Day 16

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him. Matthew 26:6-16 (Gospel of Pre-Sanctified Liturgy on Holy Wednesday Morning)

The central message of today’s reflection is repentance. Certainly, this is the message of our entire Lenten journey, The Church prepares us for this with images of repentance: from Zacchaeus, to the prodigal son to the publican all repenting. We are shown the consequence of not repenting at the Last Judgment and finally, we learn that forgiveness is at the heart of repentance.

All of the services during Lent point to repentance, to a journey back to God. Fr. Stavros shows us beautifully that the greatest sin of Judas was not the things we most associate with him: greed and betrayal. Rather, his greatest sin was a lack of repentance.

Those images that the Church gives us right before Lent show us what true repentance is and that what follows it is the forgiveness of God and salvation. That forgiveness is open to everyone. As Fr. Stavros says, it was open to Judas just as it was open to Adam and Eve.

If we think about it, the devil really does only one thing to us, he tries to divide us. He divided mankind from God through the Fall. He divided God’s chosen people from Him by Judas betrayal. And every time he causes us to get angry, hold grudges, stop speaking to others, pass judgment on others…he divides God’s people from each other, and he weakens us.

But when we repent, when we truly repent, we restore our connection to God and our connection to those we have sinned against. And when we restore that connection, we stand united in our Faith. The Greek word for repentance is metanoia, which literally means change of mind.

This Lent, take the time to change your mind.

In Christ

Fr. David