Posted on 04/13/2006 7:47:16 PM PDT by NYer
Pope Benedict XVI Thursday recounted the Biblical betrayal of Jesus by Judas, calling the apostle a double-crosser for whom "money was more important than communion with Jesus, more important than God and his love."
Benedict's traditional depiction of Judas came during his Holy Thursday homily, a week after the release of an ancient Egyptian Coptic text dubbed the "Gospel of Judas," in which Judas is portrayed not as Jesus' betrayer but as his confidant who was doing his will by handing him over to his enemies to be crucified.
Holy Thursday marks the start of a series of solemn ceremonies in the Catholic Church in which the faithful relive Jesus' suffering, crucifixion and death — and then his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
During the service, the holy father humbly washed the feet of 12 men, re-enacting Jesus' washing of his apostles' feet during the Last Supper and saying the act cleansed the "filth" of mankind.
As a choir's hymn filled St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome, Benedict poured water from a golden vase over each of the men's feet and scrubbed each one dry in an act of humility and service.
In his homily, Benedict said Jesus washed his disciples' feet to purify them so they could join him at the Last Supper, the meal which the faithful believe Jesus shared with his apostles before he was betrayed by his apostle Judas and crucified.
"God comes down and becomes a slave; he washes our feet so we can be at his table," Benedict said. "The bath in which he washes us is his love, ready to confront death. Only love has the purifying force that takes away our filth and elevates us to God."
Benedict's homily adhered to the traditional portrayal of Judas as betraying Jesus.
The "Gospel of Judas" tells a far different tale from the four gospels in the New Testament. It portrays Judas as a favored disciple who was given special knowledge by Jesus — and turned him in at Jesus' request. It portrays Judas as being told spiritual secrets that the other apostles were not.
The Egyptian Coptic text, one of several ancient documents found in the Egyptian desert in 1970, was preserved and translated by a team of scholars. The text was made public last week.
Benedict presided over another Mass dedicated to priests during which he recalled the sacrifice of a cleric slain in Turkey.
Benedict read a letter written by Rev. Andrea Santoro in which the Italian prelate spoke of his willingness to offer his own body for the sake of preaching Catholicism in largely Muslim Turkey.
Santoro, 60, was shot and killed Feb. 5 while he prayed in his parish in the Black Sea city of Trabzon. Witnesses said the killer, a 16-year-old boy, screamed "Allahu Akbar," Arabic for "God is great," before firing two bullets into Santoro's back.
Benedict quoted Santoro as saying in his letter that he had chosen to live in Turkey to be among its people, "lending" his body to Christ to do so.
Santoro's slaying occurred at the height of unrest in the Muslim world over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published in Europe. Top church officials have called Santoro a martyr.
Pope Benedict XVI washes the feet of a worshipper during the beginning of the Paschal Triduum Mass of the Last Supper at the St. John in Lateran Basilica in Rome, April 13, 2006. Pope Benedict on Thursday washed and dried the feet of 12 men at a traditional Holy Thursday service commemorating Christ's gesture of humility to his apostles the night before he died.REUTERS/Osservatore Romano
REMINDER - The Holy Father has asked ALL Catholic Churches to take up a collection at the Good Friday services, in support of the Churches in the Holy Land. Our Lord was born, died and resurrected in the Holy Land. These Churches are under constant assault. Please be generous in your contributions!
Catholic Ping List
Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
Eastern Catholic Ping List
Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
"Benedict's homily adhered to the traditional portrayal of Judas as betraying Jesus."
The pope didnt change 2000 years of church doctrine because of a TV show? How shocking....
Date: 2006-04-13
Pope Focuses on Mystery of Judas' Betrayal
Apostle Rejected God's Love, Says Benedict XVI
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 13, 2006 (Zenit.org).- In his homily at the Mass of the Lord's Supper, Benedict XVI assured the faithful that the mystery of Judas consists precisely in his rejection of God's love.
Judas Iscariot personifies "treacherous man," for whom money, power and success are more important than love and he does not hesitate to sell Jesus, the Pope said at the Mass on the evening of Holy Thursday.
The Holy Father's comments came in the wake of the recently divulged "Gospel of Judas," an ancient document that puts the apostle and his betrayal of Christ in a positive light. It describes Judas, in fact, as obeying a divine ordinance in handing over Jesus to the authorities.
In his homily, Benedict XVI, on the contrary, stressed the freedom of the apostle who betrayed Jesus for 30 denarii, as the canonical Gospels explain.
"The dark mystery exists of the rejection, made present with what happened to Judas and, precisely on Holy Thursday, on the day that Jesus gives himself up, should make us reflect," said the Pontiff. "The Lord's love knows no limits, but man can put a limit."
