Betrayal

Homily for Tuesday of Holy Week

In our Gospel this morning, we get a glimpse at what is to come on Holy Thursday, when Jesus will gather with His apostles in the Upper Room for their final meal together. The story, which we are all familiar with, is about betrayal. Jesus is not only betrayed by Judas on that night. He is not just betrayed by Peter. He is betrayed by all of His apostles. All of them flee when the Romans come and arrest Jesus.

This Gospel should encourage us to look at our own lives. It might be worth each of us asking the question in prayer: how do I betray Jesus? It may not be in some extraordinary way, something that is blatantly obvious to us at first. For most of us, in fact, I’d venture to say that it’s in small ways that we betray the Lord.

Each of us has some way that we turn away from God on a daily basis – because none of us is perfect. We are all in need of God’s grace and mercy. We are all in need of the guidance of the Holy Spirit to reveal those areas of lives that need to change.

So, in these final days leading up to the remembrance of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, let’s reflect on that question: how do I betray the Lord? Let’s bring that question to Him, asking Him to reveal those areas of our hearts. Let’s even take it one step further. Let’s ask Him to lead us to a moment of conversion, a moment of transformation, so that we can celebrate the Resurrection with a newfound freedom from our sins.

Painting: The Last Supper, Carl Bloch. Wikimedia Commons. This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer.