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 he 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 he took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.   

We can make certain conclusions about some of the people in the Gospels simply by studying their lives and actions. Even though we can never read their thoughts completely, we can probably come fairly close to judging them correctly. One such person is Judas Iscariot. He must have been sincere in his approach to Jesus. After all, Jesus had chosen him as one of the Twelve. But, as he worked with Jesus, and saw what Jesus was all about, Judas no doubt began to make some decisions about the person who chose him. He became so convinced that he was right that Judas actually made it possible for Jesus to be arrested and finally crucified.

In terms of human behavior, one could say that Judas “fooled himself” into thinking that he was correct. He thought that he was right, and without studying his own motivation enough, he made a commitment to do something that he was to regret bitterly later on.

Such human behavior is important to study for the circumstances of our lives. In our thinking, we sometimes fool ourselves, and without checking it out, we make a commitment. Such could be the background behind the love commitment made in Goo Goo Doll’s song “Stay With You.” The person in the song is making a commitment to someone, but one wonders whether that person has studied the circumstances enough. He sings, "Fooled by my own desires, I twist my fate." He is making the commitment to her--"I’ll stay with you," he sings--but he may have been fooled by his own desires, and really was not ready to make the commitment.

In our love lives, as with other parts of our lives, we must be careful before we make a permanent commitment. We must take the time to study what it means. We can never be completely sure, of course, but our study should give us enough time to keep us from fooling ourselves and making a mistake that we will regret.                   

THOUGHT
 
PRAYER

Good and gracious God, one of the people in the Gospel that we must study is the person of Judas Iscariot. Your Son chose him as an apostle, but Judas made some wrong decisions that led to personal tragedy. Give us the grace to study our motivation before we make any permanent commitment. Be with us, we pray.

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©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America