Beads of Joy Blog II (2025 - 2026)

🕯️ Wednesday, April 1, 2026 The Chief Priests Paid Judas 30 Pieces of Silver to Betray Jesus Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. Spy Wednesday • Wednesday of Holy Week • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II ✝️ Today's Mass Readings First Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9a Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 69:8-10, 21-22, 31, 33-34 Gospel: Matthew 26:14-25 📖 The Gospel Judas goes to the chief priests and asks, what are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you? They pay him thirty pieces of silver. From that moment, he looks for an opportunity to hand Him over. Meanwhile, Jesus says to His disciples, go into the city, prepare the Passover for us. 🙏 Reflection Spy Wednesday. The day everything goes quietly before the storm. Judas is counting his silver on one side of the city. Jesus is preparing the Passover on the other hand. Two completely different kinds of preparation are happening simultaneously, one for betrayal, one for the greatest gift ever given. Isaiah describes ...

🕯️ Tuesday, March 31, 2026 Will You Betray Me Too? Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot Tuesday of Holy Week • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II ✝️ Today's Mass Readings First Reading: Isaiah 49:1-6 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15, 17 Gospel: John 13:21-33, 36-38 📖 The Gospel At the Last Supper, Jesus is troubled in spirit and says plainly, "One of you will betray me." The disciples look at each other. Peter signals to John, asking him who it is. Jesus says, it is the one to whom I hand this morsel. He hands it to Judas. And immediately Judas goes out. And it was night. Then Jesus turns to Peter, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times. 🙏 Reflection Two betrayals. One dramatic, one desperate. Judas walks out into the night with a plan already forming. Peter sits at the table full of confidence, Lord, I will lay down my life for you, with absolutely no idea what the next few hours will cost him. Here is the uncomfortable tru...

🕯️ Monday, March 30, 2026 Monday of Holy Week She Poured It All Out Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. Monday of Holy Week • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II ✝️ Today's Mass Readings First Reading: Isaiah 42:1-7 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 27:1-3, 13-14 Gospel: John 12:1-11 📖 The Gospel Six days before Passover. Mary of Bethany takes a pound of pure nard, worth nearly a year's wages, and pours every drop of it on the feet of Jesus. Then she wipes His feet with her hair. The whole house fills with the fragrance. Judas objected immediately. Jesus says, "Leave her alone. She has kept this for the day of my burial." 🙏 Reflection Here we are, Holy Week has begun, and there are only six days left. Mary didn't measure it out; she wasn't saving it for later. She poured the whole jar, extravagantly, scandalously, completely, on the feet of the One she loved. And the whole house filled with the beautiful fragrance of it. Judas had the math right...

🌿 Sunday, March 29, 2026 Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord • Year A • Lent 2026 • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II ✝️ Today's Mass Readings Procession Gospel: Matthew 21:1-11 First Reading: Isaiah 50:4-7 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24 Second Reading: Philippians 2:6-11 Passion Gospel: Matthew 26:14 - 27:66 📖 The Gospel - Matthew 21:1-11 & Matthew 26:14 - 27:66 He rides in on a donkey. The crowds wave palm branches and cry Hosanna. The whole city is shaken. Who is this? This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth. And then in the same liturgy, the longest Gospel of the year, everything unfolds. Judas. The Last Supper. Gethsemane. The arrest. The denial. The trial. The scourging. The cross. It is finished. 🙏 Gospel Reflection Palm Sunday is the most dramatic bipolar day in the entire liturgical year. I say bipolar for a reason. We begin it waving palms and cr...

🌿 Saturday, March 28, 2026 One Man Should Die for the People Caiaphas Prophesied Without Knowing Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent • Lent 2026 • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II ✝️ Today's Mass Readings First Reading: Ezekiel 37:21-28 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14 Gospel: John 11:45-56 📖 The Gospel - John 11:45-56 After the raising of Lazarus, many believe in Jesus, but some report to the Pharisees, and the chief priests call a council. They are afraid that if we let him go on like this, everyone will believe. And Caiaphas says, it is better that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish. And John tells us, he did not say this on his own. He prophesied. And from that day, they planned to put Jesus to death 🙏 Gospel   Reflection This is an extraordinary moment in the Gospel of John. Caiaphas intends his words as cold political calculation; one man sacrificed for the survival of the ...

🌿 Friday, March 27, 2026 They Picked Up Stones Jesus Escapes Their Anger Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent • Day of Abstinence • Lent 2026 • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II ✝️ Today's Mass Readings First Reading: Jeremiah 20:10-13 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 5-6, 7 Gospel: John 10:31-42 📖 The Gospel - John 10:31-42 They picked up stones to throw at Jesus. He asks them, for which good work are you stoning me? They say, not for any good work but for blasphemy. Jesus reasons with them, quotes Scripture, and invites them to look at the evidence of His works. They try to arrest Him. Jesus escapes and goes back across the Jordan, where many came to believe in Him. 🙏 Gospel Reflection Jeremiah opens today with an honest and raw prayer. He has been mocked, threatened, and denounced by his own friends. He hears whispering on every side, denounce him, let us denounce him. And he pours it all out before God without softenin...