REFLECTIONS TODAY

Today’s Gospel passage narrates the announcement of Judas’ betrayal. After Judas has left, the narrator of John’s Gospel emphatically writes: “It was night” (v 30). Night implies darkness. The imagery of darkness applies not only to the situation of Judas for making a wrong choice but also to the condition of the other disciples who remain to be lacking in faith. The other disciples still need to deepen their faith in Jesus. The deepening of their faith can only happen if they grow in their knowledge of Jesus. In John’s Gospel, knowledge of Jesus leads to a deeper faith in him. Deep faith in Jesus, in turn, guides us in making decisions not for selfish interest but for the good of others. Our daily decision-making needs to be guided by our deep faith in the Lord. Today is Holy Tuesday, and we are called to grow in our knowledge of and faith in Jesus that our decisions will be divinely guided.
Do we really want to grow in our knowledge of Jesus? What do we do to deepen our faith in Jesus? Is our everyday decision-making guided by Jesus’ examples?
Gospel • Jn 13:21-33, 36-38
Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” ...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.” ...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.”
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2025,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.