4/1/2015 – Wednesday of Holy Week – Matthew 26:14-25

      In Jewish culture, usually families celebrate the Passover together.  It is interesting to note that in today’s account from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus celebrates the Passover not with Mary and Joseph, but rather with his disciples – his closest friends and followers.   Jesus knew that this would be his final Passover meal.   He knew that his journey here on earth was soon to come to an end.  He knew that one of these close friends would soon betray him.  We can imagine that Judas knew that he would be the betrayer at this point, even though he denied it publicly.  In the Gospels of Luke and John, it says that at the Last Supper, it was Satan who entered Judas’ heart at this point, causing him to betray Jesus.   It is easy for us to thumb our noses at Judas and at what he does, but might examine our own hearts and our own actions before we do so.  We may think of the times we betray Jesus in our words and our actions, how we justify ourselves even though we know we are going against the values of our faith and the Lord’s commandments.

     As we think of the communal aspect of the Passover that Jesus celebrated with his disciples, we think of how it is much more that the sharing of a meal.   Our sharing of the Eucharist, in the meal Jesus shares with us, we think of how we come together as a community of faith sharing in our belief in God’s kingdom – the kingdom that exists in glimpses right now here on earth and the eternal kingdom that is to come. The celebration that Jesus and his disciples shared in the tradition of their Jewish faith became much more.  In the tradition of the Last Supper that Jesus shared with his disciples, we remember the Paschal mystery.  We remember Christ’s Life, Death and Resurrection.  As we share in the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist around the Lord’s Table, we are called to make a communal commitment share God’s love and mercy to the world. May we remember this calling and challenge as we enter into Christ’s Paschal mystery this Holy Week. 

4/16/2014 – Wednesday of Holy Week – Matthew 24:14-25

         Yesterday, I traveled to Jackson to attend the Chrism mass with others from the different parishes of Deanery 5 in Northeast Mississippi.  The Chrism Mass takes place in the Cathedral of each Diocese in the Catholic Church, reminding us of our oneness in Christ through Baptism and its holy anointing, made possible by the ministry of the Bishop and his priests. The Chrism mass is also a key moment in which the unity of the Bishop with his priests is manifested and renewed. During the Chrism mass liturgy, the entire assembly is called to renew its baptismal promises.  Along with the other deacons and priests of our diocese, I renewed my vow of obedience to Bishop Kopacz and I renewed my commitment to serve God’s people here in St James and in our diocese.

         As I renewed my promise of obedience last night, I thought about how many aspects of our lives concern making choices, for renewing my obedience to the bishop was indeed a choice.  There are good choices we can make, choices that bring us closer to God.  Then, there are choices that take us away from God, choices that are like rocks that build up in our pockets and weigh us down. 

         In today's Gospel, we hear how Judas betrayed Jesus, how he shared the meal with Jesus and the rest of his disciples in celebration of the Jewish holidays, while at the same time knowing in his heart that he would deliver Jesus into the hands of those who wanted to kill him.  Judas is an example of choosing to go down the wrong road and abandoning our faith. 

         Then we have Jesus, the Son of God, who could have demanded that people serve him. But Jesus came to serve others, not to be served.  Tomorrow, on Holy Thursday, we will remember how Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, an action usually performed by a slave or a servant for a guest who had just come in from the dirty streets.  Jesus came to serve and to help others, which is so different from the attitude that Judas had, how he would betray his friend for his own personal gain.

         As we observe Holy Week this week, let us remember all those things we need to get rid of so that we will be more like Jesus, who came to serve, and less like Judas, who betrayed Jesus and thought of his own gain.