About Today
Thursday 30 April 2026
Thursday of the 4th week of Eastertide
or Saint Pius V, Pope
The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
Year: A(II). Psalm week: 4. Liturgical Colour: White.
Pope St Pius V (1504 - 1572)
He was born near the Italian town of Alexandria, on the Adriatic, and joined the Dominicans and taught theology. He was made a bishop and fought to reform the moral laxity of the clergy. He was elected Pope in 1566. He strenuously promoted the Catholic Reformation that was started by the Council of Trent. He encouraged missionary work and reformed the liturgy. See the articles in the Catholic Encyclopaedia and Wikipedia.
Other saints: Saint Marie of the Incarnation (1599-1672)
Canada
Other saints: Our Lady, Mother of Africa
Kenya, Nigeria, Southern Africa
North Africa gave the Church many saints, such as Monica and Augustine, and many important theologians. It remained Christian until the Arab invasions.
The first Christian Bishop of Algiers in modern times, Bishop Antoine-Adolphe Dupuch, was appointed in 1838 to minister to the French colonists who lived in Algeria, but felt called by God to restore Christianity to the whole population, hoping that in time it would spread from Algeria to the whole of Africa.
At the beginning, Bishop Dupuch found it impossible to build a church because the local population was hostile to the French. He went back to France for assistance. The Sodality of Our Lady in Lyon offered to the bishop a bronze statue of the Immaculate Conception with the understanding that she would be the Protectress of both the Muslims and the natives. It was brought from France in 1840 and was entrusted to the Cistercian monks of Staueli. Later, Cardinal Lavigiers, founder of the White Sisters, enshrined it in the new basilica at Algiers, where in 1876 the image was crowned. This bronze statue, very dark in colour, is known as Our Lady of Africa.
Pilgrims began to come to venerate the image where the lame, the blind, and the crippled were miraculously healed, and sailors came also to beg for protection of their long and perilous voyages. At this and other North African shrines the veneration given to Mary by Muslims is very marked. This feast commemorates the crowning of the Algiers statue. See the full article at the web site of the basilica.
Today's gospel reading John 13:16-20 He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me
After Jesus had washed the feet of his disciples, he said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, “He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.” I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.’
Reflection on the stained glass window
The betrayal of Jesus by one of his closest companions is one of the most painful moments in the Gospel, and it is something the early Church wrestled deeply to understand. Knowing that his followers would find it hard to understand that Jesus let the betrayal happen, he quotes from Scripture: Psalm 41:9: "He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.” Or more freely translated: Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, who shared the table with me, has now betrayed me. So already in the psalms, King David describes betrayal by a close friend. There are few wounds as deep as being betrayed by someone close to us. And it is into this human experience that the story of Judas enters.
And yet, what makes this moment even more striking is what surrounds it. In the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks of betrayal just after he has knelt to wash the feet of his disciples, including Judas. He knows what is coming, and still he serves. Still he loves. This is what faithfulness looks like in the kingdom of God: not a response to others’ goodness, but a generosity even to those who betray us or who don't particularly like us. All people need to be served by us. It is easy to serve friends, but far less easy to serve people we don't warm to. That is when our faith really blossoms, when our faithfulness is not dependent on reciprocity.
The tragic end of Judas Iscariot is described most clearly in the Gospel of Matthew where we are told that, filled with remorse, he returned the thirty pieces of silver and then went away and hanged himself. It is a stark and sobering moment. Yet the deepest tragedy of Judas is not only the betrayal (terrible as that was) but what followed. He recognised his sin, he felt sorrow, but he could not believe in mercy. He could not imagine that Jesus might forgive him. And that is where his story turns into despair. Because the truth is: Christ would have forgiven him. The same Lord who forgave Peter, who forgave those who crucified him, would surely have forgiven Judas. Judas' tragedy was not that he fell, but that he could not believe he could be lifted up again.
