Holy Monday: Triptych of Love and Betrayal
For the next three days, God's word will lead us on a wonderful path. We could call this path the "Triptych of Love and Betrayal."
On the one hand, we will listen to the ancient prophecy of Isaiah about the Servant of the Lord who was to bring salvation to the world, to reveal to men the infinite love of God, a prophecy fulfilled in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. On the other hand, the Gospel will present before our eyes the successive stages of Judas' betrayal, presented against the background of the events of the last days of Jesus' life. Love and betrayal... Gift and rejection.
Today's Gospel allows us to accompany Jesus in his farewell to his friends. Something is in the air. On the surface, this supper is no different from Christ's other encounters with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Maria makes a gesture that was still somehow understandable to the revelers, as it often happened that particularly important guests were anointed with oil to show them respect and gratitude for coming to the feast. Jesus' reaction to Judas' words, however, worries those present. Funeral? What kind of funeral? After all, the crowds had just cheered at the sight of Jesus riding on the back of a donkey into Jerusalem. A complete success, one might say. Even Judas, who provoked Jesus to this announcement of His death, must have been surprised. For now, he has not yet thought of betrayal. Yes, by stealing the money, he healed his frustration at the fact that Jesus was not doing what he, Judas, had dreamed. He showed no interest in delivering Israel from Roman bondage, which was to be expected of the Messiah. And it was for this dream that Judas joined a group of disciples. However, there was no indication that this was to happen. So, all Judas wanted at that moment was to make up for the losses caused by leaving his stall and quietly go away, return to normal life.
The words of Isaiah, Mary's gesture, Jesus' gentle acceptance of this gesture indicate the immense tenderness of God's love for man. A love that gives and receives with gratitude every little gesture of goodness. A love that will not "break" the broken reed, and yet Judas was such a reed at that moment. Something in him cracked once and for all. Jesus, however, does not reject him, he still gives him time, he does not reproach him for stealing, but only gently asks him to accept Mary's gesture, as if letting him know that there is still time. That everything can still change.
No great betrayal is accomplished in the blink of an eye. Man follows it in small steps. At first, he thinks to himself, it's not a bad thing. Then, that it's not such a great evil, he just has to think about himself, he has the right to his own happiness. At the same time, it is always the case that, in one way or another, he receives gentle signs from God, in the voice of conscience, in the voice of other people, signs that say: stop, turn back, it is not too late. As long as the wick of good is smoldering, God will never extinguish it.
However, if a man ignores these signs... Then it is too late. One of the next steps will end in falling into the abyss of betrayal, tragedy, spiritual and sometimes physical death.
Each of us experiences such situations. May we be able to hear the gentle calls of God's love when our steps begin to go in the wrong direction. May we be able to feel the tenderness of God's exhortations. Before it is too late.
Thoughts from Saint Faustina: Monday of Holy Week. I asked the Lord to let me take part in His Sorrowful Passion that I might experience in soul and body, to the extent that this is possible for a creature, His bitter Passion. I asked to experience all the bitterness, in so far as this was possible. And the Lord answered that He would give me this grace, and that on Thursday, after Holy Communion, He would grant this in a special way. (Diary 1034)
fr. george