Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 13, 21-33; 36-38
Reclining at table with his disciples, 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 Judas 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 Judas 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 I not 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 night
1) Jesus: he is clear about who he is and where he is going. This is what will allow him to have strength and to be able to face everything that will be coming his way, even a betrayal and the painful moment of being left alone. You are also going to go face these things, but what may be different is that you will quickly forget who you are and where your life is going. This is a point of difference with Jesus. In life we face very hard times, like Jesus, there are even people who betrayed us who ate with us. But don’t forget that you can rise from the worst of life knowing who you are and where your life is going.
2) Judas: the figure of Judas continues to appear. He was there, sitting, waiting for the moment. Everything was already mapped out in his head but distanced from his heart. There are times that you also behave like Judas, closing in on yourself, when you have it all planned in your head but it seems that there are no feelings in your life. We all have a bit of this Judas.
3) Peter: the figure of this impulsive guy who acts but when the situation presents itself he escapes. There are times when you and I are a lot of talk, but when we have to act we wrinkle up worse than a caterpillar that is backing up. We are very cocky many times to talk, but when it is time to act, we hide. In this let us say a mea culpa you and I; because many times we have represented the Church in a negative way by saying one thing and doing another. If there is something that I have to do and we have to do, it is to ask forgiveness for our lack of coherence and for the many times we have acted differently from what we believe and what Jesus himself taught us. Today, let us ask for forgiveness for that.
God bless you and be with you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And always remember, Heaven is our goal!
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