St. Wendelin Parish

As we prepare to celebrate our annual Forty Hours celebration and our patronal feast this Friday, our readings this weekend prepare us to Glory in the Cross. The Church in her wisdom emphasizes Jesus’s statement in Mark 10:45 three times today: “The Son of Man has come to give his life as a ransom for many.” We hear it in the Gospel, the verse before the Gospel, and the communion antiphon. Our first reading from the Prophet Isaiah comes from the Suffering Servant passages. In verse 11 we hear, “Through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear.” Christ bore our sins on the Cross, the throne of grace and mercy. He “delivered [us] from death” (Psalm 33:19a) and saved us from our sins. Truly, we have a Holy Thursday and Good Friday aura in our readings today. We know the final outcome: his resurrection! We Glory in the Cross because he rose from the grave and has prepared for an eternal inheritance for us with him. Deo Gratias!