Betrayal:Tuesday Holy Week Gospel Reflection 2012


Scripture readings for today's Mass are here



 Michiel van der Borch, Last Supper Christ gives a piece of bread to Judas, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague, 1332


REFLECTIONS 

My post on this from 2011 is here



Reflection here using Judas as the speaker in the first person to us all  after his betrayal of Jesus in the Garden of Gethesemane.

The final extract of the above article is below: a sober and challenging read.


"Without wanting to sound as if I’m playing down what I did, I believe you and I are not so very different. 

A little ignorance of the Scriptures,
a little distrust in how much Jesus has your best interests at heart,
a little greed and selfishness,
a little too much love of money and unnecessary concern about security,
a little blindness to the love that Jesus has for you, undeserved as it is,
a little envy and jealousy,
a bit of unjustifiable anger -
and you could be well on the road to becoming another Judas.

Now that sounds a bit harsh, doesn't it? That may be so, and I’ve been deliberately blunt. 

Look what happened to me. I didn't intend doing Jesus any harm during the previous 3 years. 

I wanted to be a disciple, but there were too many things that crept into my life that made life with Jesus more and more difficult, if not impossible. 

None of the reasons that led me to betray Jesus were deliberate, they happened because I lost sight of what Jesus meant to me. 

In fact, in the end I fell into such remorse I couldn't accept the fact that he still loved me. He still accepted me as a "friend".

I am telling you all of this so that you don’t fall into the same trap. Without a doubt, Jesus is a "friend". He wasn’t just saying it. 

And when I hear the word "friend" I understand someone who loves me with a love that will keep on loving me even though I don’t deserve it. I wish I had realised it then, that’s the kind of love that Jesus had for me. 

He is your friend. He died on the cross to free you from all your guilt and sin. He went through all the suffering and pain because of his love for you.

 And so when the burden of your sin gets too much or the trials of life become too heavy, you know you have a friend to whom you can turn. 

Things would have turned out differently for me, if I had recognised Jesus’ love for me.

My friends, his love for you is unquestionable. 

Let nothing come between Jesus, your Saviour, and you." 
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