The Heart of Judas - Cardinal Bacci

The Heart of Judas

1. The human heart is a mystery, the depths of which it is difficult to sound. We do not even understand ourselves. The heart of man can soar to the loftiest heights of goodness or descend to unimaginable depths of evil. Examples of the sublime heights to which men can rise are provided by the lives of the Saints, who loved God so much that they were on fire with charity and wished to abide forever in Him. “It is now no longer I that live,” said St. Paul, “but Christ lives in me.” (1 Gal. 2:20)

The heart of Judas is a particularly deep mystery. We read in the Gospel that Jesus called together His disciples in the supper room to celebrate His last Pasch with them. Among them was Judas. Jesus loved men so much that He wished to remain with them really and truly for all time, even after His approaching death. “Having love his own, who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (John 13:1) When the meal was over, Jesus took bread and, lifting up His eyes to Heaven, He said: “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then He took the chalice, blessed it, and turning towards the Apostles said these words: “All of you drink of this; for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is being shed for many.” Then He added: “Do this in remembrance of me.” In this way Jesus instituted the Blessed Eucharist, which St. Thomas describes as Christ’s greatest miracle. (De fest Corp. Christi, Bk. V) Furthermore, He raised His disciples, including Judas, to the sublime dignity of the priesthood, and bestowed on them the power to do what He had just done. One might say that the infinite generosity of Jesus Christ was exhausted at that moment. He could not give anything more because at that moment he had given us Himself.

It was in this solemn moment, in which He received Jesus into his soul and was at the same time raised to the dignity of the priesthood, that Judas finally decided to carry out his plan to sell his Master for thirty pieces of silver and to hand Him over to those who wished to kill him. How sin can degrade a human being!

2. How did Judas fall to such a level? Certainly it did not happen in an instant. His dominant passion was probably small in the beginning but, when it was not repressed in time, grew daily and finally came to exercise absolute control over his heart. It was avarice, that vilest and most material of passions, which caused him to fall.

Judas had been appointed bursar and administrator of the small offering which the faithful made to the Apostles. He became attached to this money and may have begun to steal small sums which grew bigger with time, until greed prompted him to sell Jesus for thirty miserable pieces of silver. He carried out his plan at the very moment when Jesus bestowed on him the highest dignity.

We should meditate on this terrible tragedy while there is still time for us to save ourselves from sinking to the same level of degradation. This could easily happen if we neglect to resist temptation at once and to pray fervently for Divine help the moment we are tempted.

3. Even after his betrayal, Judas still had time to make amends. It would have sufficed if he had gone to Jesus and asked Him for forgiveness. He would certainly have received the kiss of peace. He was overcome by despair, however, and decided that his sin was too great to be forgiven. So, throwing away his money, the reward of his betrayal, he took a rope and “hanged himself with a halter.” (Matt. 27:5) If we should ever have the misfortune to fall into sin, we should remember that the mercy of God is infinite. It is enough to go to Him and to ask for pardon and for the grace not to offend Him any more under any circumstances. We should then resolve to love Him with all the power of our poor hearts, to atone for our sins, and to serve Him faithfully for the rest of our lives.

The Betrayal by Judas - Cardinal Bacci

The Betrayal by Judas

1. Ingratitude is a very cruel thing. It imprints a deep wound on the human heart, and the heart of Jesus was infinitely more sensitive than ours. He had raised Judas to the high rank of the Apostolate; He had made him one of His closest friends and had entrusted him with the secrets of His infinite love. Now Judas betrays Him for the wretched sum of thirty pieces of silver. Worse is to follow, however. While Jesus is praying and perspiring blood at the thought of the ingratitude of men and of the nearness of His passion and death, the garden of Gethsemane becomes suddenly aglow with torches and reverberates with the shouting of the hired ruffians whom Judas has brought with him to arrest Jesus. The treacherous Apostle comes forward. He embraces our divine Redeemer, hails Him as his Master and greets Him with a sacrilegious kiss upon the cheek. Jesus neither repulses nor rebukes him, but with a gesture of infinite mercy He addresses him as a friend. “Friend,” He says, “for what purpose hast thou come?” (Mt. 26:50) “Dost thou betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:48) If only Judas could have heeded this last appeal and begged for forgiveness at Jesus' feet with tears of repentance! Jesus would certainly have taken him to His heart and returned his kiss with a kiss of pardon and divine friendship. Perhaps we have also stood at times on the brink of sin and have been aware of a higher appeal to go back. But have we heeded it? If ever we are in grave danger again, let us listen to this quiet voice which speaks to our conscience. Let us fall on our knees before Jesus and earnestly implore Him: “Be not silent, Lord, be not far from me !” (Ps. 34:22) Let us ask Him to have pity on our weakness and to come to our assistance.

2. It is quite certain that Judas did not commit this sacrilegious act of betrayal on the spur of the moment. Evil, like goodness, is arrived at step by step. Perhaps it was some motive of self-interest rather than of pure love which led Judas to become one of Jesus' Apostles. Covetousness, “the root of all evils,” (Cf. 1 Tim. 6:10) seems to have been his dominant passion. As the Gospel tells us, he kept the money offerings which those who had been converted gave to Jesus for His support and for that of His Apostles. He did not know how to suppress his dominant passion at times. On one occasion he complained about Mary Magdalen when she anointed the feet of Jesus with precious ointment. The passion grew and he became a thief. “He was a thief; and holding the purse used to take what was put in it.” (John 12:6) In spite of the extraordinary graces he had received, he fell into sin. Finally, he was guilty of the betrayal, of the sacrilegious communion at the last supper, and of the kiss of hypocrisy in Gethesemane. The example of Judas is a lesson to us. It is disastrous to begin to yield to our passions and to fall into evil habits. The Holy Spirit warns us that anyone who makes little account of small things will fall into bigger. (Cf. Ecclus. 19:1) Let us remember that even a tiny spark can set off a conflagration. Likewise, a single mortal sin can lead us to Hell.

3. Failure to comply with the extraordinary graces which Jesus had granted him was responsible for the fall of Judas. Whoever receives a great deal must give as much. Judas had been called to the dignity of the Apostolate. At the Last Supper he received the fullness of the priesthood along with the other Apostles and received Jesus Himself into his soul under the species of the consecrated bread. In spite of all this he deserted and betrayed his Master. What about us ? Let us consider how many spiritual and temporal graces God has bestowed on us throughout our lives. Have we been thankful for them? If we have not corresponded generously with all these favours, or if we have done worse and have rejected them by sin, let us repent and resolve to do better. The example of Judas should teach us this lesson.