St. Crispin of Viterbo, Religious (Memorial)
By Lorenz S. Centino, Jr.
John 13: 16 - 20
16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.
17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
18 I am not speaking of you all; I know whom I have chosen; it is that the scripture may be fulfilled, `He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.'
19 I tell you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he.
20 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives any one whom I send receives me; and he who receives me receives him who sent me."
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS:
A BLESSED THURSDAY TO ALL!!!
One of the most painful experiences one can have in a relationship is that of being BETRAYED by someone you loved, or someone you consider a friend. Friendship is nourished and sustained by loyalty and trust. Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.” Such words would indicate, among many, that betrayal is something that is hard to repair. It will create suspicion and doubt from the betrayed party. And so Tennessee Williams could declare, “We have to distrust each other. It is our only defense against betrayal.” If we begin to distrust each other what kind of relationship can we build in friendship?
Jesus, in the Gospel today, indicated how a friend who eats bread with him will lift his heel against him. Jesus have known already who will betray him before it will take place. With this foreknowledge of betrayal, Jesus does not make any move to impede it from happening. He did not even confront publicly his would-be-traitor as to chastise him or condemn him. There was no hatred in Jesus’ heart towards his traitor. This scenario runs contrary to our common experience of being betrayed. Once we got the news that someone is going to betray us, we naturally tend to be defensive, cautious and self-protective. It would be so painful if the one who is about to betray us is a friend. It would be a normal reaction of self-preservation from us to stay away from such a friend. Some would even go far as to do harm first to such friend, maybe kill him, just to avert the danger and consequence of an impending betrayal.
Jesus has shown a different reaction. He is not concerned with self-preservation than being loyal to his friends, including Judas his would-be traitor. He eats with him. He journeys with him. On the night when he was betrayed, Jesus never shown any negative and violent reaction to the kiss of betrayal that Judas gave to him. Jesus simply asked Judas why he betrayed him with a kiss. How many times do we betray Jesus? How many kisses did we used to betray him? But despite our betrayal, Jesus never stops trusting us that we can still change and become faithful to him and become his real friend. He remains loyal to his friendship with us.
Can we be loyal to Jesus, our Lord and Master, whatever its cost? Can we stand for him in proclaiming his teachings even if it will lead to confrontation with the powerful and violent? Can we remain loyal to Jesus even if it will lead others to betray us? Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” Let us give to Jesus our KISS of FAITHFULNESS!
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