Judas and Peter
Tuesday in the Holy Week
Judas and Peter: two characters without whom the Passion narrative of Jesus would lack drama. Both were apostles; both were close friends of Jesus and both failed Him in the hour of need. At least Judas never bragged about his loyalty. Peter's bragging in today's Gospel passage sounds repulsive to those who know what happened a few hours later. But Peter is honored as one of the greatest saints, while Judas' name is cursed. What made the difference?
From the Gospel we can conclude that the betrayal of Judas was planned for quite some time. He knew exactly what he was about to do.
Peter was quite different. Deep in his heart he loved the Lord. In spite of his many failures he was actually loyal. When he bragged he would even die for Jesus, I am sure he really meant it at that moment. He never planned to deny his beloved Master. He was just weak. And he was very impulsive. That makes Peter such a likable fellow with whom we can easily identify.
If we look honestly into our own lives, we detect many weaknesses. We commit many sins which we call either "mortal" or "venial". The sin of Judas was mortal because it was planned with full consciousness. May God protect us from this kind of sin! A daily honest examination of conscience can help us spot "sins in the making." A prolonged hatred and the resistance to forgive somebody are clear signs that a "Judas sin" might not be far from being committed. But even a mortal sin can be forgiven. The only condition is that we do what Judas missed to do: go with trust to Jesus and ask for forgiveness.
The same examination of conscience also makes us immediately aware of the many "Peter sins," sins committed out of weakness of caused by a moment of uncontrolled emotions. Knowing that every sin hurts Go, we ask for forgiveness even for the so-called venial sins. And we can be sure that God forgives every time we approach Him like Peter, being sorry for what we have done.
Judas and Peter: two characters without whom the Passion narrative of Jesus would lack drama. Both were apostles; both were close friends of Jesus and both failed Him in the hour of need. At least Judas never bragged about his loyalty. Peter's bragging in today's Gospel passage sounds repulsive to those who know what happened a few hours later. But Peter is honored as one of the greatest saints, while Judas' name is cursed. What made the difference?
From the Gospel we can conclude that the betrayal of Judas was planned for quite some time. He knew exactly what he was about to do.
Peter was quite different. Deep in his heart he loved the Lord. In spite of his many failures he was actually loyal. When he bragged he would even die for Jesus, I am sure he really meant it at that moment. He never planned to deny his beloved Master. He was just weak. And he was very impulsive. That makes Peter such a likable fellow with whom we can easily identify.
If we look honestly into our own lives, we detect many weaknesses. We commit many sins which we call either "mortal" or "venial". The sin of Judas was mortal because it was planned with full consciousness. May God protect us from this kind of sin! A daily honest examination of conscience can help us spot "sins in the making." A prolonged hatred and the resistance to forgive somebody are clear signs that a "Judas sin" might not be far from being committed. But even a mortal sin can be forgiven. The only condition is that we do what Judas missed to do: go with trust to Jesus and ask for forgiveness.
The same examination of conscience also makes us immediately aware of the many "Peter sins," sins committed out of weakness of caused by a moment of uncontrolled emotions. Knowing that every sin hurts Go, we ask for forgiveness even for the so-called venial sins. And we can be sure that God forgives every time we approach Him like Peter, being sorry for what we have done.
