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.”
Holy Week implies change
1. Handing over. We sometimes seem to live a double life. For example, you say you love your brothers or sisters but then you don’t support them and instead of talking to then up front, you complicate their life by talking behind their back. Don’t be a traitor and speak up front. We all have a bit of Judas in us.
2. It was night. In life, we all go through times of darkness, when we do not see things in full light. When we do not know how to distinguish what’s right and what isn’t and insecurity creeps in. There are moments in your life when things are clear and there are moments when everything is dark. In that moment of darkness, cling to God.
3. Don’t deny him. Don’t fall into Peter’s attitude. When you’re doing well you are the most prayerful of all, but when things gets tight, you are the first to abandon your own and even forget about God. God doesn’t abandon you; don’t abandon him.
Remember that something good is on the way!
God bless you and keep you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
