Today is Holy Tuesday. We acknowledge Jesus our master’s incredible love and sacrifice as it makes me enter in close proximity to his passion. My dear suffering and rejected Lord, I do love You but I also know that I cause Your Heart to be troubled by my betrayal. Help me to see my sin honestly this Holy Tuesday. In seeing it, may I let go of that which keeps me from loving You more deeply, so as to walk with You to the Cross to share in Your glorious triumph. Jesus, I trust in You. Gospel: (John 13: 21-33, 36-38) Let us ponder on some of the highlights of today’s Gospel 1. Two treacheries: Judas went out to grab his money, betray Jesus, and kill himself in despair. Peter despite his protests would deny his Lord; he faced his own appalling guilt, wept bitterly, and his failure was not the end of his mission, but the beginning. 2. ‘And it was night’ is not simply a description of the time of day; it is a stark image of the gloom of sin and rejection. Judas walks into the darkness – away from Jesus, the true light whom the darkness cannot overcome. Lord, where there is darkness, let me bring light. 3. Peter hit deep points of his life here. His sureness of following Jesus was challenged by Jesus himself. He would later find himself weak and failing in this following.

Life Lessons from these highlights: 1. Success is what I do with my failures. Teach me to trust in your love, Lord, and to learn from my mistakes and treacheries. 2. We rightly hesitate to answer affirmatively the question, “Will you lay down your life for me?” But there is no ambivalence in Jesus – he has already decided to lay down his life for us, in purest love. 3. As I look at the Apostles and listen to their brave words, I reflect on my own fickleness, on those occasions when my actions did not reflect my grand declarations. As I acknowledge my weakness, I marvel at the quality of Jesus’ mercy: Lord have mercy.

Let us conclude with the Love prayer by Fr. Pedro Arrupe SJ. Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in Love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in Love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.

Have a blessed Holy Tuesday.