Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint 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.”

Betrayal and sale

1) Handing over. It’s a hard, difficult time when a person close to you gives you up, betrays you. Judas does not look at Jesus as the Messiah, he looks at himself and puts himself at the center of everything. How many times have we betrayed Jesus? How often have we set Him aside?! When Jesus does not satisfy our desires, we hand Him over.

2) The moment. In life there are moments of betrayal and disappointment, but also beautiful moments of growth. We go through lovely moments and hard ones. In tough times you’ill feel wounded because you realize that those closest to you can hurt you deeply.

3) Supper. God reminds us that the Eucharist is our shelter. Prayer, the Eucharist and fraternity can help us through the worst moments of our life. Don’t neglect these three components of our Faith and never stop looking for God!

God bless you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And never forget that something good is on the way!