Misplaced Confidence

Mar. 27: Wednesday of Holy Week

I don’t have a good intro for today, so enjoy this funny tweet, instead.

Reading 1

Is 50:4-9a

The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, That I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; And I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; My face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.

The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame. He is near who upholds my right; if anyone wishes to oppose me, let us appear together. Who disputes my right? Let him confront me. See, the Lord GOD is my help; who will prove me wrong?

On Monday, we heard the first Suffering Servant song from Isaiah Tuesday the second, and now the third (which we actually heard on Sunday, but today we get a few extra verses).

The part we read on Sunday ends with a confident note, “knowing I shall not be put to shame.” But as we continue with the song here, the servant is defiant. He challenges anyone to confront him, since the Lord is his help. And it’s worth noting that he acknowledges he can’t do anything without God.

Even Jesus, who is one with the Father, routinely says much the same thing. He models for us the idea that we can find strength by our dependency on God, who is omnipotent.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 69:8-10, 21-22, 31 and 33-34

R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother's sons,
because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak,
I looked for sympathy, but there was none;
for consolers, not one could I find.
Rather they put gall in my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving:
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not."
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.

The first two verses tell us that loving God doesn’t always lead to positive outcomes, at least in the near term. Others insult at hate him. “Zeal for your house consumes me” is a great pun in this context, because it sounds literal—he’s being attacked and eaten because of his zeal for God.

But in the last verse, the psalmist doesn’t give up hope. He’s going to keep glorifying God, and continue to be confident that God will hear him.

Verse Before the Gospel

Hail to you, our King;
you alone are compassionate with our errors.

It’s always worth remembering that Christ the King lowered Himself to be one of us, so that He can be perfectly compassionate.

Gospel

Mt 26:14-25

One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?"

He said, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.""' The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover.

When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, "Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me."

Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, "Surely it is not I, Lord?"

He said in reply, "He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born."

Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?"

He answered, "You have said so."

Jesus trusted Judas, had enough confidence in him to let him handle the money. Judas took this the wrong way. He started to focus too much on money in this world, instead of storing up treasure in heaven.

It is certainly possible to do good with money. You can feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and so on. But it’s possible to focus too much on even those things. After the Resurrection, we are destined for eternal life, as are those hungry and homeless you want to help.

We shouldn’t let corporal works of mercy overwhelm the higher things.