Word of the day

A reading of the Book of Isaiah
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.

A reading from the Gospel oh John 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."
 

We are destined to receive this gift, the Lord’s friendship. This is our vocation: to live as friends of the Lord. The apostles received the same gift, stronger still, but the same. All Christians have received this gift: access to Jesus’ heart, to Jesus’ friendship. It is a gift that the Lord always has for us and He is always faithful. Jesus is our friend. And as it says here, Judas went off to follow his own path, according to his destiny, which he chose freely, he moved away from Jesus. That’s what apostasy is: to distance oneself from Jesus. A friend who becomes an enemy or a friend who becomes indifferent or a friend who betrays us. Let’s think about this, He doesn’t betray us, He waits for us until the end. And when we, through our weakness, distance ourselves from Him, He waits, He waits, and He continues to say: “My friend, I am waiting for you. My friend, what do you want? My friend, why do you betray me with a kiss?” He is a faithful friend and we must ask him for the grace to remain in his love, to remain in his friendship, that friendship that we have received as a gift from him. (Santa Marta, 14 May 2018)