Gospel: Matthew
26:14-25
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.
On the
first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and
said, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?" He
said, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The teacher says,
My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with
my disciples.'" The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared
the Passover.
When it
was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating,
he said,
"Amen,
I say to you, one of you will betray me." Deeply distressed at this, they
began to say to him one after another, "Surely it is not I, Lord?" He
said in reply, "He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the
one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but
woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that
man if he had never been born." Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, "Surely
it is not I, Rabbi?" He answered, "You have said so."
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Reflection:
What if
instead of killing himself Judas simply approached Jesus and said, I’m sorry
Jesus for betraying you. How would have Jesus reacted? Jesus would have
forgiven him but the sad part is to humble himself before Jesus never came to
Judas' contemplation. Judas instead was overpowered by his greed for money.
For
thirty pieces of silver Judas Iscariot sold His soul to the devil. Obviously
Judas loved money more than his master otherwise he would not have betrayed
Jesus. Indeed, the love of money is the root of every evil. Because of this
greed, some have wandered away from the faith, bringing on themselves
afflictions of every kind (1 Timothy 6:10).
What
power does money have that we are willing to sell our souls to the devil so
that we could have it? Money per see is not evil it becomes evil when we greed
for it and when we allow it to possess us. But what price are we willing to pay
just to have money or even dirty money? Judas betrayed his master and
eventually destroyed his very life for his greed for money.
There’s
always a heavy price to pay when we allow ourselves to be possessed by our
greed for money. Just observed those people who are greedy with money what
happened to them? Where are they now? This betrayal of Judas courtesy of thirty
pieces of silver sends us a chilling lesson. That our greed and love for money
will bring us no good only misery and countless more misery.
All the
money in this will not buy us harmony in the family; all the money in this
world will not buy us peace of mind and so forth. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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