APRIL12026

Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” St. Matthew goes on to say that when Judas realized what he had done he committed suicide. He could not forgive himself and could not imagine that God could forgive him. There is a scene in the movie, Gandhi, where, during the civil war that broke out at the time of independence from Britain, when a Hindu man confesses to Gandhi that he is going to hell because he has murdered an innocent Muslim child. Gandhi replies, I know a way out of hell. Find an orphan child and care for him as your own … but raise him as a Muslim.  Sin is a reality that all people face so we all need forgiveness. God promises forgiveness but a sign of  genuine repentance is atonement: the willingness to make amends, provide restitution, give reparations.  Judas  would have experienced God’s forgiving love if he had heeded the message of Jesus and cared for his ongoing presence found in the hungry, the homeless, the sick, the prisoner, the stranger.