Gospel, Mathew (26:14-25) 

 Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint Mathew

   Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

¹⁴ Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and said, “What will you give me if I betray him to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶ And from that moment, he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

The Passover with the Disciples

¹⁷ On the first day of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” ¹⁸ He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” ¹⁹ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.

²⁰ When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; ²¹ and while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” ²² And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” ²³ He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. ²⁴ The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.” ²⁵ Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.”

REFLECTION

    As we get closer to the passion of Jesus, the sinister figure of the man who will be used to facilitate the murderous plans of the Jews comes to the fore. It is Judas Iscariot. Everything happens in an atmosphere of betrayed friendship and in the context of Jesus’ Easter supper, the first Eucharist in history.

A unique and solemn meal during which Jesus makes his disciples partakers of his dignity and destiny.

Judas, the traitor, surrenders Jesus, and Jesus, Teacher of Love in turn surrenders Himself. During supper, Jesus unmasks the traitor’s secret intentions.

The disciples, dismayed by the master’s announcement: “One of you is going to deliver me,” ask one another: “Is it I, perhaps, Lord?” Judas also asked the same question; and Jesus’ answer was affirmative, trying until the last minute to turn the course of his decision.

 The betrayal becomes an occasion for Jesus’s total and voluntary gift. His death becomes a source of life for men newly reborn in the waters of Baptism and illuminated by the bloody but luminous Cross of Christ.

The perennial remembrance of this First Mass celebrated on affluent altars also calls for the preparation of souls. The exterior must always be a reflection of the interior. An extension of a great desire of the soul to aspire to please the Lord and feeling His presence is that, encourages us to carry our cross, celebrating Mass and converting it into our mission.

Let us have the courage to walk in the presence of the Lord, with His Cross, edifying the Church over the blood of Jesus Christ, which is was shed for us on that same Cross and profess Christ Crucified as our only glory.

Prayer

Father, we give you thanks because Jesus Christ your Son consecrated this new world by shedding his blood on the cross as a sign of the new covenant. He did not boast of his divinity nor demanded to be treated as was his right, instead he adopted the capacity of servant to all, until he was himself subjected to death on the cross. Amen