Tuesday, Holy Week: We All 'Hand Others Over To Suffering'
"Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, 'Very truly, I tell you, one of you will
betray me.' The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking."
John 13:21-22
People who live close together can be sources of great sorrow for one another. When Jesus
chose his twelve apostles, Judas was one of them.
Judas is called a traitor. A traitor, according to the literal meaning of the Greek word for "betraying," is someone who hands the other over to suffering.
The truth is that we all have something of the traitor in us because each of us hands
our fellow human beings over to suffering somehow, somewhere, mostly without intending or
even knowing it. Many children, even grown-up children, can experience deep anger toward
their parents for having protected them too much or too little. When we are willing to
confess that we often hand those we love over to suffering, even against our best
intentions, we will be more ready to forgive those who, mostly against their will, are the
causes of our pain.
"Consider the ways you may be causing others to suffer."
Henri Nouwen