Betrayal Through Sin

The WORD today (see http://usccb.org/bible/readings/032316.cfm) reminds me that every time I sin, I betray God. 

Jesus is both human and divine. Being human like us, he can feel what we feel. We know that he was tempted by the devil in the desert when he was fasting, when he was weak – as a human being would be. And in the readings today, we see Jesus experiencing human suffering just like us. In the first reading, we see how he responded to people who hurt him. The psalmist narrates what Jesus went through – the challenges and loneliness he must have felt when undergoing these challenges and persecution. And in the gospel, we see Jesus being hurt and sold – by one of his own apostles.

Everytime we sin, we betray God.

Judas came to the chief priests and asked what they would give him if he betrayed Jesus. We may not directly do this, but everytime we sin, we do this to God. Everytime we sin, we tell God what it takes for us to betray and hurt him. everytime we do something bad, we show God how more important that sin is compared to Him. Everytime we choose to do our will, we tell God we love ourselves more than we love him.

This holy week, may we be challenged. God has given us so much. God has proven his love for us in so many ways. May we never forget these things, and allow ourselves to be loved by God. May we desire to prove to God how much we love him, that he is more important than sin in our lives. May we be moved to show God and prove to Him how much we love Him by doing good and avoiding sin. 

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for another chance to experience your love. Thank you for being patient with me. Lord, sorry for the many times I sin. Sorry for choosing myself over you. sorry for choosing the easier path over your path. Sorry for not learning my lesson and continuously sinning. Sorry for not trying hard enough to live pleasing to you. Lord, I ask that you help me be stronger for you. Help me see you in everything. Help me live right. Help me focus on you.  May I have a heart like yours, that hates sin and loves God above anyone and anything.  Amen.

Blessed Holy Wednesday!

In Christ,

-g-

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March 23, 2016
Wednesday of Holy Week
Lectionary: 259

Reading 1 Is 50:4-9a

The Lord GOD has given me
a well-trained tongue,
That I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.
Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear;
And I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
My face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.

The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near who upholds my right;
if anyone wishes to oppose me,
let us appear together.
Who disputes my right?
Let him confront me.
See, the Lord GOD is my help;
who will prove me wrong?

Responsorial Psalm PS 69:8-10, 21-22, 31 and 33-34

R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
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.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer 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.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving:
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Verse Before the Gospel

Hail to you, our King;
You alone are compassionate with our errors.

Or

Hail to you, our King, obedient to the Father;
you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter.

Gospel Mt 26:14-25

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.”