Wednesday of Holy Week

Readings of the Day

The story of love and betrayal haunts the gospel today.

Judas Iscariot is about to hand Jesus over to his death. How can someone who lived with Jesus for three years, who loved him, even called him “rabbi” at this last supper, betray him? Even Jesus knew that Judas was about to betray him.

Biblical scholars speculate about his reason for setting Jesus up to be arrested, but little is known about him. What we can surmise is that Judas’ betrayal was an embarrassment to the early Christian communities. We know Judas came from Iscariot, an area in Palestine known for radical sects that desired to overthrow the oppressive Roman regime.

Coming to Jerusalem for the high holy days may have led Judas to think he could push Jesus to use this chaotic time to foment revolution and finally reveal who he really is – the long-awaited warrior messiah! But that was not Jesus’ mission. Jesus’ life was about proclaiming and revealing God’s love for the poor, the sick, the imprisoned, the vulnerable.  When Jesus was condemned to death, Judas realized his error.  He knew Jesus was an innocent man. Distraught by what he had done, he committed suicide.

It is hard to grasp how someone who says they love you can also betray you. We will never know what was going through Judas’ head at the time. We do know that the other disciples were afraid, which led them to protect themselves and even deny Jesus. In our own time, in our nation, in our communities, and even in our churches, we encounter selfish acts, hear vitriolic words of hated, and stand before others who reject the poor, refugees, the imprisoned, people with a different color of skin, and yet stay silent, fearful of the cost of getting involved. In doing so we turn away from God and betray love.    

Today we stand on the brink of the Sacred Triduum, three days when we remember Jesus’ story and recommit ourselves to his mission.  During these days we proclaim that love overcomes evil, even in the darkest moments of our lives and in our world. We know that we are empowered to be faithful and to be the beloved community of Christ by standing with the poor and rejected, proclaiming good news of God’s love for all.

Catholic Charities lives this mission by being a place of welcome, healing, and hope for refugees and migrants, the abandoned, the imprisoned, the hated and the rejected, and for the many people who need healing. They do this as a community of love.  

Let us pray to receive God’s love poured upon us. May we continue to embrace the mission of Jesus – living truth, being people of hope, faithful in proclaiming good news, and living in fidelity to God’s radical love for us.

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