Tag: judas

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY WEEK 2019, LENT 2022, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on TRUTH, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS, The HEART, The WORD

Spy Wednesday in Holy Week – 13 April – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – We do the same thing as Judas …

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Spy Wednesday in Holy Week – 13 April – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – Isaias 53:1-12, Luke 22:39-71; 23:1-53

“And turn not away thy face from thy servant, for I am in trouble, hear me speedily. Save me, O God, for the waters are come in, even unto my soul.” – Psalm 68:2

“And Jesus said to him:
Judas, dost thou betray
the Son of man with a kiss?”

Luke 22:48

“LET US CONSIDER what Judas said to the Jewish priests: “What will you give me if I hand him over to you?” He was willing to take money in exchange for handing over the Word of God!

THEY DO THE SAME THING, who accept sensual or worldly goods, in exchange for handing over and casting out from their souls, the Saviour and Word of Truth, Who came to dwell with them. Indeed, it would be fitting to apply Judas’ example to all who show contempt for the Word of God and betray Him, as it were, by committing sin for the sake of money, or for any selfish motive.
People who behave in this way, appear openly to be calling out to the powers of the enemy, who offer worldly gain in return for the sin of betraying God’s Word, saying: “What will you give me if I hand Him over to you!?”
“And they gave him thirty pieces of silver.”

THE NUMBER OF COINS they gave Judas, was equivalent, to the number of years the Saviour had sojourned in this world. For at the age of thirty, He was Baptised and began to preach the gospel, like Joseph was thirty years old when he began to gather grain for his brothers. Just as at that time the grain was prepared by God for the sons of Israel but given also to the Egyptians, so also, the gospel was prepared for the saints but preached also to the unfaithful and wicked.” – Origen Adamantius (c 185-253) Priest, Theologian, Exegist, Writer, Apologist, Father (Commentary on Matthew 78)

Posted in AUGUSTINIANS OSA, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2022, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on the CHURCH, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS, The HOLY MASS, The PASSION, The WORD

Monday of Holy Week – 11 April – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – Judas

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Monday of Holy Week – 11 April – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – Isaias 50:5-10, John 12:1-9

“Help us, O God, our saviour and for the glory of thy name, O Lord, deliver us and forgive us our sins, for Thy name’s sake” – Psalm 78:9

“He (Judas Iscariot) said this,
not because he cared about the poor
but because, he was a thief
and held the money bag
and used to steal the contributions.”

John 12:6

“LOOK NOW AND LEARN that this Judas did not become perverted, only at the time when he yielded to the bribery of the Jews and betrayed his Lord. For not a few, inattentive to the Gospel, suppose, that Judas only perished, when he accepted money from the Jews, to betray the Lord. It was not then that he perished but he was already a thief and a reprobate, when following the Lord;,for it was with his body and not with his heart, that he followed. He made up the apostolic number of twelve but had no part in the apostolic blessedness. He had been made the twelfth in semblance and on his departure and the succession of another, the apostolic reality was completed and the entirety of the number conserved.

WHAT LESSON THEN, my brethren, did our Lord Jesus Christ wish to impress on His Church, when it pleased Him, to have one castaway among the twelve – but this – that we should bear with the wicked and refrain from dividing the body of Christ? Here you have Judas among the saints,- that Judas, mark you! who was a thief, yes – do not overlook it – not a thief of any ordinary type but a thief and a sacrilegis – a robber of money bags,but of such as were the Lord’s; of money bags but of such as were sacred! . … How much more severe ought to be, the sentence on the sacrilegious thief, who has dared to steal, not from places of any ordinary kind but, to steal from the Church!?

HE WHO THIEVES from the Church, stands side by side with the castaway Judas. Such was this man Judas and yet, he went in and out with the eleven holy disciples. With them, he came even to the table of the Lord, he was permitted to have intercourse with them but he could not contaminate them.

