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Gospel: John 13:21-38
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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During Jesus’ final night on earth, he gathers his friends together for a meal, known as the Last Supper.
It’s a dynamic group. And, if we’re honest, at times we may see parts of each of them at work within ourselves.
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There is John, the ever-faithful disciple, whose devotion to Christ is clear. He is the one who leans tenderly on the Lord’s heart, as if the two are one.
That’s each of us at our best – entirely devoted to the Lord, as if our hearts are one.
Then there’s Peter. Peter sways in his devotion like a branch in the wind. One moment he’s ready to die for the Lord. The next he denies ever knowing him.
Peter wants to be faithful. But fear and temptation can get in his way. At times, aren’t we also Peter? We want to be faithful to Jesus, but fear or temptation impede us.
Then there’s Judas, the one who betrays Jesus, handing him over for 30 lousy pieces of silver.
Why did he do this? Was he disappointed that this journey with the Lord didn’t turn out differently? Was he greedy? Perhaps angry that his own dreams of glory have withered?
We don’t know. But such feelings – greed, anger, disappointment, resentment – can appear in any human heart, especially when we don’t get what we want or hope for.
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There they are: three men sitting at the same table with Jesus.
One was faithful. Another stumbled. The third gave up.
Yet, the Lord “loved them to the end,” and died for them all, just as he died for us.
As we prepare for the scandal of Calvary, and the suprise of the empty tomb, in what ways can we be our better selves, leaning tenderly on the heart of Christ, as if the two of us are one?
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Image credits: (1) Trappists.org (2) CatholicMom.com (3) Jesus and John at the Last Supper, Jozef Sedmak, Fine Art America