Sisters and brothers in Christ, since the Parish Lenten Mission, with Mobile Loaves and Fishes CEO, Alan Graham, I have been listening to the audiobook that he recommended - "What Happened to You? by Oprah Winfrey. As I listened to how our behaviors are formed at a very young age, it only affirmed for me that we are oftentimes the sum of our life's experiences, even as an infant. Those of us who grew up in a loving, nurturing family have a very different outlook on life than those of us who grew up in a broken home. Our experiences of love, or lack thereof, shape our world-views and interactions with others around us.
At the same time, though, there is hope and that hope is the person Jesus Christ. Saint John Paul II reminds us that “We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures, we are the sum of the Father's love for us and our real capacity to become the image of His Son Jesus.” This hope is for everyone. This hope was for Judas Iscariot, yet he choice to betray our Lord. As we heard in the Gospel on Monday, and the Passion reading on Palm Sunday, Judas Iscariot was already betraying the trust placed in him by our Lord and his fellow apostles when he took some from the collection for himself.
His betrayal of Jesus did not happen overnight but through our behaviors over time, particularly those that lead to sin and temptation. Therefore, we must safeguard against these behaviors or we, too, will find ourselves betraying our Lord and Savior for our own version of "30 pieces of silver." As we enter the Sacred Triduum tomorrow with Holy Thursday, let us dive even deeper in prayer, fasting, and acts of love (charity), and stay focus on our Lord's Passion and how he invites each of us to walk the Way of the Cross with him throughout our lives.
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Gospel of the Day
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."
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