TUESDAY OF HOLY WEEK (B): Jesus Predicted Judas Betrayal And Peters Denial

March 30, 2021, Tuesday
Tuesday of Holy Week (Violet)
CYCLE B - YEAR I

Lectionary: 258

Reading I

Is 49:1-6

Hear me, O islands,
    listen, O distant peoples.
The LORD called me from birth,
    from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword
    and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
    in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me,
    Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
    and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
Yet my reward is with the LORD,
    my recompense is with my God.
For now the LORD has spoken
    who formed me as his servant from the womb,
That Jacob may be brought back to him
    and Israel gathered to him;
And I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
    and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
    to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
    and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
    that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Responsorial Psalm

71:1-2, 3-4a, 5ab-6ab, 15 and 17

R.    (see 15ab)  I will sing of your salvation.

In you, O LORD, I take refuge;

    let me never be put to shame.

In your justice rescue me, and deliver me;

    incline your ear to me, and save me.

R.    I will sing of your salvation.

Be my rock of refuge,

    a stronghold to give me safety,

    for you are my rock and my fortress.

O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.

R.    I will sing of your salvation.

For you are my hope, O LORD;

    my trust, O God, from my youth.

On you I depend from birth;

    from my mother’s womb you are my strength.

R.    I will sing of your salvation.

My mouth shall declare your justice,

    day by day your salvation.

O God, you have taught me from my youth,

    and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.

R.    I will sing of your salvation.

Verse before the Gospel

Hail to you, our King, obedient to the Father;

you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter.

GOSPEL

Jn 13:21-33, 36-38

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.
After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him.
So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”
Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him.
Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him,
“Buy what we need for the feast,”
or to give something to the poor.
So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.
When he had left, Jesus said,
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself,
and he will glorify him at once.
My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.
You will look for me, and as I told the Jews,
‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.”
Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?”
Jesus answered him,
“Where I am going, you cannot follow me now,
though you will follow later.”
Peter said to him,
“Master, why can I not follow you now? 
I will lay down my life for you.”
Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me?
Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow
before you deny me three times.”

REFLECTION:

Have you ever tried in your life rejecting you or denying someone else pretending that you've didn't know & recognized each other? It's very hard to think that we hurt other's feelings by means of being rejected---by a friend or even your family. What are your feelings about being rejected? Jesus predicts Simon Peter cause he knows that all of these would be happened according to scriptures at the time he was arrested & crucified, his disciple will deny in him three times. 

Betrayal is the ultimate let-down. Judas, once the friend, is now the one who hands Jesus over, and in handing over Jesus, hands over the other disciples into a world of shared betrayal. All left Jesus in very understandable fear. Betrayal is calculated and planned, not like the denial of Peter later. In Holy Week prayer we enter into the betrayal of Jesus, and in the compassion of our heart, sympathize with him, and offer ourselves as best we can as companions and partners in his suffering and death.

PRAYER:

Dearest Lord, open our hearts to think what's the true value of love, relationship & friendship. Help us to think & realize that whatever we feel rejected on someone else, there's only one person that He will never us be rejected, instead He will always be there to love & care for us--- and that's YOU.