Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament

April 1, 2026

Wednesday of Holy Week

We have completed our Lenten Journey, and in the next few days, we will celebrate the most unique and richest liturgies of the Church year. We, as a community, as a Church, celebrate the passion, death, and resurrection of the Lord, the very act of our salvation.

In the past, this day was called Spy Wednesday. In the context of the Last Supper, we are confronted with Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. The dialogue between Jesus and Judas takes place with all the disciples present, amid great confusion. Judas leaves, and the Gospel moves directly into the traditional Eucharistic Institutional narrative.

The meal ends, and Jesus and the disciples move to the Garden. It is a rough night for Jesus. He tells Peter that he will deny him, and Peter vigorously denies such a possibility. Jesus reveals to his disciples the agony he is feeling and asks them to stay awake and pray with him. They were unable to do that, even after he came back to them and pleaded three times. When he is arrested, they all run away, and Jesus is taken away alone. Later, Peter will deny Jesus three times.

In the spirituality of Saint Ignatius (Ignatian Spirituality), we are asked to see ourselves as a character in a Gospel passage. Suppose you see yourself as Jesus in this passage. The men you have been with, taught, the men who had seen you do great things, the men you have just given your Body and Blood to in bread and wine, have run from you and left you alone. Have you ever felt abandoned by those who you thought loved you?

Today’s liturgy calls us to feel Jesus’ sense of being abandoned. Today could be a day in which we reflect on the Jesus that we have abandoned in the lonely, the poor, the hungry, the refugee, the prisoner.

Let Us Pray:

Lord Jesus, those who were closest to you abandoned you in your hour of agony and loneliness. They later became brave and bold witnesses to you and your message of salvation. Give us today, as we prepare to celebrate your passion, death, and resurrection, an abundance of your grace to be brave and bold witnesses to your saving presence among us today. Amen.