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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
nation. A terrible utilitarian logic. And yet the Holy Spirit takes those
cynical words and turns them into prophecy. He did not say this on his own. The
high priest, in all his political coldness, in all his scheming, became an
instrument of divine revelation without knowing it.
God has a way of doing that. Of taking the
words of those who oppose Him and weaving them into His own plan. Of taking the
worst human intentions and accomplishing the greatest divine purposes through
them. Joseph's brothers meant to destroy him; God meant it for salvation.
Caiaphas meant political survival; God meant it for the redemption of the
entire human race.
Ezekiel gives us today one of the most
beautiful covenant promises in all of Scripture, I will make a covenant of
peace with them. My dwelling shall be with them. I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. That covenant, about to be fulfilled in the blood of the
Lamb of God, is what Caiaphas accidentally prophesied. One man to die. One man
whose death would gather into one the scattered children of God. One man whose
hour has finally, fully come.
Tomorrow is Palm Sunday. The hour has
arrived. Walk toward it with everything you have.
💭 Reflection Question
Where in your own
life has God taken something that was meant against you, a betrayal, a loss, a
plan that fell apart, and woven it into something that could only have come
from His hand? Can you see it now from this distance?
📿 Today's Rosary - The Sorrowful Mysteries
Today's Focus
Mystery: The Scourging at the
Pillar
The plan is now fully
set. The council has decided. The hour that John's Gospel has been moving
toward since chapter one is about to arrive. As you pray these beads today on
the eve of Palm Sunday, pray them with the weight of what is coming. Tomorrow,
He enters Jerusalem. The rest of the story you know. Pray it with fresh eyes,
as if for the first time.
🌹 Our Lady of Fatima - Today's Connection
Ezekiel promises
today, "My dwelling shall be with them. I will be their God, and they shall be
my people." Our Lady of Fatima's entire mission is to help us live inside that
covenant, to pray, to convert, to receive the sacraments, to keep God's
dwelling among His people alive in a world that keeps trying to evict Him.
Tomorrow, Palm Sunday begins. She has been walking with us through every week of
this Lent toward this moment. Let her hand steady yours as you enter the
holiest week of the year. She has walked this road before. She knows every step
of what is coming. Let her lead you through it.
🕊️ Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, tomorrow
You enter Jerusalem. The hour has come. Everything this Lent has been building
toward is about to arrive. Walk me into Holy Week with eyes wide open and a
heart fully surrendered. I am ready. Or as ready as I will ever be. Lead me in.
Amen.
©2026 James Dacey, Jr., OFS
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