Texts for Votive Masses
(These texts may also be used in the Votive Mass for the Holy Eucharist)
982 Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest
First Reading
First Option
See, my servant shall prosper,
he shall be raised high and greatly exalted.
Even as many were amazed at him
so marred was his look beyond human semblance
and his appearance beyond that of the sons of man
so shall he startle many nations,
because of him kings shall stand speechless;
for those who have not been told shall see,
those who have not heard shall ponder it.
Who would believe what we have heard?
To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
He grew up like a sapling before him,
like a shoot from the parched earth;
there was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him,
nor appearance that would attract us to him.
He was spurned and avoided by people,
a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity,
one of those from whom people hide their faces,
spurned, and we held him in no esteem.
Yet it was our infirmities that he bore,
our sufferings that he endured,
while we thought of him as stricken,
as one smitten by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our offenses,
crushed for our sins;
upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,
by his stripes we were healed.
We had all gone astray like sheep,
each following his own way;
but the LORD laid upon him
the guilt of us all.
Though he was harshly treated, he submitted
and opened not his mouth;
like a lamb led to the slaughter
or a sheep before the shearers,
he was silent and opened not his mouth.
Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away,
and who would have thought any more of his destiny?
When he was cut off from the land of the living,
and smitten for the sin of his people,
a grave was assigned him among the wicked
and a burial place with evildoers,
though he had done no wrong
nor spoken any falsehood.
But the LORD was pleased
to crush him in infirmity.
If he gives his life as an offering for sin,
he shall see his descendants in a long life,
and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.
Because of his affliction
he shall see the light in fullness of days;
through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,
and their guilt he shall bear.
Therefore I will give him his portion among the great,
and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty,
because he surrendered himself to death
and was counted among the wicked;
and he shall take away the sins of many,
and win pardon for their offenses.
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Commentary on Is 52:13—53:12
The last of the four “Servant of the Lord” oracles is used on Good Friday. A lament for the prophet’s own ill treatment and a prediction of the passion is seen here, beginning with the scourged servant and flowing into the salvific image (“Yet it was our infirmities that he bore”). We are reminded that what the servant bore, he took upon himself willingly (“Though he was harshly treated, he submitted”).
The later paragraphs describe how the servant becomes the “sin offering,” a sacrifice in the Jewish tradition in atonement for sins. In this case we are told, “[H]e shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses.”
CCC: Is 52:13-53:12 713; Is 53:1 591; Is 53:4-6 1505; Is 53:4 517, 1505; Is 53:7-8 601; Is 53:7 608; Is 53:8 627; Is 53:10-12 440, 615; Is 53:10 623; Is 53:11-12 601; Is 53:11 64, 579, 601, 623, 1502; Is 53:12 536, 608
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Second Option
Christ offered one sacrifice for sins,
and took his seat forever at the right hand of God;
now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool.
For by one offering
he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.
The Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying:
This is the covenant I will establish
with them after those days, says the Lord:
"I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them upon their minds,"
he also says:
Their sins and their evildoing
I will remember no more.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since through the Blood of Jesus
we have confidence of entrance into the sanctuary
by the new and living way he opened for us through the veil,
that is, his flesh,
and since we have “a great priest over the house of God,”
let us approach with a sincere heart and in absolute trust,
with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience
and our bodies washed in pure water.
Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope,
for he who made the promise is trustworthy.
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Commentary on Heb 10:12-23
Jesus, through his supreme sacrifice remitted sins once and for all, something no false sacrifice could accomplish. Then Hebrews again hammers the New Covenant home to us. The author quotes, first Psalm 110 (Psalm 110:1) and then the book of the Prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34). He takes the prophecy of the New Covenant and shows how it is fulfilled in Christ.
Next,the sacrifice the Lord makes is contrasted with the Levitical sacrifices of the Hebrew Priests. In Christ the faithful have direct access to God, differentiating from the barrier veils that separate the Jews from the sanctuary. Christ is the eternal High Priest “a great priest over the house of God.”
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Responsorial Psalm
R. (8a and 9a) Here I am. Lord: I come to do your will.
How numerous you have made,
O LORD, my God, your wondrous deeds!
And in your plans for us
there is none to equal you.
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
To do your will, O God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Your justice I kept not hid within my heart;
your faithfulness and salvation I have spoken of.
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
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Commentary on Ps 40:6ab,9bc, 10, 11ab
Psalm 40 is a lament. In these verses emphasis is placed on call by God and response by the psalmist. The signer rejoices in the revelation of God's salvation, marked by signs and wonders. His plan is revealed (especially in Christ, the eternal high priest) and the psalmist accepts his role in it.
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Gospel
When the hour came,
Jesus took his place at table with the Apostles.
He said to them,
“I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer,
for, I tell you, I shall not eat it again
until there is fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and said,
“Take this and share it among yourselves;
for I tell you that from this time on
I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine
until the kingdom of God comes.”
Then he took the bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them, saying,
“This is my body, which will be given for you;
do this in memory of me.”
And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood,
which will be shed for you.
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Commentary on Lk 22:14-20
The beginning verses of the Passion set the tone for what is to follow. Jesus is fully aware of what will transpire in the next hours and embraces his mission fully (“I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer…"). “We must therefore approach this mystery, above all, with humble reverence, not following human arguments, which ought to be hushed, but in steadfast adherence to divine revelation.” (Paul VI, Mysterium fidei) [1]
The narrative immediately relates Jesus celebration of the Passover with his disciples. The Old Covenant is celebrated as a reminder of God’s love for his people. Jesus then transforms the celebration into the New Covenant. “As Passover recalls Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, so the Eucharist both commemorates and accomplishes our redemption from slavery in sin. Jesus reconfigures this ancient feast by placing himself at the center of its significance; he is the true Lamb offered for sin and given as food to God’s family (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:6-8; CCC 1151, 1340).”[2] The Seder meal which Jesus celebrates is structured based on four cups of wine. The first cup, which the Lord offers is the Sanctifying Cup. Jesus sets this feast as one holy and set aside for the Heavenly Father. The Eucharistic Cup offered after the sacrifice of his body in the bread, was probably the third cup – the Cup of Blessing (1 Corinthians 10:16).
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[1] The Navarre Bible, “Gospels and Acts”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, pp. 489
[2] Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. pp.149
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