These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” (Jn 13:1-15)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040226-Supper.cfm
As I have done for you, you should also do. We don’t get to pick and choose when it comes to Jesus. Trying to turn Jesus into a justification for violence and war has been condemned by Pope Leo. We are called to follow Jesus. We are called to wash each other’s feet, to get low and serve one another and not exalt ourselves and lord it over others. https://youtu.be/mgdIspwSjgY?si=mzgELPA6rMHYsWC1
One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over. (Mt 26:14-25)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040126.cfm
In a transactional world, everything and everybody has a price. Most of us can be bought for far less than thirty pieces of silver. It is easy to dismiss the betrayal by Judas as long ago history, until we recognize that in mentioning that Judas is one of the Twelve the gospel writers are making a comment on church leadership in every age and by extension on all of us. https://youtu.be/XRGiSp6fADI?si=0U2mdDdQY1G-AanG
Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, "Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus' side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus' chest and said to him, "Master, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it." So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. (Jn 13:21-33, 36-38)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/033126.cfm
At the Last Supper it is the Beloved Disciple who is the closest to Jesus. as the Fourth Gospel tells us: He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. In every Eucharist we touch the Heart of the Lord who gives himself for love of us. It is the Beloved Disciple who invites us all to be Beloved Disciples, loved to the end. https://youtu.be/jbmCtfTZO_k?si=-z0hss8J8tcgJLlK
The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him. (Jn 12:1-11)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/033026.cfm
The plot to kill Lazarus surprises, but it really shouldn’t. The powers that be are always threatened by a radical love for the poor, the hungry, the outcast. The wondrous love that Jesus offers frees us to work for a world where the poor have the seats of honor, the rich are sent empty away, where the lowly are raised up, the imprisoned walk free, and everyone knows their dignity as children of God. https://youtu.be/eBtaO_kGrBs?si=7IwkWcxr-sZcwnCq
Thus was innocent blood spared that day. (Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62)
“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” (Jn 8:1-11)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032326.cfm
In the story of Susanna God saves the innocent. In the gospel story of the woman caught in adultery, Jesus saves the guilty. The good news of Lent is that all, innocent and guilty, are saved! https://youtu.be/JbQUA6HVQl8?si=lOPZXSYDSHi2Ukfc