Rejection
Benedict XVI then asked: "What does this do to treacherous man?" And he responded: "The rejection of love, not wanting to be loved, not loving. Pride which thinks it has no need of purification, which closes itself to the saving goodness of God."
"In Judas," he said, "we see the nature of this rejection still more clearly. He judges Jesus according to the categories of power and success: For him, power and success alone are the reality, love does not count.
"And he is avid: Money is more important than communion with Jesus, it is more important than God and his love."
"In this way," the Holy Father explained, "he also becomes a liar, who plays a game of double jeopardy, and breaks with truth, someone who lives in lies, thus losing the sense of the highest truth, of God."
"In this way, he becomes hard and incapable of conversion, of the confident return of the prodigal son, and throws away his destroyed life."
Well one thing for sure, Judas WAS a Democrat.
The night before Jesus chose Judas to be an apostle, Jesus prayed all night. Jesus knew Judas would betray him.
I have a book somewhere which contains a lot of the Apocryphal stories, this is just another one.
Maybe interesting but so what?
Jesus knew it. God knew it. That was the reason Jesus was "sent" to Earth. That Jesus may have "revealed" Heavenly mysteries to someone, in return for that person fulfilling the destiny God had planned, seems an interesting concept.
Ah yes, "a team of scholars". That settles it, who can argue with a team of scholars?! Certainly not some guy in a white robe in Rome. The MSM subversives get subtle all of a sudden.
Precisely, but Jesus would NEVER interfere with the free will of anyone. While He knew Judas would betray him, He had no interest in swaying Judas one way or the other because the will of Christ cannot be pushed on anyone.
They who come to Jesus do so of their own free will, and they who refuse Him also do so of their own free will.
The National Geographic show indicated that Jesus intentionally asked Judas to betray him, which is total nonsense.
Well, it *was* Nat'l Geographic, ya know.
Ping
Benedict's traditional depiction of Judas came during his Holy Thursday homily, a week after the release of an ancient Egyptian Coptic text dubbed the "Gospel of Judas," in which Judas is portrayed not as Jesus' betrayer but as his confidant who was doing his will by handing him over to his enemies to be crucified.
I don't know about the "confidant" part; but:
Christ had to die for mens' sins.
He had to be betrayed.
Somebody had to be the betrayer.
If everyone had free will and chose not to betray him, then wouldn't men have thwarted God's purpose/intent? (which cannot happen if God is omniscient?)
So, since someone had to be the fall guy, and it happened to be Judas, is it right to diss him because he had no control over his destiny and no choice not to point-out Christ? (not, of course, like the soldiers would never have found out who he was anyway - especially since they were looking for him?)
Nonsense! Judas had free will. That Jesus Christ knew he would betray him, neither altered nor persuaded that decision.
Imagine yourself standing by a large picture window out of which you see a small child walking into a major thoroughfare. From the corner of your eye, you see a 16 wheeler barreling down on the child. You know what is about to happen. Does your 'knowing' make it happen? Of course not.
I wrote both magazines when we cancelled our subscriptions telling them that if I had wanted a political magazine I would subscribe to one.
So with that said I have to say that we would never watch a show they produce that has anything to do with Christianity.
It was already known from an early Christian author known as Pseudo-Tertullian that one group of gnostics, known as the Cainites, defended Judas...all the newly-published text does is fill in some of the details. From a Christian perspective, what the Gospel of Judas might say is of no more importance than what the Koran might say.
Pope Benedict is an excellent communicator of the gospel message.
Christ did not have to die for our sins. We did not have to be reconciled with God.
God chose to do this for us. He didn't have to.
He could have said I'm sick of them, I'm sending another rainstorm and nobody builds an ark this time. He could have simply said they don't want Me, I'm separating Myself forever from them, literally guaranteeing a Hell on earth.
But He didn't. He died for us and reconciled us to Him. He didn't have to.
Did Judas have to betray Christ? No. He could have stood up to temptation and pride, said this man is my friend and I'm going to do what's right. Maybe then he really would have been the hero as the Gnostics like to pretend, and the Precious Blood would not have needed to be spilled.
Or if Pilate said this man is innocent and I'm releasing Him whether you like it or not and to heck with my job. Maybe God would have accepted that as reconciliation.
Or if the Jewish authorities said "Hey, you are the Christ. We will follow."
Of course, maybe doesn't count. None of those things happened. The Crucifixion occurred followed by the Resurrection and our souls were purchased with pain.
something to cheer you up ping!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.