OF ONE BREAD did both Peter and Judas partake and yet, what communion had the believer with the infidel? Peter’s partaking was unto life but that of Judas unto death. For that good bread was just like the sweet savour. For as the sweet savour, so also does the good bread give life to the good and bring death to the wicked. “For he that eateth unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgement to himself:” – “judgment to himself,” not to thee. If, then, it is judgement to himself, not to thee, bear as one that is good, with him that is evil, that you may attain the rewards of the good,and be not hurled into the punishment of the wicked.” – St Augustine (354-430) Bishop of Hippo, Great Western Father and Doctor of the Church (On John 12:1-9 Monday of Holy Week).

Posted in DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on BLASPHEMY, QUOTES on JUSTICE, QUOTES on MORTAL SIN, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS

Thought for the Day – 31 March– The Mercy of God

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Thought for the Day – 31 March– Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Mercy of God

“Remember, that if God’s mercy is infinite, so also is His justice.

When we realise that we have fallen into serious sin, we should not give way to despair as Judas did but, should turn to Jesus trustingly and contritely, saying with the Psalmist, “My refuge and my fortess, my stonghold, my deliverer, my shield, in whom I trust” (Ps 143:2).
We shall certainly be forgiven.

It would be the highest form of ingratitude and even blasphemous, to abuse God;s goodness and mercy.
Let our repentance be sincere and effective.
In return for the infinite goodness of God, let us give Him our love, limited indeed but willing and constant.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/04/19/thought-for-the-day-19-april-the-mercy-of-god/

Posted in CONFESSION/PENANCE, HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS

Thought for the Day – 28 March – Wednesday of Holy Week 2018 Judas

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Thought for the Day – 28 March – Wednesday of Holy Week 2018
Judas

Commentaries on Holy Week | Wednesday

Wednesday of Holy Week recalls the sad story of one who was an apostle of Christ, Judas. As St Matthew tells us in his gospel:  Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him to you?”   And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray Him.spy wed

So that we realise that we all might behave as Judas did.   So that we ask our Lord that, on our part, there be no treachery, nor distancing, nor abandonment.   Not only because of the great harm this could bring to our personal lives but because we could drag along others who need the help of our good example, of our support, of our friendship.

JUDAS’ KISS

In some places in Latin America, the images of Christ crucified show a deep bruise on our Lord’s left cheek.  People say this represents Judas’ kiss.   So great is the pain that our sins cause Jesus.   Let us tell Him that we want to be faithful, that we don’t want to sell Him, as Judas did, for thirty coins, for a trifle, for that’s what our sins are:  pride, envy, impurity, hatred, resentment… When a temptation threatens to overwhelm us, let’s remember that it is not worthwhile to exchange the happiness of God’s children, which is what we are, for a pleasure that ends right away, leaving the bitter aftertaste of defeat and infidelity.

We have to feel on our shoulders the weight of the Church and of all humanity.   Isn’t it marvellous to know that each of us can influence the whole world.   In that place where we are, doing our work well, caring for our family, serving our friends, we can help make so many people happy.   As St Josemaria wrote, through the fulfilment of our duties, we Christians have to be like the stone fallen into the lake.   With your word and your example you produce a first circle… and it another… and another, and another…Until you reach the furthest sites.

Let us ask our Lord that there be no more betrayals;  that we learn, with His grace, how to reject the temptations that the devil presents us with, trying to trick us.   We have to say no, firmly, to all that would separate us from God.   Thus the sad story of Judas will not be repeated in our own lives.

SACRAMENT OF DIVINE MERCY

And if we feel ourselves weak, let us hurry to the holy Sacrament of Penance!   There our Lord is waiting, like the father in the parable of the prodigal son, to give us an embrace and offer us His friendship.  He is continually going forth to meet us, even if we have fallen low, very low.   It’s always time to return to God!  We should never react with discouragement or pessimism.   Don’t think:  What can I do, if I’m just a pile of wretchedness?   God’s mercy is even greater.   What can I do, if I fall again and again through my weakness?   God’s power to lift us from our falls is even greater.

