YHWH has given me a well-trained tongue
that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.
Morning after morning, YHWH awakens me,
to hear as disciples do.
YHWH opens my ears;
I was not disobedient,
I did not turn back;
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who humiliated me;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.
YHWH helps me,
therefore I am not dishonored;
therefore I have set my face firm.
I know I will not be put to shame.

Response: My God, my God, why have You deserted me?

All who see me jeer at me, /they toss their heads and sneer,
“You relied on your God, let your God save you!
If your God is your friend, let your God rescue you!”
R: My God my God, why have You deserted me?

A pack of dogs surrounds me, / a gang of villains closes me in.
They tie me hand and foot / and leave me lying in the dust of death.
R: My God, my God, why have You deserted me?

They divide my garments among them / and cast lots for my clothes.
Do not stand aside, Adonai. / O my strength, come quickly to my help.
R: My God, my God, why have You deserted me?

Then I will proclaim Your Name, / praise You in full assembly:
You who fear the Most High, praise God! / Entire race of Israel, revere God!
R: My God, my God, why have You deserted me?

Each of you should think of the interests of others before your own.
Your attitude must be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Christ, though in the image of God,
did not deem equality with God
something to be clung to —
but instead became completely empty
and took the image of oppressed humankind:
born into the human condition,
found in the likeness of a human being.

Jesus was thus humbled —
obediently accepting death, even death on a cross!

Because of this, God highly exalted Christ
and gave to Jesus the name above every other name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee must bend
in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth,
and every tongue proclaim to the glory of God:
Jesus Christ reigns supreme!

At the procession of palms: Mark 11:1-10

As they approached Jerusalem
and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives,
Jesus sent off two of the disciples with this instruction:
“Go to the village straight ahead of you,
and as soon as you enter it you will find tethered there a colt on which no one has ridden.
Untie it and bring it back.
If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing that?’
say, ‘The Rabbi needs it but will send it back very soon.’ ”

So they went off, and finding a colt tethered out on the street near a gate, they untied it.

Some of the bystanders said to them,
“What do you mean by untying that colt?”
They answered as Jesus had told them to,
and the people let them take it.
They brought the colt to Jesus
and threw their cloaks across its back,  and he sat on it.
Many people spread their cloaks on the road,
while others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields.
And everyone around Jesus, in front or in back of him, cried out:

“Hosanna!
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of Our God!
Blessed is the coming reign of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest!”

At Mass: Mark 14:1 – 16:47

NOTE: The Passion reading is divided into eight speaking roles:
1) Narrator
2) Jesus
3) Judas
4) Peter
5) Woman
6) Speaker One (disciple)
7) Speaker Two (high priest)
8) Pontius Pilate

NARRATOR: Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were to be observed in two days’ time.
The chief priests and religious scholars were looking for some excuse to arrest Jesus and kill him.
But they said:

SPEAKER ONE: Not during the festival, or the people may riot.

NARRATOR: While Jesus was in Bethany reclining at a table in the house of Simon, who was afflicted with leprosy,
a woman entered carrying an alabaster jar of perfume made from expensive aromatic nard.
After breaking the jar, she began to pour the perfume on his head.
Some said to themselves indignantly:

SPEAKER ONE: What is the point of this extravagant waste of perfume?
It could have been sold for over three hundred silver pieces, and the money given to those in need!

NARRATOR: They were infuriated with her.

JESUS: Let her alone. Why do you criticize her? She has done me a kindness.
You will always have poor people among you, and you can do them good whenever you want,
but you will not always have me.
She has done what she could.
She has anointed my body and is preparing it for burial.
The truth is, wherever the Good News is proclaimed throughout the world,
what she has done will be told in her memory.

NARRATOR: Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve,
went off to the chief priests to hand Jesus over to them.
Hearing what he had to say, they were jubilant and promised to give him money.
Then Judas started looking for an opportune moment to betray Jesus.
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
when it was customary to sacrifice the paschal lamb, the disciples said to Jesus:

ALL: Where do you want us to prepare the Passover supper for you?

JESUS: Go into the city, and you will come upon a man carrying a water jar.
Follow him into a house he enters and say to the owner,
“The Teacher asks, ‘Where is my guestroom?
I want to eat the Passover meal there with my disciples.’”
Then you will be shown an upstairs room, spacious, furnished, with everything in order.
That is the place you are to get ready for us.

NARRATOR: The disciples went off.
When they reached the city, they found it just as Jesus had told them,
and they prepared the Passover supper.
As it grew dark, Jesus arrived with the Twelve.
They reclined at table, and in the course of the meal Jesus said:

JESUS: The truth is, one of you is about to betray me — one who is eating with me.

NARRATOR: They were very upset at these words,
and one by one they said to him,  “Surely it is not I!”
Jesus replied:

JESUS: It is one of you Twelve, one who dips into the dish with me.
The Chosen One is going the way the scriptures foretell.
But woe to the one by whom the Chosen One is betrayed!
It were better had that that person never been born.

