Christ to this passing world here and now.
Dear brothers and sisters! We must always live with a sense of urgency and maintain an awareness of crisis in our minds, for there will come a day when we lose the time we have with our loving Lord Jesus Christ. If our thoughts and actions are fully aligned with all that Christ has taught us, and if we conduct ourselves entirely in imitation of Him, then no change in this changing world will affect our communion with Christ. But if our hearts remain hardened, refusing to repent of our sins or to live out God’s will through our own actions as Christ taught, then when our earthly life ends and we stand before the throne of God’s justice, we will enter into eternal perdition because of all we have done. Like Judas, we will be cast into the darkness filled with wailing and gnashing of teeth.
In this Holy Week, let us lift up our prayer to God together:
Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, though in our weakness we fail, we may be revived through the Passion of your Only Begotten Son. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
March 29, 2026 Palm Sunday Gospel: Matthew 21:1-11, 26:14-27:66
Today, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Palm Sunday, which marks the beginning of Holy Week. This year on Palm Sunday, there are two Gospel readings, both taken from the holy Gospel of Matthew. They recount the Lord Jesus Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem and His Passion narrative as recorded by Saint Matthew. I would like to take this opportunity to offer some reflections for all of you.
We often act like the crowds who welcomed Jesus into the city of Jerusalem, lining up to greet a distinguished guest who comes among us to be with us, and at times, we do our best to prepare in various ways to welcome that honoured guest. Just as Jesus’ disciples did for Him on that day (cf. Mt 21:1-7). When all preparations were complete, Jesus entered Jerusalem publicly and was welcomed by the crowds there.
We might find it strange: weren’t those crowds in Jerusalem welcoming Him when He entered? Didn’t they cry out, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mt 21:9)? Then, what were they doing when Jesus was being crucified? They sought all kinds of evidence against Jesus, slandering Him in every way possible to put Him to death (cf. Mt 26:57-67; 27:11-26). When Jesus was nailed to the Cross, they even mocked Him, saying: “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is King of Israel; let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He wants Him, for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.'” (cf. Mt 27:39-49). For they refused to believe that Jesus was the One sent by the Father into the world to save it through Him (cf. Jn 3:16-17).
Today, the Church invites each of us to meditate on the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ and all that He did out of love for us. This is precisely an invitation for us to imitate Our Lord Jesus Christ: to courageously surrender ourselves, to remain steadfast in adversity, to always trust in God’s mercy, to always follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to have our hearts set on loving God above all things, and to imitate Jesus by loving those who hurt us and praying for God’s mercy upon them.
Almighty ever-living God, who as an example of humility for the human race to follow caused our Savior to take flesh and submit to the Cross, graciously grant that we may heed his lesson of patient suffering and so merit a share in his Resurrection. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever
March 28, 2026 Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent Gospel: John 11:45-56
Today is the Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent. The passage from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John continues to present us with a narrative of Jesus before His Passion.
We often handle our interpersonal relationships according to our own thoughts and concerns. Some of us are unwilling to point out others’ mistakes and shortcomings face-to-face; instead, we prefer to criticize them behind their backs, even magnifying the slightest errors or flaws they have committed, yet we are reluctant to first reflect on whether we ourselves share similar shortcomings.
We often seek various reasons and excuses for the sins we commit, unwilling to confront the sins we have committed or accept who we are in the present moment. With eyes filled with hatred and jealousy, we drive out of our lives those sacred ministers of God’s Church who preach the Gospel of the Kingdom and set a holy example through their personal practice, as well as those brothers and sisters sent by the Lord to manifest His infinite mercy. We even report everything about them to their adversaries, hoping to ensure they never appear in our faith life again—just as the Jews did who came from Bethany (cf. John 11:45-46). For their hearts were so hardened that they refused to accept all that God revealed to them through His only Son and tried every means possible to prevent others from turning to God. Therefore, if we are unwilling to first examine our faith, accept who we are in the present, and follow Christ’s example by practicing charity in daily life—imitating Christ and attracting others to God through our acts of love—we will be like the chief priests and Pharisees who resolved to put Jesus to death (cf. John 11:47-50). They pursued all worldly power, refusing to completely surrender themselves to God to fulfil His will in all things.
As we draw nearer to Holy Week, let us now offer this prayer to God:
O God, who have made all those reborn in Christ a chosen race and a royal priesthood, grant us, we pray, the grace to will and to do what you command, that the people called to eternal life may be one in the faith of their hearts and the homage of their deeds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
全属于祢 
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