The Pain of Betrayal"

Today's Mass Readings

The plot thickens. The intrigue grows. The drama unfolds. The altar for the eternal sacrifice of Jesus is being prepared. With the Passover fast approaching, the entire Jewish nation was busy preparing for the feast. Only Jesus knew that the sacrificial lamb that would be offered was himself. Humanity still does not grasp the depths of this sacrifice… but Jesus does. Human beings rarely grasp the wisdom of God. Only God can bring something good out of betrayal and treachery. Joseph was sold by his brothers for pieces of silver. That act of betrayal became the reason for comfort later when famine hit their land. Similarly, Jesus will be sold for thirty pieces of silver. But that act of betrayal will become the cause for salvation for all of humanity.

Like we did during yesterday’s reflection, for a moment let us shift our attention to the pain that Jesus may have experienced at his betrayal at the hands of his own disciple. The psalmist in today’s Psalm captures this sentiment rather vividly. Psalm 69:21-22 reads:

I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother’s sons,
because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.

Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak,
I looked for sympathy, but there was none;
for consolers, not one could I find.
Rather they put gall in my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Through his own betrayal, Jesus took the pain of every betrayal upon himself… even our own betrayals. Every betrayal is painful. When others betray us, when we betray others and when we betray God through serious sin, there is always someone who is hurt. We are called to be a people of fidelity – Christ like fidelity. This Holy Wednesday, let us pray for the gift of fidelity; toward family, friends, co-workers, the poor and most of all God.