“And on the Night He Was Betrayed”… The Weight of Those Words.
I’ve heard those words my entire life, I heard them every week when I was a child until I was in my twenties, when I stepped away from the Catholic church. I still hear them whenever I crave for and/or when I attend mass these days. I never gave it much thought…but today it’s all I can think about.
These words are a solemn preface to the Last Supper, a moment suspended in both holiness and heartbreak. They are not just a timestamp in the Passion narrative, they are a portal into the deepest paradoxes of love, trust, and sacrifice.
What strikes me most about this phrase is its quiet placement at the threshold of what should have been a sacred gathering… a final meal with trusted friends. Instead, it begins with betrayal. Jesus, fully aware of what was coming, did not flinch or flee. He did not storm out or denounce Judas publicly. He stayed. He served. He broke bread…with Judas
There is something deeply human and painfully divine about choosing to love even as you’re being hurt.
Many of us know betrayal… from friends, family, systems, even from within ourselves. It makes you want to recoil, to shield your heart. But “on the night he was betrayed,” Jesus chose vulnerability. He chose generosity. He gave thanks. It wasn’t an act of denial, but defiance against bitterness. He redefined the moment… not as the night he was victimized, but as the night he offered himself for the world.
That is power. Not a loud performative power…but quiet, enduring power that transforms pain into purpose. Hmmmm.
When betrayal finds its way into our lives…and it will…we are faced with a choice. We may not be called to break literal bread or pour out wine, but we are constantly invited to decide: Will this moment define me, or will I redefine it?
“And on the night he was betrayed” isn’t a phrase frozen in ancient liturgy. It is a rhythm in the heart of anyone who has ever chosen courage over revenge, love over hate, faith over despair.
So the next time you hear those words; “and on the night he was betrayed”, pause. Let them settle in your chest. Consider the love that moves toward pain with open hands. Consider the strength it takes to stay present in the breaking, and the hope that even betrayal can be the backdrop for something sacred.
Maybe the true power of that night wasn’t in what was done to him, but in what he did anyway.
When I was a little girl, maybe about 8 or 9 years old, my dad had an office space. For the life of me, I can’t even remember exactly what they did there.
I remember making jokes with my sister; we’d say if anyone asked, we would tell them our dad was a JoPoBu… Journalist, Politician, Business man.
Yeah, all those activities went down there. There was a newspaper publication one time…The Public. There were business contracts here and there and then he never left the political scene.
Politics…that one finally won.
So back to this office space, we had Uncle Patrick in one of the offices. Uncle Patrick wasn’t related by blood but he was one of those… We wouldn’t call him anything else.
He was a good man and one of the few who genuinely loved our family. He would come by our home and we would have lunch and sometimes dinner…as a family.
One day after school, we were hanging at the office, waiting for someone to drive us home when Uncle Patrick suddenly shouts “oh my goodness, no wonder things have not been going so well”.
He went straight to a framed photo, turned it back from where it had been facing the wall, cleaned it up with a handkerchief and then placed it properly, displaying the photo of his master.
Uncle Patrick was a servant of Guru Maharaj Ji, a Nigerian spiritual leader.
He was convinced that his master must have been upset about his photo facing the wall and was definitely making life difficult for him. There was no convincing him otherwise.
I lay in bed just as I woke up this morning, wondering, asking… “Why do you love me so much dear Lord? Your grace is so beautiful…even when I am the worst…You give me your hand and say come.”
Uncle Patrick passed on some years ago… I’m not sure where he went but I wonder if he has changed his beliefs.
