Wednesday, March 19, 2008
today's gospel
Judas's Bargain
14 Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
15 and said, "What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?" And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him.
16 From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.
17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"
18 And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"
19 The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.
The Last Passover
20 Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples.
21 As they were eating, He said, "Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me."
22 Being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to Him, "Surely not I, Lord?"
23 And He answered, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me.
24 "The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."
25 And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?" Jesus said to him, "You have said it yourself."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
i got to church for noon mass just in time to hear the gospel above. the priests' homily really got me thinking... he mentioned how jesus knew all along that judas had been stealing from their treasury. and he knew all along that he had gone to the chief priests to ask for what they would give him to betray jesus. and of course, he knew all along that he was going to betray him. and yet, through all that, he was still waiting, inviting judas to be with him. the priest reminded us that even as judas kissed jesus to signal the betrayal, jesus still called him "friend".
50 And Jesus said to him, "Friend, do what you have come for." Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him.
then the priest asked, what was judas' greatest sin? he said it wasn't the betrayal at all. because jesus would have forgiven him for it. judas had actually repented (matthew 27:1-10) for it. the priest said his greatest sin was that he didn't truly believe that Jesus/God would have forgiven him for it. but he didn't have the faith and hope in jesus' resurrection so he ended up killing himself. and it got me thinking... wow, jesus would have forgiven him? that's the guy who turned him in! that's craaazy. then i thought, wow, then pretty much, he'd forgive anyone for anything then. he's just waiting for us to come to him in repentance and salvation.
then my thoughts drifted to what another priest said to our rcia class last week. he was talking to us about purgatory and he totally changed my impression on it. it always sounded rather scary, like people are stuck in a limbo. the priest said that it wasn't anything to be afraid of. he emphasized that purgatory is not hell at all, it's actually heaven. more like a foyer or front room before we can enter heaven just to do the last bit of cleansing our soul so we can enter fully. god truly wants so badly to have us with him and if we just give ourselves to Him, he'll welcome us with open arms, no matter what was in our past. we just need to have faith and hope and trust in his saving love, and truly live for him, not for our own selfish wants or lifestyle. sometimes we hold on to our sins or pain and suffering, kind of like how judas hanged himself cuz he didn't know God's forgiving love. but wouldn't it be better to just give it up to Him and just have Him wash it away, so we can rise with Him?
peace be with you...
14 Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
15 and said, "What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?" And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him.
16 From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.
17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"
18 And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"
19 The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.
The Last Passover
20 Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples.
21 As they were eating, He said, "Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me."
22 Being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to Him, "Surely not I, Lord?"
23 And He answered, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me.
24 "The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."
25 And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?" Jesus said to him, "You have said it yourself."
i got to church for noon mass just in time to hear the gospel above. the priests' homily really got me thinking... he mentioned how jesus knew all along that judas had been stealing from their treasury. and he knew all along that he had gone to the chief priests to ask for what they would give him to betray jesus. and of course, he knew all along that he was going to betray him. and yet, through all that, he was still waiting, inviting judas to be with him. the priest reminded us that even as judas kissed jesus to signal the betrayal, jesus still called him "friend".
50 And Jesus said to him, "Friend, do what you have come for." Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him.
then the priest asked, what was judas' greatest sin? he said it wasn't the betrayal at all. because jesus would have forgiven him for it. judas had actually repented (matthew 27:1-10) for it. the priest said his greatest sin was that he didn't truly believe that Jesus/God would have forgiven him for it. but he didn't have the faith and hope in jesus' resurrection so he ended up killing himself. and it got me thinking... wow, jesus would have forgiven him? that's the guy who turned him in! that's craaazy. then i thought, wow, then pretty much, he'd forgive anyone for anything then. he's just waiting for us to come to him in repentance and salvation.
then my thoughts drifted to what another priest said to our rcia class last week. he was talking to us about purgatory and he totally changed my impression on it. it always sounded rather scary, like people are stuck in a limbo. the priest said that it wasn't anything to be afraid of. he emphasized that purgatory is not hell at all, it's actually heaven. more like a foyer or front room before we can enter heaven just to do the last bit of cleansing our soul so we can enter fully. god truly wants so badly to have us with him and if we just give ourselves to Him, he'll welcome us with open arms, no matter what was in our past. we just need to have faith and hope and trust in his saving love, and truly live for him, not for our own selfish wants or lifestyle. sometimes we hold on to our sins or pain and suffering, kind of like how judas hanged himself cuz he didn't know God's forgiving love. but wouldn't it be better to just give it up to Him and just have Him wash it away, so we can rise with Him?
peace be with you...
Comments:
Post a Comment
quotable quotes
-
"To try is to risk failure. But risk must be taken because the
greatest hazard of life is to risk nothing. The person who risks
nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing. He may avoid
suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change,
grow, live, and love."
~unknown
"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues."
~ Abraham Lincoln
"live a life that others will remember years from now, NOT because it pointed to you but because of how it pointed to the One who made you."
~ Mark Hart, the Bible Geek
"we grow up learning to become self-reliant, but really we need to be God-reliant"
"we could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box"
"never wound hearts that love u, never give them the endless pain, because wounded hearts are like roses that never bloom"
"there comes a time when we have to stop loving someone not because that person has stopped loving us but because we have found out that they'd be happier if we'd let go"
