It’s Holy Week, and we’re closing in fast on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Today is a day traditionally known as “Spy Wednesday,” because it’s the day in which we recall Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of Christ. It’s a reminder that we spend very little time thinking about Judas… perhaps because we don’t like what we’d see if we took a closer look. But here are 8 points that might be worth reflecting upon:
1) Judas was one of the Twelve.
On the surface, that’s an obvious and uninteresting point. But it’s actually worth considering in greater depth. For one thing, as I mentioned two years ago, it shows that Judas is one of the first twelve ordained ministers in the Church (handpicked by Christ, as he acknowledges in John 6:70-71!). That’s going to have a lot of implications (for one thing, as I said in the other post, it shows that the Protestant view of the Church as only the collection of the saved is obviously wrong).
But today, I want to consider another aspect of it: at some point, Judas gave up everything to follow Christ (Mark 10:28). These sorts of stories are troubling – I’m reminded here of Charles Templeton, who was an evangelist alongside Billy Graham in the early days of Youth for Christ, but who ended up renouncing Christianity and becoming an agnostic or atheist. There are plenty of Christians who will tell you the comforting lie that this isn’t possible – that as long as you really believe, you can never fall away. St. Paul disagreed, and his reason was his own awareness of the history of Israel. Pointing out that many of the people God had saved from Egypt ended up rejecting Him and dying, Paul concludes, “Therefore let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). Judas reminds us of the same thing. If Judas could give up everything and spend that much time with Christ, even becoming friends with Him, and still fall away so dramatically (and apparently finally), you and I shouldn’t fall into presumption. There, but for the grace of God, go we.
2) Judas wasn’t unique.
There’s no reason to believe that Judas was especially unique. That is, it would be easy to fall into the trap of thinking of Judas as the only one in history so depraved that he could betray Christ like this. But of course, it isn’t true. He’s not the only Christian, he’s not even the only priest. We get a hint of this in the failings of some of the other Disciples – for instance, Peter’s denials of Jesus, or the Disciples’ running away when Jesus is arrested. But I think we get a hint of this in many churches (and certainly, many news reports about Catholic scandals) today.
3) Judas had hidden spiritual struggles.
Judas’ problems didn’t start in Holy Week. It wasn’t as if he was a true-blue, faithful and loyal Disciple and then one day just betrayed Christ for no reason. No, there was a long path of him slowly turning away from the Light towards the darkness. The timing of Jesus’ comment in John 6:70-71 suggests that Judas was scandalized by Jesus’ teaching on the Eucharist. After Jesus described His Flesh and Blood as actual Food and Drink, “many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him,” and so “Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Will you also go away?'” (John 6:66-67). Peter, speaking on behalf of the Twelve, reaffirms their commitment to Jesus, but it’s at this point that Jesus first alludes to Judas’ coming betrayal. Something seems to have sat poorly with Judas – either Jesus’ teaching, or the fact that this teaching hurt Jesus’ popularity, or the fact that Jesus didn’t go chasing after the crowds. By John 12, we hear that Judas has begun stealing from Jesus (John 12:6). If you’ve committed a major sin, be that an extramarital affair or falling off the wagon or almost anything else, there’s a good chance that the sin wasn’t the starting point. A whole series of bad actions led up to the very bad result. St. Francis de Sales describes the process as one of “temptation, delectation, and consent”:
Picture to yourself a young princess beloved of her husband, to whom some evil wretch should send a messenger to tempt her to infidelity. First, the messenger would bring forth his propositions. Secondly, the princess would either accept or reject the overtures. Thirdly, she would consent to them or refuse them. Even so, when Satan, the world, and the flesh look upon a soul espoused to the Son of God, they set temptations and suggestions before that soul, whereby–1. Sin is proposed to it. 2. Which proposals are either pleasing or displeasing to the soul. 3. The soul either consents, or rejects them. In other words, the three downward steps of temptation, delectation, and consent. And although the three steps may not always be so clearly defined as in this illustration, they are to be plainly traced in all great and serious sins.
