Judas

‘Judas said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief.’

Evil is real.  Sometimes we recognize it.  But sometimes we recognize it too late, because so often evil comes disguised as good.

That is true of the infamous dictators who sold themselves with promises of a better life. 

It is true of less obvious personalities in the media or the military or the corporation. 

It is also true within the church, within communities, and within families, simply because it is true in each and every one of us to some degree.  Each one of us is capable of hypocrisy. 

Each one of us is tempted to present ourselves as better than we really are.

As we journey through this Holy Week, today is a good day for self-examination, for as we get to know our personal Judas, we might more easily recognize Judas in the messages of the world as well.  And, if we haven’t already celebrated the Sacrament of Penance in preparation for Easter, we should seek the opportunity to do so, to ask the Lord to forgive us our lies, our deceptions, our pretenses, and to fill us with the grace of self-knowledge so that we might better love Him and all those in the world around us. 

For it will be in this way that we will then draw ever closer to the Father’s Kingdom of true and lasting peace.