Tuesday of Holy Week

Reading I: Isaiah 49:1–6
Psalm: 71:1–2, 3–4a, 5ab–6ab, 15, 17
Gospel: John 13:21–33, 36–38

Today’s Gospel offers us a fascinating and moving scene. The beloved disciple, traditionally identified with St. John the Evangelist, is described as reclining on the Sacred Heart of Our Lord.
The Greek word used to describe the “side” (kolpō) of Jesus is only invoked one other time in John’s Gospel, to describe the abiding of the Son in the bosom (kolpon) of the Father. This gives us a glimpse into how radically intimate the friendship was between John and Jesus.
It is in this context that Peter asks John to try to figure out from Jesus who it is that will betray Him. What is remarkable about this interaction—and something we often miss—is that Jesus gives John a straight answer! “It is he to whom I will give this morsel when I have dipped it” (John 13:26), And what is the very next thing that happens? Jesus dips the morsel and hands it to Judas.

Presumably all the disciples would have noticed this action, but only John knew what Jesus had told him, and clearly he chose not to share this information with anyone else. In a heart-rending way, then, a close reading of John’s last supper scene reveals that John himself received forewarning from Jesus as to what was about to take place and who the betrayer would be.
Why did Jesus share this information with John? And why did John not share the information? Why did he not jump to his feet and confront Judas in front of the other Apostles? Why did he not intervene to try to prevent the calamitous tragedy which would be the death of the Son of God?
The answer: John trusted Jesus absolutely. John must have firmly believed that Jesus knew what He was doing and that this was the way things had to be. Although in that moment John must have wanted with his whole being to do something, instead he followed Jesus’s lead and simply watched and prayed in silence, uniting his anguish with the anguish of Christ—even to the foot of the Cross.

What are the sufferings or hardships in my life that God is inviting me to embrace with trust?

Reference:

Journey Through Lent: Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings by Clement Harrold