HOLY WEDNESDAY - also known as "Spy Wednesday" - the day when the Sanhedrin spied on Jesus through the eyes and motivation of the disillusioned Judas.
MATTHEW 26: One of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?’ They paid him thirty silver pieces, and from that moment he looked for an opportunity to betray him.
When evening came he was at table with the twelve disciples. And while they were eating he said ‘I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me.’ They were greatly distressed and started asking him in turn, ‘Not I, Lord, surely?’ He answered, ‘Someone who has dipped his hand into the dish with me, will betray me. The Son of Man is going to his fate, as the scriptures say he will, but alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had never been born!’ Judas, who was to betray him; asked in his turn, ‘Not I, Rabbi, surely?’ ‘They are your own words’ answered Jesus.
The theme of betrayal continues in the Gospel reading for today.
The biggest betrayal in today’s world is that of the Kremlin’s action in Ukraine.
Let us pray that Vladimir Putin’s heart be moved
so that he could see what immense suffering he is causing.
He is Christian, apparently.
Let us pray he comes to understand that Jesus Christ desires peace.
One of the most common phrases in all Jesus' public ministry is
“Peace be with you.”
It is the first thing that the Risen Christ says to the disciples
after the Resurrection.
Pray: Lord God, whose compassion never fails:
comfort and support, we pray,
the people on whom the terrors of invasion have fallen;
and if their liberty be lost to the oppressor,
let not their spirit and hope be broken,
but stayed upon your strength until the day of deliverance;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Pray: Hands that touched the leper,
touch our wounded hearts; Hands that healed the blind man,
heal our aching souls; Hands that cured the lame,
mend disjointed lives; Hands that embraced Lazarus from death back to life,
enfold us in your peace. Lord, merely touch and heal,
cure and forgive. Giles Harcourt
Pray: God of laughter and of tears,
teach us to laugh at ourselves, at our petty preoccupations.
Let our laughter lure us deep beneath the terrors without names, beneath the questions without answers, beneath the pain without relief.
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