Blog post today from my favorite young adult writer, Annie:
Let’s start with a quick poll: Hands up anybody who has never felt betrayed or let down before. Did you put your hand up? If so, Congratulations! You are probably the only person ever in the history of the world who doesn’t know what that feels like. Betrayal is possibly one of the hardest experiences that we can live through. If you’ve ever been disappointed by another in this way (and we’ve established that the odds aren’t good that you haven’t), you know what I’m talking about. The pain is much worse when the person who turned against you was someone you never would have expected to hurt you. To be scorned and disrespected by someone who was supposed to love you is one of the greatest shocks I think there is.
In today’s Gospel (Matthew 26:14-25), we are shown that Jesus Himself was no stranger to the concept of disloyalty.
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, As 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.”
Let this sink in for a moment. Jesus, the Son of God, the most awesome Person who ever walked the planet (except maybe for Wolverine? but I don’t know if I’m allowed to think that) was betrayed by one of His closest friends. Judas was one of His twelve apostles, one of the men He trusted most, one of the few people that He chose to be constantly by His side throughout His earthly ministry. How must he have felt when Judas turned against Him? When you think of your experience of betrayal, remember to connect those feelings to Christ’s, because he went through it too. Those of you who are tempted to blame yourselves or think that there is something wrong with you, that some inherent flaw in you must have caused this person to treat you this poorly, that you are not lovable; you’re not, and you’re wrong. It happened to Jesus, so it literally happens to the best of us. Do not feel ashamed by what happened to you. The wrong that others do to you is never a reflection of you, just another person’s mistake, for which they are probably suffering also.
Jesus encourages us in the booklet Heaven Speaks to Those Who Experience Tragedy to allow ourselves the healing process and to bring our sorrows to Him:
"My friend, there are events in every life that stand out as difficult and life-altering. This tragedy, this abrupt change of course, will stand out to you, I know. When you feel a sense of shock, a sense of stunning upset in your life, you must look for me. I am there. I do not remain with My children, day after day, and then abandon them when they most need my support. Your grief is understandable and I will support you in it. You will not always understand why I allowed a certain thing to happen. In your expected inability to understand, you will challenge me. You will say, “God, how could you have allowed this? God, where are You? God, why have You abandoned us?” My friends, bring those questions directly to me because I, Myself, am the most sympathetic listener when it comes to these heartfelt cries of anguish. You see, I cried these cries Myself. In my humanity, on the cross, I felt abandoned. In My humanity, on the cross, I questioned the value of God’s plan. From My viewpoint, nailed to a piece of wood and raised aloft as a subject of total rejection and derision, it appeared that I suffered more than anyone. It appeared that none could know the extent of My pain. My beloved child, I tell you this so that you will understand that I, your Savior, grasp the depth of your pain. I will walk you through each moment of anguish, surrounding you with heaven’s graces. No. You will not be left to walk alone through this tragedy."
When the people we love let us down, it throws everything we thought we knew into confusion. Maybe you’re like me, and it makes you want to burn down buildings or punch pillows in the throat (and by pillows I mean people, but that sounds more aggressive). Or maybe you’re also like me and you are tempted to shut yourself off to all people forever because clearly nobody in the WHOLE WORLD can be trusted EVER AGAIN. (Maybe you’re much less dramatic than me and you respond maturely and positively to distressing social circumstances, but I don’t really have anything new to tell you people, you probably have it figured out better than I do.) There are a couple of problems with these responses. One, there are legal problems with burning down buildings you don’t own, especially if they are someone’s house. Two, when we harden our hearts to people, we necessarily harden our hearts to God. Closing ourselves off to God is going to be a lot more harmful to us than whatever injury is inflicted upon us by others. So let’s open ourselves up to Him instead.
Also, when you’re ready to, pray for your Judas. You’ve gotta feel bad for someone who even Jesus said would be better off not born, so let’s limit the amount of Judas’ in the world with our forgiveness. I know it’s hard, but you never know what hell might have put them in the position to hurt you. We hurt Jesus all the time, each and every one of us, and He forgives us readily. We can learn so much from Him if we are willing to try.
Congratulations on surviving Lent guys! We’re almost there!
