DAILY HOMILIES #betrayal

Spiritual creativity is not a luxury; it is the essence of our faith. Either I am winning for Jesus or betraying (denying) him. I can only imagine Jesus's pain, knowing that those who shared the same plate with him would betray him. Nevertheless, Jesus said: “Woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

Judas Iscariot behaved as if all was well even after collecting money. When others were asking: “Is it I who will betray you?” Judas joined in the chorus. Judas did not realise Jesus was giving him a last chance to repent.

In fact, it was only after the death of Jesus that it dawned on people that “Truly, this was the Son of God.” Nothing last forever. Don’t worry, the time is coming that those who are laughing at you now will come and kneel before you. Just don’t give up; keep doing what is right.

I can only imagine the pain Jesus felt in our Gospel passage knowing that someone who shared the same plate with him was going to betray him. This is the pain Jesus feels when we turn God’s house into a money-making enterprise when we tell lies by pronouncing fake prophecies just to gain popularity and wealth.

Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Every time we fail to let our light shine as God’s children for the sake of money, we are literally betraying Jesus. We don’t have to disobey God’s commandments, lie, steal, kill etc. for the sake of money. Jesus said, whatever you want, just ask, seek and knock and it would be provided. (Matthew 7:7).

In conclusion, the Passion Narrative teaches us a lot about ourselves. The bitter truth is humanity has not changed at all since the time of Jesus. We are still ruled by money, we still betray one another, we are still stingy, we do not pray well, and we often act to please the crowd. Let us learn from history and avoid making the mistakes of those who killed Jesus.