Wednesday of Holy Week
Intentions: That all people will turn away from sin, living instead with compassion and justice, and embracing God’s gifts of faith, hope, and love.
Today’s Gospel | Matthew 26:14-25
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.”
Reflection
The Gospel narrative of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus may be one of the best-known stories in Scripture. It also may be one of the most perplexing. How did someone so bright and enthusiastic turn into history’s most despised traitor? While it is easy to think that Judas was the epitome of incarnate evil, we may want to reflect more deeply on that conclusion. The reality may be far less sinister than we suspect, and far closer to the kind of everyday sinfulness of which all of us are quite capable.
Judas never did grasp the meaning of Jesus. Some would say that this was in spite of his intelligence and cleverness. However, it is more likely that it was because of it. It appears that a self-absorbed Judas had fully constructed the messiah that he deemed necessary for the people of Israel. This would be a king who will crush and humiliate his enemies, and lift the nation – the disciples in particular – to a kingdom of earthly power and glory. Filled with the impatience and rigidity of arrogance, Judas could not believe that the one in whom he has placed all of his hopes had, first, rejected such a kingdom and, second, had replaced it with, of all things, a call to unconditional forgiveness, compassion, and love. Angry and resentful, Judas decided that it was up to him to put things back in order. And he would punish Jesus for wasting his time, for letting him down.
A question we might ask ourselves is: when in our lives has our own egocentricity resembled that of Judas? How often have we ordained ourselves as knowing what is best and then lashed out at others if they dared not to cooperate? When we presume that we have the best answers and the wisest plans, we then come to expect that life will organize itself around our agendas. In all of our relationships, other people merely serve utilitarian purposes. Those who are useful are allowed to remain, while those who are not end up, as they say, under the bus. All of this can happen when we, like Judas, choose to be ruled by conceit.
Thomas Merton wrote. “The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.” The time of Holy Week invites us to reflect on the virtues of humility and generosity. We are asked to remember that the love to which Jesus calls all of us is unconditional love. Our role is to be instruments of God’s touch, to be servants who respond to others with welcome and compassion. Only by turning away from the temptations of our pride will we be able to clearly know the saving presence of God.
Prayer
Eternal Father, all of us experience the temptation to sin against you, to sin against our gifts, to sin against each other. In this Holy Week, strengthen us in those moments when values and virtue are at stake. Help us to never stray from you or to be weakened by selfish desires. Fill us with the will to remain faithful in times of struggle and to keep our hearts fixed on your saving Kingdom. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.