“Not all of you are clean.”
Judas’ swaying by the devil was done before he left the Last Supper. The sin of distraction for the love of the world left Judas blind from seeing Jesus as the Son of God. Once love for the world took hold in Judas’ heart, he became the traitor.
In the clip, Anakin falls to the Dark Side under his own free choice. Like Judas, he saw rules and laws under his own selfish ways. When Anakin gives in, he gives complete submission to what Palpatine wanted; death. When Judas gave into Satan, he became the slave to sin and death.
Who was Judas? “Son of Simon, the only Apostle who did not come from Galilee. His special interest was money, so he was in charge of the common fund of the Apostles. [1] It was an unfortunate assignment, according to John…His inordinate greed motivated him to betray Jesus. He knew that the high priest, Caiaphas, was anxious to arrest the Master, so he made a deal with the chief priests to identify Jesus at an opportune time for thirty pieces of silver [2] …Judas lived up to the terms of his agreement with Caiaphas by leading a number of armed men into Gethsemane and kissing Jesus as a symbol of identification, whereupon they arrested Jesus. [3] Scripture reports that when Judas learned that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. [4] There is no way of knowing his motives. He returned the silver, protested that Jesus was innocent, and when his protest was ignored, went out and hung himself. The Gospel writers made no attempt to explore Judas’ betrayal. They simply said that Satan had entered into him, and they all referred to him as the betrayer. [5] His place in the Apostles was taken by Matthias [6].”[7]
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Why would Jesus choose Judas if He knew that he would betray Him? Why would Jesus choose Peter, who was a hypocrite in saying that He would stay by His side on Good Friday, but denies Him three times? Why did Jesus choose Thomas, who would doubt the resurrection of Christ? Why would He choose all the others, who quarreled among themselves about who would sit at the right hand of Jesus? The fact is that all men are flawed by their sins. However, we have grace and free will to believe in our faith that saves us from our own sins. Peter turned back to Christ and became our first pope. Thomas came to believe in the resurrection and traveled the farthest of any apostle. The others became the first bishops and helped build the foundation of the Church. Imagine if Judas had not killed himself. Imagine if he had seen the resurrection. He might have been one of the greatest apostles. Sadly, pride and despair overtook him and he took his own life. In place of hope, Judas gave into despair.
In the life of Judas, we see that Jesus loves us even in our stubbornness and desires us to convert and reform our lives. “…although he had already become a liar, Jesus continued to treat him [Judas] like the others, showing him the same love and esteem. This was very painful to the sensitive heart of Jesus, but He would not act otherwise, He wished that we might see with what love, patience, and delicacy He treats even His most stubborn enemies.” [8] Are we willing to treat the “Judas” in our circles as Jesus treated Judas, showing them the same love and esteem that we show our other friends and acquaintances? Love should not be depended on what the other will do or not do, but rather what we are willing to do.
Why did Judas become induced by the devil? To be “induced” literally means, “the devil put into the heart that Judas should hand him over.” [9] Judas was induced by the devil well before the Last Supper. We see this earlier in John’s gospel when Jesus says, “Have not I chosen you twelve; and one of you is a devil.” [10] Judas was distracted at two of the most crucial moments in Jesus’ life, the Bread of Life discourse and the Last Supper. He was blind to what was truly happening.
How do we get distracted during Mass? List some things that may distract you at Mass. There are many things that can distract us at Mass. Things that are happening in our lives outside of Mass, things that are going on around us during Mass, family drama, friends, sleepiness, hunger, and being bored are just some of the ways we can be distracted. All of these things are superficial and of the world, lacking the greatness of what takes place at Mass. The Church calls us to be actively participating in the Mass. This does not mean doing something active or moving around in order to get something out of it. We must be “actually” participating with our minds, hearts, and souls engaged in what is going on at Mass. One danger is that we can easily feel like Mass is a rerun TV episode. We sit down and feel like we have already seen this same episode and tune it out. For Judas, “In the beginning, he must have been faithful; but later, attachment to worldly things and avarice began to take possession of him, so as to completely chill his love for the Master and transform the Apostle into a traitor.” [11] If we view Mass like the world sees it, we can quickly become “bored” with it and skip out early like Judas did at the Last Supper. A simple prayer that we can say before Mass is “Lord, help me to treat this as if it is my first, my last, and my only Mass. Amen.”
Why is it wrong to leave Mass early? Leaving Mass early is like leaving a Birthday party before the cake and presents. It feels hollow and empty. We should stay through the whole Mass, even staying a little afterwards to give thanks for what God has given us, His very flesh and blood in the Eucharist. Everyday, God gives us special favor by giving His body and blood. Leaving this is leaving Jesus. “Judas represents those souls who have received from God graces of predilection [a preference or a special liking for someone], but who prove to be unworthy of them, because of their infidelities. Consecrated souls must, therefore, be very faithful to the grace of their vocation and must not permit the slightest attachment to take root in their hearts.” [12]
[1] Jn. 13:29
[2] Mt. 26:14-16
[3] Mt. 26:47-56
[4] Mt. 27:3-5
[5] Lk. 22:3
[6] Acts 1:26
[7] Modern Catholic Dictionary pgs. 299-300
[8] Divine Intimacy pg. 397
[9] Footnotes NAB Jn. 13:2
[10] Jn. 6:71
[11] Divine Intimacy pg. 396
[12] Divine Intimacy pg. 397