The Hanging of Judas,
German, circa 1515–1525,
Glass, paint, silver stain, lead,
© The Art institute of Chicago
Thursday of the 4th week of Eastertide
or Saint Pius V, Pope
The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
Year: A(II). Psalm week: 4. Liturgical Colour: White.
Pope St Pius V (1504 - 1572)
He was born near the Italian town of Alexandria, on the Adriatic, and joined the Dominicans and taught theology. He was made a bishop and fought to reform the moral laxity of the clergy. He was elected Pope in 1566. He strenuously promoted the Catholic Reformation that was started by the Council of Trent. He encouraged missionary work and reformed the liturgy. See the articles in the Catholic Encyclopaedia and Wikipedia.
Other saints: Saint Marie of the Incarnation (1599-1672)
Canada
Other saints: Our Lady, Mother of Africa
Kenya, Nigeria, Southern Africa
North Africa gave the Church many saints, such as Monica and Augustine, and many important theologians. It remained Christian until the Arab invasions.
The first Christian Bishop of Algiers in modern times, Bishop Antoine-Adolphe Dupuch, was appointed in 1838 to minister to the French colonists who lived in Algeria, but felt called by God to restore Christianity to the whole population, hoping that in time it would spread from Algeria to the whole of Africa.
At the beginning, Bishop Dupuch found it impossible to build a church because the local population was hostile to the French. He went back to France for assistance. The Sodality of Our Lady in Lyon offered to the bishop a bronze statue of the Immaculate Conception with the understanding that she would be the Protectress of both the Muslims and the natives. It was brought from France in 1840 and was entrusted to the Cistercian monks of Staueli. Later, Cardinal Lavigiers, founder of the White Sisters, enshrined it in the new basilica at Algiers, where in 1876 the image was crowned. This bronze statue, very dark in colour, is known as Our Lady of Africa.
Pilgrims began to come to venerate the image where the lame, the blind, and the crippled were miraculously healed, and sailors came also to beg for protection of their long and perilous voyages. At this and other North African shrines the veneration given to Mary by Muslims is very marked. This feast commemorates the crowning of the Algiers statue. See the full article at the web site of the basilica.
Today's gospel reading John 13:16-20 He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me
After Jesus had washed the feet of his disciples, he said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, “He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.” I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.’
Reflection on the stained glass window
The betrayal of Jesus by one of his closest companions is one of the most painful moments in the Gospel, and it is something the early Church wrestled deeply to understand. Knowing that his followers would find it hard to understand that Jesus let the betrayal happen, he quotes from Scripture: Psalm 41:9: "He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.” Or more freely translated: Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, who shared the table with me, has now betrayed me. So already in the psalms, King David describes betrayal by a close friend. There are few wounds as deep as being betrayed by someone close to us. And it is into this human experience that the story of Judas enters.
And yet, what makes this moment even more striking is what surrounds it. In the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks of betrayal just after he has knelt to wash the feet of his disciples, including Judas. He knows what is coming, and still he serves. Still he loves. This is what faithfulness looks like in the kingdom of God: not a response to others’ goodness, but a generosity even to those who betray us or who don't particularly like us. All people need to be served by us. It is easy to serve friends, but far less easy to serve people we don't warm to. That is when our faith really blossoms, when our faithfulness is not dependent on reciprocity.
The tragic end of Judas Iscariot is described most clearly in the Gospel of Matthew where we are told that, filled with remorse, he returned the thirty pieces of silver and then went away and hanged himself. It is a stark and sobering moment. Yet the deepest tragedy of Judas is not only the betrayal (terrible as that was) but what followed. He recognised his sin, he felt sorrow, but he could not believe in mercy. He could not imagine that Jesus might forgive him. And that is where his story turns into despair. Because the truth is: Christ would have forgiven him. The same Lord who forgave Peter, who forgave those who crucified him, would surely have forgiven Judas. Judas' tragedy was not that he fell, but that he could not believe he could be lifted up again.
The Hanging of Judas,
German, circa 1515–1525,
Glass, paint, silver stain, lead,
© The Art institute of Chicago