It would be better for that man if he had never been born

27 MARCH (Mt 26,14-25)

Judah is money-hungry person. His insatiable thirst leads him to sell his Master for a fee. “How much do you want to give me so that I hand him over to you?”. There are neither noble, nor political, nor social and religious ideals in this action. There is only greed, lust, evil and dishonest desires. The thirst of money gets extinguished only by drinking the blood of the brothers. The Scripture on this subject has words of fire.

Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land! “When will the new moon be over,” you ask, “that we may sell our grain, and the Sabbath, that we may display the wheat? We will diminish the ephah, add to the shekel, and fix our scales for cheating! We will buy the lowly man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals; even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!” The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Never will I forget a thing they have done! (Am 8,4-7).

Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten, your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers who harvested your fields are crying aloud, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter. You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous one; he offers you no resistance.(James 5,1-6).

Whoever teaches something different and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the religious teaching is conceited, understanding nothing, and has a morbid disposition for arguments and verbal disputes. From these come envy, rivalry, insults, evil suspicions, and mutual friction among people with corrupted minds, who are deprived of the truth, supposing religion to be a means of gain. Indeed, religion with contentment is a great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, just as we shall not be able to take anything out of it. If we have food and clothing, we shall be content with that. Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.(1Tm 6,3-10).

The thirst for money that today afflicts many men has led to a crisis of global dimensions. Never might this crisis be resolved unless the cause is extinguished. It is neither cuts in public spending nor the rationalization of the spending and not even the endless taxes what heal it. When the heart is sick of easy money nothing might be resolved but through the care of the heart. Now, the doctor of the heart is only one: the Holy Spirit, the fruit of Christ, the gift of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. The Church, more than any other human institution, is responsible for this crisis. She who has the obligation and the mandate to heal the human heart, appears to have omissions in many of her children. If the heart is not treated, the thirst for money will always need new human blood. Human blood is drunk, but the thirst is not quenched.

Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscar iot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The teacher says, “My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”‘” The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, “Surely it is not I, Lord?” He said in reply, “He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” He answered, “You have said so.”

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us with a pure and new heart.