Daily Gospel Reflection

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March 27, 2024

Wednesday of Holy Week
Mt 26:14-25
Listen to the Audio Version

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.”

Reflection

Kati O’Brien
ND Parent
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It seems hard-wired into our human nature to say, “Surely, it is not I” to an accusation, not even giving ourselves time enough to reflect on what we’ve just been asked about. Sometimes it’s an automatic response to some trivial matter such as leaving a door unlocked or a light on in a room—annoying that we didn’t admit to the truth but not too consequential.

But sometimes, our habit of defense leads us to deny bigger things. When we don’t take the time to correct a more serious situation, things snowball into a bigger web of lies, betrayal, and calculated actions just to cover up what has been distorted. This distortion cuts right to the center of our hearts and leads us astray from God.

Of course, Jesus knew who would betray him. He knows each and every one of our betrayals and our “not I” defenses at every moment of our lives.

As parents, we are fairly privy to our children’s actions even when they don’t think we are. Even though we know what they are up to, isn’t it a blessing when they come to us to confess, explain themselves, and let us in on their emotions? Our Lord, our God, our Father, wants nothing more than for us to share with God what is already known. “Surely, it is not I,” will not fool God.

How do we begin? If we catch ourselves saying, “Surely, it is not I,” take a deep breath and instead say, “I misspoke just then. That was me. I’m sorry. What can I do to make it better?” This small fight for truth within ourselves will lead us to be truthful in much bigger things and bring us closer to the heart of the Father, surrendering ourselves to greater healing.

Prayer

Rev. Paul Kollman, C.S.C.

Father in heaven, while Judas looked for an opportunity to betray him, your Son anticipated his betrayal with steadfast faithfulness to your will. With the days when we commemorate his life-giving death and resurrection nearly upon us, help us to enter into the Triduum with prayerful attentiveness to these stories of our salvation. May our participation in these upcoming liturgies help us to mirror his faithfulness, who lives and reigns with you and the Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.

Saint of the Day

St. John of Egypt

St. John of Egypt was known for walling himself up in a cave and staking his survival upon God and the goodness of others.

John was born in Egypt around the year 305, and spent his early adult years as a carpenter. When he was 25, he left everything he knew to seek God in the desert with prayer.

He spent a decade with a hermit, taking direction from him and learning self-surrender. The hermit, for example, had him water a dry stick every day for a year. John learned obedience and humility, and when the hermit died, John traveled and visited other monasteries for five years.

Finally, John settled at the top of a steep hill near Lycopolis, Egypt, and carved three small cells out of rock. He slept in one, used another for work and living space, and prayed in the third. Then he walled these cells up with himself inside and lived this way until he died in his 90s.

He left a small window through which he could speak to people and receive food and water they might bring him. He only ate after sunset, and his diet was mostly dried fruit and vegetables—nothing cooked over a fire.

He spent five days a week in conversation with God alone, and two days a week, he conversed with people seeking spiritual direction and advice. Crowds would gather on those two days to hear him preach.

Other ascetics and hermits saw him as an example and a father, and many people sought him out for wisdom, including the emperor. John was given the gift of seeing the future and knowing details from the lives of people he had never met. He could discern what was secretly hidden in people’s hearts.

Foreseeing his own death, he asked that no one visit him for three days, and he sealed off his window. He died peacefully, and his body was found in a position of prayer. He was known and admired by the great saints of his time, including St. Augustine and St. Jerome. The cell he lived in was discovered in the early 1900s.

The image above is from the book, Trophaeum Vitae Solitariae, by Thomas de Leu (1560-1612). Preserved at Pitts Theology Library at Emory University. Used with permission.

St. John of Egypt, you were the hermit whose life of prayer and self-surrender inspired other great saints—pray for us!


Image Credit: Our featured image of St. John of Egypt is available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Last accessed February 13, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.