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Let your door stand open to receive God, unlock your soul to Him, offer Him a welcome in your mind, and then you will see the riches of simplicity, the treasures of peace, the joy of grace. Throw wide the gate of your heart, stand before the sun of the everlasting light.
- Ambrose
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Is 50:4-9a; Psalm 69:8-10, 21-22, 31 and 33-34
Mt 26:14-25
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, AMy 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.”
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples (the one about to hand Him over), protested...” —John 12:4
The four Suffering Servant readings from Isaiah during Holy Week reveal that there is no self-centeredness in the Suffering Servant (Is 42:1-7; Is 49:1-6; Is 50:4-9; Is 52:13—53:12). Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, a holy family devoted to Jesus, reveal a focus on Jesus and a lack of self-interest as they minister hospitality to Jesus (Jn 12:1ff). Sadly, Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus, showed
a total focus on himself and a lack of focus on Jesus during the week he most needed to fix his eyes on Jesus (see Heb 3:1; 12:2).
Judas figures prominently in the Holy Week readings for Mass because his spiritual stance could become our own. He is a reflection of our fallen human nature. Judas accuses Mary and tries to make her selfless actions of love for Jesus seem selfish. This accusation imitates Satan, who accuses God’s holy people night and day (Rv 12:10). Additionally, Judas sought his own gain, considered Jesus’ gain to be a “waste”
(Mk 14:4), and resisted Jesus’ outreach to him (Mt 26:14). May the same not be said of us who seek to follow Jesus.
As Holy Week begins, is there any “self” in our lives? This Holy Week, let us obey these words of Jesus, words which Judas heard but rejected: “Whoever wishes to be My follower must deny his very self, take up his cross each day, and follow in My steps” (Lk 9:23).
Prayer: Father, show me clearly any areas of my life where I have turned my back on Jesus. Help me to offer myself completely to You.
Promise: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear?” —Ps 27:1
Presentation Ministries
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Growing in Inner Freedom: A Guide for Today
- by Philip St. Romain. Liguori Publ., 1986.
36. Challenge Your Self-will
If you wish to come after me, you must deny your very self, take up your cross, and follow in my steps. If you would preserve your life you will lose it, but whoever loses life for my sake and the gospel’s will preserve it (Mark 8:34-35).
Anyone struggling to live a life of love and service must eventually challenge (oppose) his or her own self-will. It is one thing to ask, “How can I be helpful?” but quite another to follow through. Many times we know how we can be helpful, but we just don’t feel like doing what is required. That is where the cross helps us to make sense of the spiritual life.
In the Scripture passage quoted above, Jesus says that we must each carry our own cross. This means that we must persevere in the struggle to love even when (especially when) we don’t feel like it. If we love only when we feel like it, what merit is that? Even the pagans do as much (see Matthew 5:47).
Blessed are those moments in our lives when we are aware of a civil war within us—when we know the right thing to do, but we just don’t feel like doing it. It is only during those times that we truly have an opportunity to exercise our faith in making a decision to love as Christ loved. If we decide to persevere in loving, then our old egocentric self will give ground to our new, emerging, Christ-self. We will write more deeply into the law of our will the ways of love.
In time, we may even find our will responding more habitually to the needs of love, although we will always retain enough self-will to lead us again and again to the cross.
Suggested Practices
- Whenever self-will nudges you away from loving, challenge this energy with a firm refusal; then pray, “Holy Spirit, help me to love as Christ loves right now.”
- Learn to do what love requires, knowing that you will have the energy you need to do so.
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