Daily Gospel Reflection
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March 31, 2026
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.”
Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner. The full readings of the day from the Lectionary are available here.
It’s Tuesday of Holy Week, and though Good Friday is still three days away, the story of Jesus’ Passion begins today with this passage from John’s Gospel. Set on Holy Thursday, Jesus was with his apostles celebrating the Passover. He had just washed the feet of his disciples and was reclining at the table. Jesus now was “deeply troubled.”
Jesus knows what is going to happen—all the pain and suffering he is about to endure. But as horrific as that physical pain would be, he likely felt as much pain, or more, with the betrayal and denial he suffered at the hands of his closest friends. It is tempting, as we hear this passage, to think “That surely wouldn’t be me.” But then I think Jesus looks at us, like he did Peter, and says, “Really?”
I dare say we have all, at times, been Judas or Peter in betraying and denying God. Don’t we all betray and deny God when we sin? Sin is putting our wants, our needs, our rules, our desires ahead of what God wants. Lent is the season the church has for us to journey away from sin, our denials, our betrayals, and journey back to God. As we come to the end of Lent and approach Good Friday, we hopefully will be like Peter—that though we may have denied Jesus, we return asking for his forgiveness and mercy.
It was for this that Jesus came into the world. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16) This is what Holy Week and Good Friday are all about—that Jesus took upon himself our sin, our denials, our betrayals, and through his suffering in love, made the sacrifice that is our salvation.
Prayer
Glorious Jesus, you offer us the bread of life. Inspire our desire to follow you wherever you lead, and protect us from any temptation to deny you. We ask this through your most holy name, as you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Sts. Quirinus and Balbina were a father and daughter who were martyred for their faith in the early Church.
Quirinus was a Roman officer in the army who was tasked to guard the imprisoned Pope Alexander I. In conversation with Alexander, Quirinus stated that he would convert to Christianity if Alexander’s prayer could heal the officer’s daughter, Balbina, from a goiter that afflicted her.
Alexander told her to venerate the chains that held St. Peter, and, since Quirinus knew where Peter had been held, they went there immediately. When Balbina knelt to kiss the shackles, she was cured. They both returned to Alexander and Quirinus had the pope released and pardoned, and asked for baptism for himself and his daughter.
After that, Alexander built a church to hold St. Peter’s chains, which still stands today in Rome.
In 116, Quirinus was arrested and beheaded for his Christian faith. Scholars believe Balbina was arrested and convicted of being Christian and executed in 130. She was buried with Quirinus in the Roman catacombs, and their graves were located in written guides for early Church pilgrims who visited the tombs.
St. Quirinus’ feast day falls on March 30, and St. Balbina’s today. Relics of Quirinus rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. A statue of Balbina, pictured here, stands as one of the 140 statues on the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.
Sts. Quirinus and Balbina, you were the father and daughter who both gave your lives for the new faith you found—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Balbina is available for use under a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Last accessed February 13, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