St. James says the same thing when he speaks of how “desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death” (James 1:15) The problem here isn’t that Judas struggled with temptation – we all do. The problem is that he seems to have kept these struggles to himself. He let them fester, until they gave birth to a ghastly betrayal. St. John says, “this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). Evil blossoms in the darkness, so if you’re struggling with something, share that spiritual struggle — with a priest, with an accountability partner, or with a loved one or friend you trust. You may just be amazed to see the temptation shrivel up in the light.
4) Judas had no apparent theological interest.
As Christians, we’re part of the “New Israel.” But what does that mean? It’s worth remembering where the name came from. The Patriarch Jacob has his named changed to Israel after wrestling all night with an angel (or possibly Christ). At the end of this, the mysterious heavenly figure says, “Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Gen. 32:28). In other words, we have a God who welcomes a struggle. And Judas seems to have been disturbed by some of Jesus’ message. But he is either uninterested or unwilling to enter into that struggle.
One of the striking things about Judas is that, throughout the Gospels, we only really ever hear him talking about two things: himself and money. Seemingly everything he says is either self-aggrandizing or a financial appeal. Amidst all of the action of Holy Week, Mary of Bethany poured expensive nard on Jesus’ head. Judas objects, “Why was the ointment thus wasted? For this ointment might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and given to the poor” (Mark 14:4-5). Jesus replied (Mark 14:6-9),
“Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good to them; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burying. And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
Jesus’ response is theological. It’s hard to imagine that it made any sense at all to Judas, because he doesn’t seem to have (at least by this point) the eyes necessary to see why it would be worthwhile just to do a beautiful thing for God. Judas’ logic is the cold functionalism of the modern age – beautiful, expensive things like perfume ought to be sold so that the money can be spent on purely functional things like bread for the poor (or at least, so that it can line the pockets of people like Judas and his bureaucratic descendents).
In other words, the only time we hear Judas asking anything close to a religious question, it’s a purely “social justice Gospel” that has no place for transcendence, or beauty, or the Cross, or ultimately God. The picture of Judas that emerges from the New Testament is someone who can’t grasp the “vertical” dimensions of Christianity, but who thinks purely in terms of the horizontal. His focus seems to be less on God than on people (and ultimately, therefore, on himself).
5) Judas had no respect for the Eucharist.
I’ve already mentioned that Judas first seems to start to separate himself from Christ after Jesus’ teaching on the Eucharist in John 6, and it’s an open question about whether he was motivated by theological reasons (disgust with what Jesus was teaching) or personal ones (disgust at seeing Jesus losing a crowd). But this culminates in his betrayal on Holy Thursday. It’s worth noticing how much Judas’ betrayal is depicted as tied to the Eucharist (Luke 22:19-22):
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after supper, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of man goes as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”
Jesus is denouncing the audacity of Judas to participate in this first Mass while his heart is set on betrayal. The Disciples are all (save one, probably) confused about the meaning of this ominous proclamation, and they start asking to whom Jesus refers. St. John recounts what happens next in this way:
Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give this morsel when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the money box, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast”; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the morsel, he immediately went out; and it was night.
Judas has received the morsel unworthily, and John describes his unworthy reception of the morsel as the point at which Satan enters him. Then, he gets up and (apparently taking the money with him) leaves. That is, he totally disregards the fact that they’re in the middle of a religious ceremony – the Passover meal, and the first Mass – and just walks out to carry out his unholy business. It would be like if you were to receive Holy Communion and then just walk out the door, without staying for the end of Mass.
6) Judas cooperated with Satan.
The horrific and startling thing about Judas isn’t just that a Christian betrayed Christ, but that one of the Twelve should be in league with the devil. That doesn’t mean Judas knew he was doing the bidding of Satan, but the Evangelists are clear that this was more than just ordinary human wickedness. Something supernaturally malicious is present here.
