Reflection for Tuesday of Holy Week.
By
Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Director, Social Action Movement, Don Bosco Bidar
Gospel Passage for today
John 12:21-33, 36-38
'What you are going to do, do quickly'
While at supper with his disciples, Jesus was troubled in spirit and declared, ‘I tell you most solemnly, one of you will betray me.’ The disciples looked at one another, wondering which he meant. The disciple Jesus loved was reclining next to Jesus; Simon Peter signed to him and said, ‘Ask who it is he means’, so leaning back on Jesus’ breast he said, ‘Who is it, Lord?’ ‘It is the one’ replied Jesus ‘to whom I give the piece of bread that I shall dip in the dish.’ He dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. At that instant, after Judas had taken the bread, Satan entered him. Jesus then said, ‘What you are going to do, do quickly.’ None of the others at table understood the reason he said this. Since Judas had charge of the common fund, some of them thought Jesus was telling him, ‘Buy what we need for the festival’, or telling him to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the piece of bread he went out. Night had fallen.
When he had gone Jesus said:
‘Now has the Son of Man been glorified,
and in him God has been glorified.
If God has been glorified in him,
God will in turn glorify him in himself,
and will glorify him very soon.
‘My little children,
I shall not be with you much longer.
You will look for me,
And, as I told the Jews,
where I am going, you cannot come.’
Simon Peter said, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus replied, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow me now; you will follow me later.’ Peter said to him, ‘Why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ ‘Lay down your life for me?’ answered Jesus. ‘I tell you most solemnly, before the cock crows you will have disowned me three times.’
Reflection on the Readings
There is no doubt that the ones who can hurt us the most are the ones who are closest to us.
The more we love and trust them, the deeper the hurt will be when they betray our trust and trample on our love.
At the Last Supper, when Jesus was troubled in spirit and declared that one of His disciples at the table will betray Him.
That certainly shocked the disciples as they were at a solemn meal to remember a significant event of faith.
So, how can such a thing like betrayal happen, and it was one of them in the group that is close to Jesus.
Even Jesus felt troubled in spirit and He could also be feeling hurt.
But Jesus did not let that hurt and pain get in the way of offering His total self-giving at the Last Supper.
As for us, we might feel like what the prophet Isaiah said in the 1st reading when we felt betrayed and taken for granted:
I have toiled in vain, I have exhausted myself for nothing.
But when we follow Jesus in His way of love and to keep on loving in spite of the hurt and pain, then the 1st reading also affirms us with this:
All the while my cause was with the Lord, my reward with my God. I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord, my God is my strength.
When we respond to betrayal with love, then will we be healed by God and we will receive blessings from the Lord our God.
GOD BLESS YOU
Good morning. Have a nice day.
Let's pray for the forthcoming state elections to be free, fair and credible.