Reflection for Tuesday of Holy Week

Jesus and John at the Last Supper
Valentin de Boulogne



We understand the suffering of Jesus' heart, His sadness over one of His disciples, one of those He had chosen and therefore one of those whom He loves: "One of you will betray me." Here we see the two extremes: the disciple whom Jesus loves, John close to Jesus' heart, and Judas, who draws further and further away, who turns in on himself and closes himself in on his evil will. A division arose among those whom Jesus had chosen and loved and the cause of this division is Judas' jealousy towards John. Judas did not directly will Jesus' death, but he could not stand Jesus' love for John. Judas did not go to the end in his first love and he rejected this first love because he saw that another was first passing ahead of him. Let us ask Jesus for the grace to be faithful to the end in our love for Him and that nothing, absolutely nothing, make us stray from Him. May He always be the one we love above all things.

~ Excerpted from Return to me ... Daily Mediations for Lent By Father Philippe, O.P., Philosopher and Founder of The Community of St. John compiled by the Sisters of St. John



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