Sunday<\/p>\n
Luke 22:1<\/p>\n
Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover. <\/span> 2\u00a0<\/sup>And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people.<\/span><\/p>\n 3\u00a0<\/sup>Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. <\/span> 4\u00a0<\/sup>So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. <\/span> 5\u00a0<\/sup>And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. <\/span> 6\u00a0<\/sup>So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.<\/span><\/p>\n 7\u00a0<\/sup>Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be [a<\/a>]<\/sup>killed. <\/span> 8\u00a0<\/sup>And He sent Peter and John, saying, \u201cGo and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 9\u00a0<\/sup>So they said to Him, \u201cWhere do You want us to prepare?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 10\u00a0<\/sup>And He said to them, \u201cBehold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters.<\/span> <\/span> 11\u00a0<\/sup>Then you shall say to the master of the house, \u2018The Teacher says to you, \u201cWhere is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?\u201d \u2019<\/span> <\/span> 12\u00a0<\/sup>Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 13\u00a0<\/sup>So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.<\/span><\/p>\n Prayer: Monday The feast of the Passover, the most solemn of all the Jewish feasts, was instituted by God to commemorate the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and remind them of their former slavery from which he saved them (Deut 16:3). It began with the Passover supper on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan (March-April), a little after sundown, and went on until 22 Nisan, the feast of the unleavened bread. The Mosaic Law laid down (Ex 12:15-20) that on the evening of 14 Nisan the Jews had to remove any trace of leaven from their houses and eat unleavened bread for the duration of the feast \u2014 reminding them that when the moment came to leave Egypt they had to leave in such a hurry that they had no time to prepare leavened bread to take with them (Ex 12:34).<\/p>\n Prayer: <\/p>\n Tuesday The Passion of our Lord marks the climax of the struggle between God and the powers of evil. After the third temptation in the desert the devil departed from him until an opportune time (Lk 4:13). The time has now come: it is the hour of Christ\u2019s enemies and of the power of darkness (cf. Lk 22:53), and it is also the hour of God\u2019s definitive victory, for he \u201cdecreed that man should be saved through the wood of the cross. The tree of man\u2019s defeat became his tree of victory; where life was lost, there life has been restored\u201d (Roman Missal, Preface of the Triumph of the Cross).<\/p>\n <\/a>7-13 This scene took place on 14 Nisan. Every Israelite was familiar with the details of preparations for the Passover: it involved a rite which Jewish tradition, based on God-given regulations contained in the Law of Moses (cf. note on Lk 22:1), had spelt out in minute detail \u2014 the unleavened loaves, bitter herbs, and the lamb to be sacrificed in the courtyard of the Temple in the late afternoon. Peter and John, therefore, were perfectly acquainted with all these details: the only enquiry concerns where the supper is to be held, and our Lord tells them exactly how to find the place.<\/p>\n The disciples think that all that is involved is the Passover meal: but Jesus is also thinking about the institution of the Holy Eucharist and the Sacrifice of the New Alliance, which will take the place of the sacrifices of the Old Testament.<\/p>\n Prayer: Wednesday
\nWe adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee for by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.<\/p>\n
\nCommentary from the Navarre Bible Commentary series on Luke 22<\/p>\n
\nLet the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight O Lord my strength and my redeemer<\/p>\n
\nCommentary from the Navarre Bible Commentary series on Luke 22<\/p>\n
\nO Lord come to my assistance, O Lord make haste to help me.<\/p>\n
\nLuk 22:14\u00a0<\/sup>When the hour had come, He sat down, and the [b<\/a>]<\/sup>twelve apostles with Him. <\/span> 15\u00a0<\/sup>Then He said to them, \u201cWith fervent<\/i> desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;<\/span> <\/span> 16\u00a0<\/sup>for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it<\/span> until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n