Tuesday of Holy Week
Annually, this holy week gives us an opportunity to walk with Christ and see the parallels in our lives. On this day, we recognize a deeply personal pitfall of servanthood: betrayal. Being betrayed is an experience unlikely to be forgotten. We do not need movies, books, or Sacred Scripture to remind us of the gut-wrenching feeling of this hurt in our souls as we stumble with betrayal throughout our lives.
In the context of Holy Week, we relive Christ’s betrayal, and perhaps recall our own experiences of betrayal, sometimes, like Christ, even over dinner. We can think of the countless ways folks are dishonest, deceptive, or duplicitous. It’s painful, and for some of us, it’s a cross we are not able to let go of.
Christ saw, formed in the Isaiah tradition of servanthood, that this betrayal with Judas, “this evil,” would transform him into “something good.”[1] Christ was to be “a light to the nations” (Isaiah 49: 6) and allow that servanthood to be a force for good.
The cross of betrayal leads us to a better loyalty, forthrightness, and honesty in serving and caring for others in our own words and deeds. Let us grow in a communion of fixing our lives on a renewal of spirit that calls us to see that we are bigger than another’s jealous actions and pettiness. Christ still offered his body and blood for us and for others, knowing and experiencing a week of betrayals. These betrayals led to the cross and a resurrection. May we choose to move past our treachery and grow in trust in God alone and so be transformed by the sin of betrayal for “something good.”
Whose betrayal must I leave at the cross?
Prayer:
Lord God, the refuge of the poor and sinners, hear our cries for help, especially in our times of trial and betrayal. Strengthen our resolve to focus on your mighty deeds of love and reconciliation, as Christ taught us through his life and passion. Through Christ our Lord.
- See the play, read the book, or watch the movie “Wicked” to see this modern-day parable about wickedness, betrayal and the good.
