
“Jesus the Master, and The Lover and The Betrayer” Finger Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC 2020
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Gospel JN 13:21-33, 36-38
Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant.
One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved,
was reclining at Jesus’ side.
So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant.
He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him,
“Master, who is it?”
Jesus answered,
“It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.”
So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas,
son of Simon the Iscariot.
After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him.
So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”
Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him.
Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him,
“Buy what we need for the feast,”
or to give something to the poor.
So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.
When he had left, Jesus said,
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself,
and he will glorify him at once.
My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.
You will look for me, and as I told the Jews,
‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.”
Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?”
Jesus answered him,
“Where I am going, you cannot follow me now,
though you will follow later.”
Peter said to him,
“Master, why can I not follow you now?
I will lay down my life for you.”
Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me?
Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow
before you deny me three times.”
Finger Painting: This dinner is an intimate experience. Jesus gathers those he loves, the people who will continue his message of the Kingdom. John lays his head on Jesus’ chest. Judas and Peter will betray and deny him. Those experiences of love and betrayal live within us. In this simple painting, we see ourselves as we long to be closer to the Master. Love and Betrayal become hope for us today. My finger paintings this week try to get at an immediate experience of expression. We do not know what is happening in our world, we have little control, we only have this moment. I want to express through paint on my fingers the immediate, the now experience, of faith and trust in the Master in this week we call holy.
Again, excellent!
Today I prayed for all families in this most difficult time. May we all find Peace and Love.