Glimpses of the Gospel

Glimpses of the Gospel

By Fr. Rodrigo AguilarReligion & Spirituality
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Glimpses of the Gospel episodes

  • April 2nd, 2021 - Friday of the Passion of the Lord (Good Friday)
    Commentary on the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. John 18: 1 – 19: 42
    Today, more than ever, we must pray, meditate and lapse into silence; we must grow quiet.
    The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. John that is read in the celebrations is too long for an audio message; that’s why I suggest that you read it on your own so that you can meditate on it. (St. John 18: 1 – 19: 42)
    The richness in the contemplation of the Passion of the Lord is inexhaustible. Each word, each gesture, each silence that Jesus maintains, each attitude people had towards Him, each attitude He had towards people, His attitude when He was on the cross, His silence before Pilato, His looks, everything tells us something; everything can tell you something. Therefore, if you reread it, it’ll reveal something new. If you can take some time to go to a temple or to stay at home in complete silence and to meditate on the Passion again, today is the day to do so. There is no other day as special as this one to contemplate once again the outpouring of Jesus’s love for us on the cross.
    This audio will be short; it’s just an invitation to do what we should naturally do. Good Friday is a day devoted to silence. The silence that descended yesterday at the mass of our Lord’s Supper, continues today and lasts until Easter Vigil. Could you keep silence? Because only by keeping both inner and outer silence can we see, contemplate, and weep in front of the cross, in front of our Lord who we ourselves nailed.
    As it happened in Jesus’s life when He was left alone on the cross, as it has always happened in the history of the Church and will continue to happen, today, there are less parishioners in the temples than there were on Palm Sunday. The Crucified is left alone. When it’s time to celebrate, everyone accompanies Him; but when it comes to the cross, He is left alone. The Crucified stirs up a scandal in a world that chases success at all costs, in a world that is ready to sell its soul in exchange of some power or to sell Jesus – as Judas did – for little money. The Crucified, Jesus, is foolishness to a world that is now mostly on vacation, getting distracted, missing out the best part. And at the same time, how many Christians are living with their “hearts on vacation”? Poor Jesus! Poor Jesus who keeps suffering on account of our lack of love!
    Jesus remains alone and cries out from the cross: “I thirst.” I thirst for you to thirst for Me! That’s Jesus’s thirst. His infinite love hasn’t touched our hearts yet. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter that we’re always the same parishioners, that we’re always few. We’re the small family of our Father God who wishes to continue falling in love with so much love made manifest in His son, Jesus. Meanwhile, we pray for everyone; it’s our job – praying for everyone. We should come to the end of this Holy Week full of love. It can’t be the same as usual.
    Let us continue keeping silence; let us continue fasting a little to be sensitive to Jesus’s love. Today, fast and abstinence will do no harm. Let us retreat into silence with Jesus. The Crucified must be our obsession nowadays, our obsession with love. If you gaze at Him, if you kneel before Him, He will help you fall more and more in love with the power of His grace. Only by doing so, will your Holy Week make real sense.
    7 min
  • April 1st, 2021 Thursday of Holy Week (Holy Thursday)
    + Holy Gospel according to St. John 13: 1 – 15
    Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.
    The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel around his waist.
    He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Master, are you going to wash my feet?"
    Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later."
    Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet."
    Jesus answered him, "Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me."
    Simon Peter said to him, "Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well."
    Jesus said to him, "Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all." For he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, "Not all of you are clean."
    So when he had washed their feet (and) put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, "Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me 'teacher' and 'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.
    This is the Gospel of the Lord.
    8 min
  • March 31, 2021 - Wednesday of Holy Week
    + Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew 26: 14 – 25
    Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.
    On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?"
    He said, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples."
    The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, "Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me."
    Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, "Surely it is not I, Lord?"
    He said in reply, "He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born."
    Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?" He answered, "You have said so."
    The Gospel of the Lord.
    8 min
  • March 30th, 2021 - Tuesday of Holy Week
    + Holy Gospel according to St. John, 13: 21 ̶ 33, 36 ̶ 38
    When he had said this, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, "Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me."
    The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus' side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus' chest and said to him, "Master, who is it?"
    Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it."
    So he dipped the morsel and (took it and) handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot.
    After he took the morsel, Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly." Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him. Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him, "Buy what we need for the feast," or to give something to the poor. So he took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.
    When he had left, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, 'Where I go you cannot come,' so now I say it to you.
    Simon Peter said to him, "Master, where are you going?"
    Jesus answered (him), "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later."
    Peter said to him, "Master, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you."
    Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times."
    The Gospel of the Lord
    8 min
  • March 29th, 2021 - Monday of Holy Week
    + Holy Gospel according to St. John 12: 1 – 11
    Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him.
    Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
    Then Judas the Iscariot, one (of) his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, "Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days' wages and given to the poor?" He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions.
    So Jesus said, "Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."
    (The) large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.
    The Gospel of the Lord
    10 min
  • March 28th, 2021 - Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
    + Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark 15: 1 – 39
    As soon as morning came, the chief priests with the elders and the scribes, that is, the whole Sanhedrin, held a council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.
    Pilate questioned him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
    He said to him in reply, "You say so."
    The chief priests accused him of many things.
    Again Pilate questioned him, "Have you no answer? See how many things they accuse you of."
    Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.
    Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them one prisoner whom they requested. A man called Barabbas was then in prison along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion. The crowd came forward and began to ask him to do for them as he was accustomed.
    Pilate answered, "Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?"
    For he knew that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead.
    Pilate again said to them in reply, "Then what (do you want) me to do with (the man you call) the king of the Jews?"
    They shouted again, "Crucify him."
    Pilate said to them, "Why? What evil has he done?"
    They only shouted the louder, "Crucify him."
    So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged, handed him over to be crucified.
    The soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort. They clothed him in purple and, weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him. They began to salute him with, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him. They knelt before him in homage. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him out to crucify him.
    They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. They brought him to the place of Golgotha (which is translated Place of the Skull).
    They gave him wine drugged with myrrh, but he did not take it. Then they crucified him and divided his garments by casting lots for them to see what each should take. It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." With him they crucified two revolutionaries, one on his right and one on his left.
    Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross." Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes, mocked him among themselves and said, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him.
    At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Some of the bystanders who heard it said, "Look, he is calling Elijah." One of them ran, soaked a sponge with wine, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down." Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.
    The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"
    The Gospel of the Lord
    10 min
  • March 27th, 2021 - V Saturday of Lent
    + Holy Gospel according to Saint John 11: 45 – 57
    Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
    So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, "What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation."
    But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish."
    He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God.
    So from that day on they planned to kill him. So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews, but he left for the region near the desert, to a town called Ephraim, and there he remained with his disciples.
    Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before Passover to purify themselves. They looked for Jesus and said to one another as they were in the temple area, "What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?" For the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should inform them, so that they might arrest him.
    The Gospel of the Lord
    7 min
  • March 26th, 2021 - V Friday of Lent

