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 Tuesday of Holy Week: reflection

Reading: Jn 13:21-33,36-38

As the Paschal Triduum draws near, the daily readings help us get into the right frame of mind for celebrating the Paschal mysteries by furnishing us with the last scenes of Jesus with His apostles, what He told them as well as His true state of mind as He approached His death.

According to today’s gospel reading, Jesus was deeply troubled when He was seated at table with His apostles. The betrayal he was about to experience from His closest allies and collaborators troubled Him more that the death He was about to accept for the sake of humanity, for it was already written that He will die to save mankind. Having spent three years with His apostles, His close circle of friends, He was expecting nothing from them other than love, friendship, intimate relationship, and mutual support, especially in difficult times. Unfortunately, the people who ought to support Him in times of trials and need were about to stab him at the back. He wondered why His closest friends must be the ones to betray, deny and abandon him. Thoughts of this kind weighed down his spirit.

Through our baptism, we have become close friends and family of Jesus, the people for whom He laid down his life and from whom He expects reciprocal actions. Great is the sorrow that afflict His heart anytime we fail to reciprocate His love and sacrifice for us by doing the bidding of that same person from whose wicked hands He delivered us. The paschal events of the Triduum always challenges us to do those things which the apostles could not do for Jesus on account of human weakness. Let us approach Jesus this Triduum, as Peter did, and beg Him for forgiveness for the many times we betrayed Him and our friends/family, for the many times we troubled His loving heart by our sins (our acts of betrayal of God’s love for us).

May God’s grace strengthen you and fill you with the resolve not to betray Christ again. Amen

Fr Isaac Chima