Annie
Let’s start with a quick poll: Hands up anybody who has never felt betrayed or let down before. Did you put your hand up? If so, Congratulations! You are probably the only person ever in the history of the world who doesn’t know what that feels like. Betrayal is possibly one of the hardest experiences that we can live through. If you’ve ever been disappointed by another in this way (and we’ve established that the odds aren’t good that you haven’t), you know what I’m talking about. The pain is much worse when the person who turned against you was someone you never would have expected to hurt you. To be scorned and disrespected by someone who was supposed to love you is one of the greatest shocks I think there is.
In today’s Gospel (Matthew 26:14-25), we are shown that Jesus Himself was no stranger to the concept of disloyalty.
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, As 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.”
Let this sink in for a moment. Jesus, the Son of God, the most awesome Person who ever walked the planet (except maybe for Wolverine? but I don’t know if I’m allowed to think that) was betrayed by one of His closest friends. Judas was one of His twelve apostles, one of the men He trusted most, one of the few people that He chose to be constantly by His side throughout His earthly ministry. How must he have felt when Judas turned against Him? When you think of your experience of betrayal, remember to connect those feelings to Christ’s, because he went through it too. Those of you who are tempted to blame yourselves or think that there is something wrong with you, that some inherent flaw in you must have caused this person to treat you this poorly, that you are not lovable; you’re not, and you’re wrong. It happened to Jesus, so it literally happens to the best of us. Do not feel ashamed by what happened to you. The wrong that others do to you is never a reflection of you, just another person’s mistake, for which they are probably suffering also.
Jesus encourages us in the booklet Heaven Speaks to Those Who Experience Tragedy to allow ourselves the healing process and to bring our sorrows to Him:
"My friend, there are events in every life that stand out as difficult and life-altering. This tragedy, this abrupt change of course, will stand out to you, I know. When you feel a sense of shock, a sense of stunning upset in your life, you must look for me. I am there. I do not remain with My children, day after day, and then abandon them when they most need my support. Your grief is understandable and I will support you in it. You will not always understand why I allowed a certain thing to happen. In your expected inability to understand, you will challenge me. You will say, “God, how could you have allowed this? God, where are You? God, why have You abandoned us?” My friends, bring those questions directly to me because I, Myself, am the most sympathetic listener when it comes to these heartfelt cries of anguish. You see, I cried these cries Myself. In my humanity, on the cross, I felt abandoned. In My humanity, on the cross, I questioned the value of God’s plan. From My viewpoint, nailed to a piece of wood and raised aloft as a subject of total rejection and derision, it appeared that I suffered more than anyone. It appeared that none could know the extent of My pain. My beloved child, I tell you this so that you will understand that I, your Savior, grasp the depth of your pain. I will walk you through each moment of anguish, surrounding you with heaven’s graces. No. You will not be left to walk alone through this tragedy."
When the people we love let us down, it throws everything we thought we knew into confusion. Maybe you’re like me, and it makes you want to burn down buildings or punch pillows in the throat (and by pillows I mean people, but that sounds more aggressive). Or maybe you’re also like me and you are tempted to shut yourself off to all people forever because clearly nobody in the WHOLE WORLD can be trusted EVER AGAIN. (Maybe you’re much less dramatic than me and you respond maturely and positively to distressing social circumstances, but I don’t really have anything new to tell you people, you probably have it figured out better than I do.) There are a couple of problems with these responses. One, there are legal problems with burning down buildings you don’t own, especially if they are someone’s house. Two, when we harden our hearts to people, we necessarily harden our hearts to God. Closing ourselves off to God is going to be a lot more harmful to us than whatever injury is inflicted upon us by others. So let’s open ourselves up to Him instead.
Also, when you’re ready to, pray for your Judas. You’ve gotta feel bad for someone who even Jesus said would be better off not born, so let’s limit the amount of Judas’ in the world with our forgiveness. I know it’s hard, but you never know what hell might have put them in the position to hurt you. We hurt Jesus all the time, each and every one of us, and He forgives us readily. We can learn so much from Him if we are willing to try.
Congratulations on surviving Lent guys! We’re almost there!
Annie
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