31 March 2021
Wednesday of Holy Week
In popular devotion, especially in England, today is known as “Spy Wednesday” because the readings describe Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. Judas did not fare well after this incident. According to the Gospel of Mathew, Judas later killed himself and then Dante tossed him into one of the lowest circles of hell accompanied by traitors and those who use flattery as means to promote their own self advancement. Can you image no greater torment than spending all eternity with a bunch of self-serving weasels? Today’s reading gave Mother Teresa a great fear concerning the allure of cash since it was the love of money that made Judas betray Our Lord. Judas has always served as the extreme in terms of how low you can go. We must remember that Jesus came for the sinners (that would be us) and that we all participate in actions that take us from God towards some lesser substitute. Ignatius wisely began the Exercises with an awareness of human failings and by means of this meditation he established the need for both redemption and encouragement. The sin of Judas and the fallen angels, as Ignatius pointed out, is a difference of degree and not of kind. The great saints always considered the slightest offense against God as a cause of great sorrow because they had the profound insight that all sin is cut from the same cloth.