But here’s where I want to tie everything together: if we take our eyes off of the things of Heaven, we’ll end up setting them on the mere things of earth. And at that point, we’re halfway towards turning our eyes to what is beneath us.
There’s an extremely disturbing case of a priest in Boise, Idaho (serious content warning) that illustrates this. One of the detectives on the case described how recorded chats and emails “showed Faucher was ‘actively seeking interests with gay men, satanic interests’ and the rape and killing of minors.” The local news station reported that:
Faucher communicated online with several people, including a man from Brazil named “Bruno,” explicitly describing the images both men were looking at and detailing their desires. At one point, according to detectives, the Brazilian sent Faucher a batch of violent child pornography, only for the priest to respond that he had already seen them.
“There is only one of them I really like, the one of the boy being beaten to death,” Faucher wrote. “I want you to send me more of young boys and even infants.”
Another time, Faucher and Bruno discussed the priest traveling to Brazil, where the pair planned to find, sexually assault and ultimately murder a little boy. The retired priest also fantasied about raping an altar boy and told the other man that he had violated the sacraments by ejaculating into the communion wine at St. Mary’s in Boise.
Additionally, the priest urinated on a cross and a Code of Canon Law, and bragged about faking senility to justify his intentional liturgical abuses, and then lying about it afterwards. The case was so bad that the Church sent in an exorcist before they sold Faucher’s house. They recognized what I hope everyone recognizes – that this is more than just run-of-the-mill human depravity. It’s cooperation with something spectacularly evil.
When I heard about this case I was dumbstruck, as I imagine most people were. What sort of priest, I wondered, ends up like this? One who’s taken his eyes off of God, and has them firmly on himself. A few insights come from the man himself, who said (while awaiting trial):
“When I get out, I’ll have at least one or two more chapters after that,” he said. “I think in the long run my legacy and reputation will be restored, simply because what I’m being accused of is not me.” [….]
He wrote that he decided to forgive and pray for the prosecutor, the judge and the bishop, who “worked together to keep me in prison.”
The real victim, in Faucher’s view, is him. In his letters to supporters, he complained about the food, the movie choices, etc. At this point, you might be wondering, how does a man this cartoonishly villainous have “supporters?”
But supporters he does have, incredible thought it may seem. Those supporters include the mayor of Boise, who actually wrote a letter to the court on Faucher’s behalf. It seems that Faucher made all the right friends, and promoted all the right progressive causes. Back in 2006, he had the gall to write an op-ed for the Idaho Statesmen in favor of gay marriage. My point here isn’t that everyone who disagrees with the Church on marriage is wicked. It’s that everything that this priest says or does appears to be about himself – especially now that we see how self-centered his passion for gay marriage was. Taking his eyes off of God, he put them on worldly causes and ultimately on himself.
Rarely, thankfully, do we encounter stories as obviously satanic as that of Fr. Faucher or of the Apostle Judas. But it’s worth seeing the pattern: if your eyes aren’t drawn upwards towards Jesus, they’re going to slowly draw downwards. Before you know it, your eyes and your heart may be fixed on something unholy. The remedy to this is to never become complacent, and to always keep close to Christ, particularly in the Eucharist.
A recovering alcoholic I know said to me, “if I ever started drinking again, the problem wouldn’t be the day I picked up that first drink. It would be long before then.” That’s astute, and as true for you and me as it is for him. Temptations become delectations, and delectations become sins, if we don’t nip them in the bud. Baby sins become big sins, if we don’t bring them into the light. That’s what Judas has to teach us.
On a happier note: if you’ve wondered where I’ve been for the last month or so, I’ve been finishing up a book manuscript for Our Sunday Visitor. Details to come, but please say a prayer for it!
Thank you for the explanations. Yes, I have missed your postings. Blessings on your new endeavors.
Terri Siciliano
This is so important and so overlooked, thank you for writing and sharing it. I hope everyone who reads it realizes that every time we turn away from Jesus and to ourselves we are risking everything. It’s scary.
