What are you willing to give me…
April 5, 2023
Wednesday of Holy Week
Dear Family of Mary!
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. (Mt 26:14-16)
These are the opening words of our Gospel for today. Judas, his conscience seared, says these callous words: “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” We wonder, how much is a human being worth? Can you quantify life in terms of money? But, the worth of God Himself? How blind was Judas…Absurdly blind to the reality of his offer.
But avarice is a terrible sickness of the soul. It makes money and the temporal power it can give, into a god. And so for Judas, Jesus became a commodity. “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” Those words echoed in Judas’ soul, driving him to take his own life.
Our Lady has warned us about avarice, or consumerism in modern terms:
March 25, 1996 “Dear children! I invite you to decide again to love God above all else. In this time when due to the spirit of consumerism one forgets what it means to love and to cherish true values, I invite you again, little children, to put God in the first place in your life.
Do not let satan attract you through material things but, little children, decide for God who is freedom and love.
Choose life and not death of the soul, little children, and in this time when you meditate upon the suffering and death of Jesus I invite you to decide for life which blossomed through the Resurrection, and that your life may be renewed today through conversion that shall lead you to eternal life. Thank you for having responded to my call…”
Our Lady calls us to love God above all else. This is the antidote to avarice. God’s love fulfills us completely. If we choose Him, we choose life!! No regrets, no brokenness, only joy and peace await us, when we love God above all else. As we approach the Triduum, may we listen to Our Lady’s words, and choose life.
“Choose life and not death of the soul, little children, and in this time when you meditate upon the suffering and death of Jesus I invite you to decide for life which blossomed through the Resurrection, and that your life may be renewed today through conversion that shall lead you to eternal life. “
Here is one prayer that we can pray each day to prepare for Good Friday. In it we stay near Our Lady at the foot of the Cross:
At The Cross Her Station Keeping
At the cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.
Through her heart, his sorrow sharing,
All his bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword has passed.
Oh, how sad and sore distressed
Was that Mother highly blest
Of the sole begotten One!
Christ above in torment hangs;
She beneath beholds the pangs
Of her dying, glorious Son.
Is there one who would not weep,
‘Whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ’s dear Mother to behold?
Can the human heart refrain
From partaking in her pain,
In that Mother’s pain untold?
Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled,
She beheld her tender Child,
All with bloody scourges rent.
For the sins of his own nation,
Saw him hang in desolation
Till his spirit forth he sent.
O sweet Mother! fount of love,
Touch my spirit from above,
Make my heart with yours accord.
Make me feel as you have felt;
Make my soul to glow and melt
With the love of Christ, my Lord.
Holy Mother, pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Savior crucified.
Let me share with you his pain,
Who for all our sins was slain,
Who for me in torments died.
Let me mingle tears with thee,
Mourning him who mourned for me,
All the days that I may live:
By the cross with you to stay,
There with you to weep and pray,
This I ask of you to give.
Virgin of all Virgins best!
Listen to my fond request:
Let me share thy grief divine.
Mother may we pray with you all week long!
God bless you and keep you!!
Cathy Nolan
Mary TV
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