The sins of Judas and of Peter were great.   Both of them betrayed the Master:  one by handing Him over to His persecutors, the other by denying Him three times.   And nevertheless, how differently each reacted.   Our Lord longed to show mercy towards both.   Peter repented;  he wept over his sin, he asked for forgiveness and Christ strengthened him in his faith and love.   In time, he came to give his life for our Lord.   But Judas failed to trust in Christ’s mercy.   Up till the last moment, God held the doors of forgiveness open for him, but he didn’t want to enter them through penance.

MOMENT OF CONVERSION AND FORGIVENESS

In his first encyclical, John Paul II spoke of Christ’s “right to meet each one of us in that key moment in the soul’s life constituted by the moment of conversion and forgiveness” (Redemptor Hominis, 20).   Let’s not deprive Jesus of that right!   Let’s not take away from God the Father the joy of giving us a welcoming embrace!   Let’s not sadden the Holy Spirit, who wants to give supernatural life back to souls!

Let’s ask Blessed Mary, the Hope of Christians, to prevent us from becoming discouraged on seeing our mistakes and sins, perhaps repeated ones.   May she win for us from her Son the grace of conversion, an efficacious desire to go humbly and contritely to Confession, the sacrament of divine mercy, beginning and beginning again as often as necessary.and if we feel ourselves weak - Bishop Javier Echevarria (1932-2016) opus dei - wed of holy week

Bishop Javier Echevarria (1932-2016)

Fr Javier Echevarria (born 1932) was the second successor of St Josemaria Escriva as head of Opus Dei from 1994-2016.
He worked closely with St. Josemaria Escriva as his personal secretary from 1953 until St Josemaria’s death in 1975. Bishop Echevarria was ordained as a priest on 7 August 1955.
He was elected and appointed by John Paul II as prelate of Opus Dei on 20 April 1994.
The Pope ordained him as a bishop on 6 January 1995.
Bishop Echevarria died in Rome on 12 December 2016.BISHOP JAVIER

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, SAINT of the DAY, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 28 March – Wednesday of Holy Week 2018 & The Memorial of St Stephen Harding (1050-1134) 

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One Minute Reflection – 28 March – Wednesday of Holy Week 2018 & The Memorial of St Stephen Harding (1050-1134)

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him to you?”   And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him…Matthew 26:14-16matthew 26 14-16

REFLECTION – “Judas is neither a master of evil nor the figure of a demoniacal power of darkness but rather a sycophant who bows before the anonymous power of changing moods and current fashions.   But it is precisely this anonymous power that crucified Jesus, for it was anonymous voices that cried ‘away with him! Crucify him!'”…Pope Benedict XVI

judas is neither a master of evil - pope benedict - 28 march 2018

PRAYER – Father of mercy, hear the prayers of Your repentant children, who call on You in love.   Englighten our minds, sanctify our hearts, grant us right judgement and lead us away from the idols of the world.   St Stephen Harding, as you abandoned the world and helped many to follow you, intercede for us.   Through Jesus Christ our Saviour, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen.

st stephen harding pray for us - 28 march 2018

Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MORNING Prayers, SAINT of the DAY, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS

Quote of the Day – 14 May

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Quote of the Day – 14 May

“We know nothing else about him (St Matthias), if not that he had been a witness to all Jesus’ earthly events (cf. Acts 1: 21-22), remaining faithful to Him to the end.    To the greatness of his fidelity was later added the divine call to take the place of Judas, almost compensating for his betrayal.

We draw from this a final lesson:  while there is no lack of unworthy and traitorous Christians in the Church, it is up to each of us to counterbalance the evil done by them with our clear witness to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.” – Pope Benedict GENERAL AUDIENCE, Saint Peter’s Square, Wednesday, 18 October 2006

ST MATTHIAS - POPE BENEDICT