    + Holy Gospel according to St. John, 10: 31 – 42


    The Jews again picked up rocks to stone Jesus.


    Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?"


    The Jews answered him, "We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God."


    Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?


    If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came, and scripture cannot be set aside, can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I do not perform my Father's works, do not believe me; but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may realize (and understand) that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."


    Then they tried again to arrest him; but he escaped from their power. 


    He went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained.


    Many came to him and said, "John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true." And many there began to believe in him.


    The Gospel of the Lord

    9 min
  • March 25th 2021 - Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

    + Holy Gospel Holy Gospel according to St. Luke 1: 26 – 38


    In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you."


    But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.


    Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."


    But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" 


    And the angel said to her in reply, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God."


    Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." 


    Then the angel departed from her.


    The gospel of the Lord

    8 min
  • March 24th 2021- V Wednesday of Lent
    + Holy Gospel according to Saint John 8: 31 – 42
    Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him, "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
    They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, 'You will become free'?"
    Jesus answered them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains. So if a son frees you, then you will truly be free. I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me, because my word has no room among you. I tell you what I have seen in the Father's presence; then do what you have heard from the Father."
    They answered and said to him, "Our father is Abraham."
    Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works of Abraham. But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God; Abraham did not do this. You are doing the works of your father!"
    (So) they said to him, "We are not illegitimate. We have one Father, God."
    Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did not come on my own, but he sent me."
    The Gospel of the Lord
    8 min

About Glimpses of the Gospel

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Daily readings from the Gospel and a brief audio comment by Father Rodrigo Aguilar, Dioceses of San Miguel, Buenos Aires, Argentina.