NARRATOR: During the meal Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it,
and gave it to the disciples saying:

JESUS: Take this and eat it. This is my body.

NARRATOR: He likewise took a cup, gave thanks and passed it to them, and they all drank from it.
Jesus said to them:

JESUS: This is my blood, the blood of the Covenant,
which will be poured out on behalf of many.
The truth is, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine
until the day I drink it anew in the kindom of God.

NARRATOR: After singing songs of praise, they walked out to the Mount of Olives.
As they were walking, Jesus then said to them:

JESUS: You will all fall away, for scripture says,
“I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.”
But after I have been raised, I will go to Galilee ahead of you.

NARRATOR: Peter said to Jesus:

PETER: Even though everyone may fall away, I will not.

JESUS: The truth is, this very night before the cock crows twice,
you will deny me three times.

NARRATOR: But Peter said vehemently:

PETER: Even if I have to die with you, I will not disown you.

NARRATOR: All the other disciples said the same.
Then they came to a place called Gethsemane.
Jesus said to them:

JESUS: Sit down here while I pray.

NARRATOR: Jesus took along with him Peter, James and John.
Then he began to be very distressed and troubled, and he said to them:

JESUS: My heart is filled with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch.

NARRATOR: Jesus went a little farther off and fell to the ground,
praying that if it were possible this hour might pass him by.
He said:

JESUS: Abba, you have the power to do all things. Take this cup away from me.
But let it be not my will, but your will.

NARRATOR: When Jesus returned he found the disciples asleep. He said to Peter:

JESUS: Asleep, Simon? Could you not stay awake for even an hour?
Be on guard, and pray that you not be put to the test.
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

NARRATOR: Going back again, Jesus began to pray in the same words.
Upon returning Jesus found the disciples asleep once again.
They could not keep their eyes open, nor did they know what to say to him.
He returned a third time and said:

JESUS: Still sleeping? Still taking your rest? It will have to do.
The hour is upon us — the Chosen One is being handed into the clutches of evildoers.
Get up, let us go.
Look! Here comes my betrayer.

NARRATOR: While Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve,
came up accompanied by a crowd carrying swords and clubs;
they had been sent by the chief priests, the religious scholars and the elders.
The betrayer had arranged this signal for them:

JUDAS: Whomever I embrace is the one;
arrest him and take him away under guard.

NARRATOR: Judas went directly to Jesus, embraced him, and said:

JUDAS: Rabbi!

NARRATOR: At this they laid hands on Jesus and arrested him.
One of the bystanders drew his sword and struck the high priest’s attendant,  cutting off his ear.
Jesus then said:

JESUS: Why have you come to arrest me with swords and clubs, as though I were a robber?
I was within your reach daily, teaching in the Temple precincts, yet you never arrested me.
But let the scriptures be fulfilled.

NARRATOR: With that, all the disciples deserted Jesus and fled.
Following Jesus was a youth wearing nothing but a linen cloth,
whom they also tried to arrest but who fled naked, leaving the cloth behind.
Then they led Jesus off to the high priest,
and all the chief priests, elders and religious scholars gathered together.
Peter followed at a distance right into the high priest’s courtyard,
where he found a seat with the Temple guard and began to warm himself at the fire.

The chief priests with the whole Sanhedrin were busy soliciting testimony against Jesus
that might lead to his death, but they could not find any.
Many gave false testimony against Jesus, but their stories did not agree.
Some, for instance, on taking the stand, testified falsely by saying:

SPEAKER ONE: We heard him declare,
“I will destroy this Temple made by human hands,
and in three days I will build another made without hands!”

NARRATOR: But even in this, their testimony did not agree.
The high priest stood before the court and began to interrogate Jesus:

SPEAKER TWO: Have you no answer to what these people are testifying against you?

NARRATOR: But Jesus remained silent and made no reply.
Once again the high priest interrogated him:

SPEAKER TWO: Are you the Messiah, the Only Begotten of the Blessed One?

JESUS: I am!
And you will see the Chosen One seated at the right hand of the Power
and coming with the clouds of heaven.

NARRATOR: At that, the high priest tore his robes and said:

SPEAKER TWO: What further need do we have of witnesses?
You have heard the blasphemy.
What is your verdict?

ALL: He is guilty and deserves death!

NARRATOR: Some of them began to spit on Jesus.
They blindfolded and hit him, saying:

ALL: Prophesy! Who struck you?

NARRATOR: While Peter was down in the courtyard,
one of the attendants of the high priest came along.
When she noticed Peter seated near the fire, she looked more closely at him and said:

WOMAN: You too were with Jesus of Nazareth.

NARRATOR: Peter said:

PETER: I do not know what you are talking about!
What do you mean?

