8 September, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day

The Heart of Judas

1. The human heart is a mystery, the depths of which it is difficult to sound. We do not even understand ourselves. The heart of man can soar to the loftiest heights of goodness or descend to unimaginable depths of evil. Examples of the sublime heights to which men can rise are provided by the lives of the Saints, who loved God so much that they were on fire with charity and wished to abide forever in Him. “It is now no longer I that live,” said St. Paul, “but Christ lives in me.” (1 Gal. 2:20)

The heart of Judas is a particularly deep mystery. We read in the Gospel that Jesus called together His disciples in the supper room to celebrate His last Pasch with them. Among them was Judas. Jesus loved men so much that He wished to remain with them really and truly for all time, even after His approaching death. “Having love his own, who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (John 13:1) When the meal was over, Jesus took bread and, lifting up His eyes to Heaven, He said: “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then He took the chalice, blessed it, and turning towards the Apostles said these words: “All of you drink of this; for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is being shed for many.” Then He added: “Do this in remembrance of me.” In this way Jesus instituted the Blessed Eucharist, which St. Thomas describes as Christ’s greatest miracle. (De fest Corp. Christi, Bk. V) Furthermore, He raised His disciples, including Judas, to the sublime dignity of the priesthood, and bestowed on them the power to do what He had just done. One might say that the infinite generosity of Jesus Christ was exhausted at that moment. He could not give anything more because at that moment he had given us Himself.

It was in this solemn moment, in which He received Jesus into his soul and was at the same time raised to the dignity of the priesthood, that Judas finally decided to carry out his plan to sell his Master for thirty pieces of silver and to hand Him over to those who wished to kill him. How sin can degrade a human being!

2. How did Judas fall to such a level? Certainly it did not happen in an instant. His dominant passion was probably small in the beginning but, when it was not repressed in time, grew daily and finally came to exercise absolute control over his heart. It was avarice, that vilest and most material of passions, which caused him to fall.

Judas had been appointed bursar and administrator of the small offering which the faithful made to the Apostles. He became attached to this money and may have begun to steal small sums which grew bigger with time, until greed prompted him to sell Jesus for thirty miserable pieces of silver. He carried out his plan at the very moment when Jesus bestowed on him the highest dignity.

We should meditate on this terrible tragedy while there is still time for us to save ourselves from sinking to the same level of degradation. This could easily happen if we neglect to resist temptation at once and to pray fervently for Divine help the moment we are tempted.

3. Even after his betrayal, Judas still had time to make amends. It would have sufficed if he had gone to Jesus and asked Him for forgiveness. He would certainly have received the kiss of peace. He was overcome by despair, however, and decided that his sin was too great to be forgiven. So, throwing away his money, the reward of his betrayal, he took a rope and “hanged himself with a halter.” (Matt. 27:5) If we should ever have the misfortune to fall into sin, we should remember that the mercy of God is infinite. It is enough to go to Him and to ask for pardon and for the grace not to offend Him any more under any circumstances. We should then resolve to love Him with all the power of our poor hearts, to atone for our sins, and to serve Him faithfully for the rest of our lives.