Photo was taken in Christ Our Light Church, Ballincollig, Co.Cork (Irl)

The windows in Christ Our Light Church are painted into beautiful stained glass windows during the weeks of Lent, with a different theme for each week. This particular window is particularly appropriate for today Holy Thursday. The wheat in the fields becomes the bread that is used for our Eucharist. The hand is symbolic of Jesus who sows the seed each day.

Thought on Thursday – April – 05/04/2012

Jesus said, “One of you is going to betray me. The one to whom I give this crust of bread after I’ve dipped it.” Then he dipped the crust and gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. ~John 13:25-26

Holy Thursday is a day when the spotlight is often put on Judas. Why did Judas betray Jesus? Was he fed up and disillusioned with Jesus? Did he see Jesus as too soft and easy with not enough fight? Was Judas simply fed up with life? There are many questions with not enough answers. It’s quite probable that Judas never expected things to go as far as they did. He must never have anticipated the hostility and anger of the crowd and religious leaders. In the darkness of Holy Thursday night Judas was lost and desperately lonely. It is so easy to blame Judas and be hard on him. But somewhere today it would be appropriate to pray for those who are feeling lost and desperately lonely. Judas lost sight of everything that Jesus stood for. It can happen to us too, the dream dies, we don’t know what to do, we’re in a dark corner and some of the choices we make can leave us vulnerable. Judas was in such a place but let’s not blame him for everything. Our prayer today might be….Lord, help me not to lose sight of you, even in the middle of my darkest hour.