Responsorial Psalm
All who see me make a jest of me;
they sneer and shake their heads.
"He put his trust in the Lord, let the Lord rescue him!
If the Lord is his friend, let him help him!"
Round about me are vicious dogs,
villainous rogues encircling me.
They have tied up my hands and feet.
They can count all my bones,
for they are looking and watching me,
dividing my garments among them
and casting lots for my raiment.
O Lord, be not far from me!
O my strength, come quickly to my help.
I will proclaim your name to my brothers,
I will praise you in the assembly,
"All you who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you sons of Jacob, glorify him!
All you sons of Israel, revere him!
2nd. READING (Phil 2,6-11)
Though being divine in nature, he did not claim in fact equality with God, but emptied
himself, taking on the nature of a servant, made in human likeness, and in his
appearance found as a man. He humbled himself by being obedient to death, death on
the cross. That is why God exalted him and gave him the Name which outshines all
names, so that at the Name of Jesus all knees should bend in heaven, on earth and
among the dead, and all tongues proclaim that Christ Jesus is the Lord to the glory of
God the Father.
Gospel
The passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Now Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, “Are you
the King of the Jews?”
Jesus said to him, “So you say.”
When he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. 13 Then
Pilate said to him, “Don’t you hear how many things they testify against you?”
He gave him no answer, not even one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.
Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release to the multitude one
prisoner, whom they desired. They had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas.
When therefore they were gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want
me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus, who is called Christ?” For he knew that
because of envy they had delivered him up.
While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing
to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered many things this day in a dream
because of him.” Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the multitudes to ask
for Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. But the governor answered them, “Which of the two
do you want me to release to you?”
They said, “Barabbas!”
Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do to Jesus, who is called Christ?”
They all said to him, “Let him be crucified!”
But the governor said, “Why? What evil has he done?”
But they cried out exceedingly, saying, “Let him be crucified!”
So when Pilate saw that nothing was being gained, but rather that a disturbance was
starting, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am
innocent of the blood of this righteous person. You see to it.”
2All the people answered, “May his blood be on us, and on our children!”
Then he released to them Barabbas, but Jesus he flogged and delivered to be crucified.
Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium, and gathered the whole
garrison together against him. They stripped him, and put a scarlet robe on him. They
braided a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they
kneeled down before him, and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They
spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. When they had mocked
him, they took the robe off of him, and put his clothes on him, and led him away to
crucify him.
As they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, and they compelled
him to go with them, that he might carry his cross. They came to a place called
“Golgotha,” that is to say, “The place of a skull.” They gave him sour wine to drink
mixed with gall. When he had tasted it, he would not drink. When they had crucified
him, they divided his clothing among them, casting lots, and they sat and watched him
there. They set up over his head the accusation against him written, “THIS IS JESUS,
THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
Then there were two robbers crucified with him, one on his right hand and one on the
left. Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, and saying, “You
who destroy the temple, and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of
God, come down from the cross!”
Likewise the chief priests also mocking, with the scribes, the Pharisees, and the elders,
said, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him
come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God
deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” The robbers
also who were crucified with him cast on him the same reproach.
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lima
sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Some of them who stood there, when they heard it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.”
Immediately one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it
on a reed, and gave him a drink. The rest said, “Let him be. Let’s see whether Elijah
comes to save him.”
Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit. Behold, the veil of the
temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks
were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen
asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered
into the holy city and appeared to many. Now the centurion, and those who were with
him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done,
feared exceedingly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
