Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: Matthew 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, “My 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.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Ever since Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, the Gospels became the story – not of Jesus alone – but of him and his disciples. Even when the focus is on Jesus or his teaching, his disciples are described as being there.

This is particularly true as they begin their ascent to Jerusalem. James and John are caught arguing over who is the greatest; their mother asks Jesus to reward her sons with a coveted role in his kingdom; Jesus sends his disciples out to fetch him a donkey.

And, at last, he washes their feet and shares a meal with them in the upper room. Not just any meal, however; Jesus feeds his disciples with his own Body and Blood. Only now – after the meal has been offered – is the communion broken by Judas.

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In the succeeding hours, Jesus will become increasingly alone. Not only will his disciples abandon him; even as he cries out in agony from the Cross, his own Father will be silent. 

The same Father who said after the baptism and transfiguration of our Lord, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased, listen to him,” will now say nothing. From the Last Supper until his death, Jesus enters into a rare, devastating state of loneliness.

In the ages following the crucifixion and death of our Lord, popular piety has arisen, seeking, perhaps, to re-write history; to revisit what happened; to keep Christ company in his final hours.

One such example is the popular song, Were You There When They Crucified My Lord? A song believed to have been written by enslaved African-Americans, who sang as they worked tirelessly under the beating sun.

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Were you there when they crucified my Lord? The song goes. Were you there when they nail’d him to the cross? Were you there when they pierced him in the side? Were you there when the sun refused to shine? Sometimes it causes me to tremble.

Were you there?

As we enter into the climax of Holy Week – from Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday – may our answer be, “Yes, Lord. A thousand times yes.”

We will be there with you.

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Image credits: (1) Email Meditations, WordPress (2) A Traitor in the Midst, HB Charles Jr. (3) Flickr – Waiting for the Word, Last Supper 27

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Gospel: John 13: 21-33, 36-38

Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant.
One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved,
was reclining at Jesus’ side.
So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant.
He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him,
“Master, who is it?”
Jesus answered,
“It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.”
So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas,
son of Simon the Iscariot.
After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him.
So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”
Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him.
Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him,
“Buy what we need for the feast,”
or to give something to the poor.
So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.

When he had left, Jesus said,
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself,
and he will glorify him at once.
My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.
You will look for me, and as I told the Jews,
‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.”

Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?”
Jesus answered him,
“Where I am going, you cannot follow me now,
though you will follow later.”
Peter said to him,
“Master, why can I not follow you now? 
I will lay down my life for you.”
Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me?
Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow
before you deny me three times.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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In days gone by, nations would erect large stone walls around the border of their city in order to protect their citizens from foreign armies who might attack them. Anyone who lived within the city walls was considered safe, a trusted member of society.

Thus, the greatest dread would be an enemy who attacked his own people from within. Against such a threat, there was no immediate protection.

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We all know how the story of Christ’s life ends, and because of that, we tend to imagine Judas Iscariot being the suspicious one, the renegade, the one on the fringe of this intimate circle of trust.

But that’s not the case. Judas was one of them.

If the disciples had any inkling of his sinister plans, then they would’ve never allowed him to hold the communal purse. They would’ve intuited right away whom Jesus was talking about when he said, “One of you will betray me.”

But their ignorance reveals that Judas was the enemy inside the walls. 

Tragically, his decision will pull down the curtains, revealing the hearts of all. Within a matter of hours, nearly everyone Jesus loves will abandon him.

Peter will deny knowing Jesus while cowering in fear, warming his hands by a fire. The other disciples will run off into the night, scared for their lives. The crowds, many of whom witnessed or heard of Christ’s miraculous power, will chose Barabbas, a murderer, over him.

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The terrible and sensitive wisdom written into the final hours of Christ’s life is the truth that, under the right conditions, perhaps anyone is capable of becoming the “traitor inside the walls,” turning on those we love the most – friends, family, even God. 

Suddenly, you might discover a long-time business partner has been stealing company funds. A civil servant turns rotten. A spouse’s well-kept secret is exposed. An adult child suddenly splits from the family circle. Such examples of betrayal leave us stunned.

But the Lord carried his cross to Calvary for that very reason – not only to die in our place, absolving our offenses, but also to offer us new beginning after new beginning.

Christ Crucified, have mercy on us.

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Image credits: (1) Judas’ Remorse, Almeida Júnior, 1880 (2) loveEXPLORING (3) Christ Carrying the Cross, El Greco, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Gospel: John 12: 1-11

Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany,
where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served,
while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. 
Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil
made from genuine aromatic nard
and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair;
the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. 
Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples,
and the one who would betray him, said,
“Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages
and given to the poor?”
He said this not because he cared about the poor
but because he was a thief and held the money bag
and used to steal the contributions.
So Jesus said, “Leave her alone.
Let her keep this for the day of my burial.
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came,
not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus,
whom he had raised from the dead.
And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too,
because many of the Jews were turning away
and believing in Jesus because of him.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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We’ve entered Monday of Holy Week. Jesus is just days away from his death.

Appropriately, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus extended a dinner invitation to the Lord, thanking him for all he’s done in their lives, most notably for raising Lazarus from the dead!

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Each person shows their gratitude differently.

Lazarus opens his home. Martha prepares and serves the meal. Mary spends all she has on a costly bottle of perfume, pouring it over Jesus’ feet, wiping them with her hair.

Three different gestures with the same heart-filled message: thank you.

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Holy Week will teach us many things about the Christian life. But the first lesson on Monday morning is this: be grateful.

In particular, be grateful as we journey with Jesus from Calvary to the empty tomb. Be grateful for his love, his example, his unrelenting obedience to his Father, grateful for what his death and resurrection promises: 

Eternal life.

As the Psalmist says, “Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, for his love endures forever.”

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Set aside a quiet moments today to thank Jesus who has, “loved us and given himself for us,” and ask for the grace – in some small way – to pay that love forward.

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Image credits: (1) Deb Mills, Blog, Palm Sunday (2) Mary Magdalene Washing Jesus’ Feet, Etsy (3) hiddentreasuresandriches.com