Spy Wednesday comes from the Gospel reading where Judas asks for money to betray Christ. He then agrees to spy on Jesus and tell the authorities the most auspicious time to take the Lord. Most folks just leave it at that and accept at face value the Gospel words and presume that Judas was simply greedy for money. But it is more complex than that. Money was simply the means. Judas was a curiously modern man, unsure about Jesus, just wishing the Lord would conform himself to the world, just wanting Christ to be what he--Judas--thought Jesus should be. No doubt greed played a part for Judas was a thief, but he was a thief not simply of money but of the truth. Because the truth of Christ did not fit with his expectations, Judas stole the truth and created the farce of a human being selling God for a pittance. Not that he did it on his own. The Gospels are clear: Satan entered Judas once the faith of the apostle slipped.
From an ancient Irish poem, "The Keening of Mary"
Mary: My child must go to the Garden tomorrow,
And in his hand the Book of Sorrow.
Jesus: Call my Apostles, the Passion I will read.
Peter: Lord, said Peter, thy side I shall not leave.
Jesus: Thrice before daybreak you will make me grieve.
Jesus looking at mob: Dark Judas came with a handshake and a kiss,
Accursed one to sell me first and now do this.
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