NARRATOR: Then Peter went out into the gateway. At that moment a rooster crowed.
The woman, keeping an eye on him, started again to tell the bystanders:

WOMAN: He is one of them.

NARRATOR: Once again Peter denied it.
A little later the bystanders said to him once more:

ALL: You are certainly one of them!
You are a Galilean, are you not?

NARRATOR: Peter began to curse, and he swore:

PETER: I do not even know whom you are talking about!

NARRATOR: The cock crowed a second time.
And Peter recalled the prediction Jesus had made.
“Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
He rushed away, weeping.

As soon as it was daybreak the chief priests, the elders and religious scholars
and the whole Sanhedrin reached a decision.
They bound Jesus and led him away,
and handed him over to Pilate, who interrogated him:

PILATE: Are you the King of the Jews?

JESUS: You are the one who is saying it.

NARRATOR: The chief priests then brought many accusations against him.
Pilate interrogated Jesus again:

PILATE: Surely you have some answer?
See how many accusations they are leveling against you!

NARRATOR: But to Pilate’s astonishment, Jesus made no further response.
Now whenever there was a festival, Pilate would release for them one prisoner — anyone they asked for.
There was a prisoner named Barabbas who was jailed
along with the rioters who had committed murder in the uprising.
When the crowd came to ask that Pilate honor the custom, Pilate rejoined:

PILATE: Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?

NARRATOR: Pilate was aware, of course, that it was out of jealousy
that the chief priests had handed Jesus over.
But the chief priests incited the crowd to have him release Barabbas instead.
Pilate again asked them:

PILATE: What am I to do with the one you call the King of the Jews?

NARRATOR: The people shouted back:

ALL: Crucify him!

PILATE: Why? What crime has he committed?

NARRATOR: But they shouted even louder:

ALL: Crucify him!

NARRATOR: So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them,
and after having Jesus scourged, handed him over to be crucified.
The soldiers led Jesus away into the hall known as the Praetorium;
then they assembled the whole battalion.
They dressed Jesus in royal purple, then wove a crown of thorns and put it on him.
They began to salute him:

ALL: All hail, King of the Jews!

NARRATOR: They kept striking Jesus on the head with a reed,
spitting at him and kneeling in front of him pretending to pay homage.
When they had finished mocking him, they stripped him of the purple
and dressed him in his own clothes.
Then they led him out to be crucified.
A passerby named Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus,
was coming in from the fields.
The soldiers pressed him into service to carry Jesus’ cross.
Then they brought Jesus to the site of Golgotha — which means “Skull Place.”
They tried to give him wine drugged with myrrh, but he would not take it.
Then they nailed him to the cross
and divided up his garments by rolling dice for them to see what each should take.
It was about nine in the morning when they crucified him.
The inscription listing the charge read,  “The King of the Jews.”
With Jesus they crucified two robbers, one at his right and one at his left.
People going by kept insulting Jesus, shaking their heads and saying:

ALL: So you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days!
Save yourself now by coming down from that cross!

NARRATOR: The chief priests and the religious scholars also joined in and jeered:

ALL: He saved others, but he cannot save himself!
Let “the Messiah, the King of Israel” come down from that cross right now
so that we can see it and believe in him.

NARRATOR: Those who had been crucified with him hurled the same insult.

When noon came, darkness fell on the whole countryside
and lasted until about three in the afternoon.
At three, Jesus cried out in a loud voice:

JESUS: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?

NARRATOR: Which means:

JESUS: My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

NARRATOR: A few of the bystanders who heard it remarked:

ALL: Listen! He is calling on Elijah!

NARRATOR: Someone ran and soaked a sponge in sour wine
and stuck it on a reed to try to make Jesus drink, saying:

ALL: Let us see if Elijah comes to take him down.

NARRATOR: Then Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.
At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.
The centurion who stood guard over Jesus, seeing how he died,  declared:

ALL: Clearly, this was God’s own!
(All kneel for a moment in prayer)

NARRATOR: Also present were some women who were looking on from a distance.
Among them were Mary of Magdala; Mary, the mother of James the younger and Joses;  and Salome.
These women had followed Jesus when he was in Galilee and attended to his needs.
There were also many others who had come up with him to Jerusalem.

As it grew dark — it was Preparation Day, that is, the eve of the Sabbath —
a distinguished member of the Sanhedrin, Joseph from Arimathea, arrived.
He was waiting for the reign of God, and he gathered up courage
and sought an audience with Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus.
Pilate was surprised that Jesus should have died so soon.
He summoned the centurion and inquired whether Jesus was already dead.
Upon learning that this was so, Pilate released the body to Joseph.
Then, having brought a linen shroud, Joseph took the body of Jesus down,
wrapped him in the linen and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of rock.
Finally, he rolled a large stone across the entrance of the tomb.

Meanwhile, Mary of Magdala and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were looking on
and observed where Jesus had been laid.