Holy Wednesday

John 13.21-30

13

21 Having said this, Jesus became troubled in spirit and said, "The truth of the matter is, one of you will betray me."

22 The disciples looked at each other, puzzled as to whom he could mean. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was next to Jesus. 24 Simon Peter signaled him to ask Jesus whom he meant. 25 He leaned back against Jesus' chest and asked, "Rabbi, who is it?"

26 Jesus answered, "The one to whom I give the piece of bread dip in the dish." He dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.

27 After Judas took the bread, Satan entered his heart. Jesus said to him, "Be quick about what you're going to do." 28 None of the others at the table understood the reason Jesus said this. 29 Since Judas had charge of the common fund, some of them thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as Judas took the piece of bread, he went out into the night.

"Lines Written During a Period of Insanity"

by William Cowper (1731-1800)

found in The Mind Has Cliffs of Fall: Poems at the Extremes of Feeling (WW Norton, 2019)

Hatred and vengeance, my eternal portion,

Scarce can endure delay of execution,

Wait, with impatient readiness, to seize my

Soul in a moment.

Damn'd below Judas: more abhor'd than he was,

Who for a few pence sold his holy Master.

Twice betrayed Jesus me, the last delinquent,

Deems the profanest.

Man disavows, and Deity disowns me:

Hell might afford my miseries a shelter;

Therefore hell keeps her ever hungry mouths all

Bolted against me.

Hard lot! encompass'd with a thousand dangers;

Weary, faint, trembling with a thousand terrors;

I'm called, if vanquish'd, to receive a sentence

Worse than Abiram's.

Him the vindictive rod of angry justice

Sent quick and howling to the centre headlong;

I, fed with judgment, in a fleshly tomb, am

Buried above ground.

Today’s Art Practice

What You’ll Need

From Your Home:

• Your Prayer Talisman that has accompanied you through this season.

Directions: Your Prayer Talisman has played an important role in your Lenten Journey this year. Today we will say goodbye to it in our final Prayer Talisman practice.

Find your Talisman, take it to the place where you found it. Spend time with it in this space. Notice what you notice. What has changed about this place since you first found your Prayer Talisman? What has stayed the same? What has changed about you since you found your Prayer Talisman? What has stayed the same?

Pray into your Talisman one last time in the manner that you have done before, only this time pray prayer of gratitude for the time spent together and hope for the future it might have with the next journeyer on that path.

When you feel ready, lovingly leave it in a space where someone else might find it.

If you like, this playlist can help you keep track of time. Once it stops playing, 20-minutes will be over.

Let’s Pray…

Serenity Prayer

by Reinhold Niebuhr

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.