On a happier note – congrats and good luck with the book! Keep us posted!
Your book is bound to be excellent and spiritually inspiring. And, I think my opinion is amply justified if we consider all of your other writings, podcasts and videos, all of which are excellently executed and highly inspiring.
I Hope it makes the ‘Best Sellers list’ ! 🙂
Best to you always.
If you read the last supper. When jesus speaking to john says the person i give this to is the person who will betray me. Once he gives the bread to judas it says and then satan entered judas. Even to the end judas had the chance to change his mind
I agree with that. But in some ways by the time that happened Judas had already succumbed to the temptation and delectation of the direction he had already begun choosing.
To free himself he needed to come clean and confess that he was having these temptations. That would have required a lot of courage but would have been so much better for him that what he did.
Dear GOD/GODS and/or anyone else who can HELP ME (e.g. MEMBERS OF SUPER-INTELLIGENT ALIEN CIVILIZATIONS):
The next time I wake up, please change my physical form to that of FINN MCMILLAN of SOUTH NEW BRIGHTON at 8 YEARS OLD and keep it that way FOREVER.
I am so sick of this chubby Asian man body!
Thank you!
– CHAUL JHIN KIM (a.k.a. A DESPERATE SOUL)
P.S. If you are reading this then please pray for me!
February 25, 2006,
The Idaho Statesman
Boise, Idaho, U.S.A.
by The Rev. W. Thomas Faucher
The Idaho Legislature has approved a constitutional amendment to define marriage in a manner which will ensure that same-gender “marriage” could never happen in Idaho. The amendment is subject to voter approval in November.
This is at its core an anti-gay movement.
For a Roman Catholic priest to address anything to do with homosexuality at this point in American history is probably not a wise move. The sexual scandals concerning those priests who molested children and the subsequent cover-up of those offenses by some Catholic bishops have seriously damaged the credibility of Catholicism on moral issues. There is too much dirt on the Catholic windows for people to pay much attention to Catholic opinions. At the same time, recent Vatican statements and writings have shown a very strong anti-gay attitude from top church officials.
But I have not always been particularly wise, and this issue calls for some comments to be made about morality and legislation.
There are two main arguments made by many of those who want the constitutional amendment. The first is that homosexual activity is morally wrong. The second is that allowing same-gender unions to be legalized would weaken the existing institutions of marriage and family. Both of those points need to be carefully examined.
First, the various religious bodies of Idaho have strong opposing positions about what is moral or immoral in many different areas. That is part of the role religions are to play in a multicultural society. There are strong opinions about the morality of homosexuality. (My own church views homosexual activity as immoral.)
It is not the right nor the responsibility of the Legislature to decide moral issues. While all lawmaking is to some extent legislating morality, the basis for laws is not personal theology but what is best for society.
Lawmakers face personal tension in laws that allow actions the individual legislator sees as immoral. Examples include abortion, gambling, use of alcohol, divorce, race issues and capital punishment. Because homosexual activity is legal in Idaho, the morality of it is not the lawmakers’ responsibility. The morality of what gay people do is not any more of an issue than is the morality of those who go to Jackpot and gamble or those who go to bars and drink.
This brings up the second point. The argument says that allowing two people of the same gender to form a legal union would weaken marriage and weaken family life. I strongly disagree and, in fact , believe that allowing same-gender legal unions would strengthen marriage and family life.
What weakens marriage and family life are people who live together, have children together, without any legally recognized commitment. There are thousands of children in Idaho today who have never known a stable marriage or any stable family life.
Many people in the gay community want a stable union. They want to publicly make a commitment. The effort for “gay marriage” or “civil unions” is a movement reaffirming the importance of commitment and family life. The gay lifestyle is criticized for its lack of structure, its promiscuity, its disregard of convention. But society has worked very hard to deny homosexual people any opportunity to have structure.
There are thousands of gay men and women in Idaho. They are citizens and they have rights. Their desire for stable recognized unions strengthens the argument that society needs marriage commitment and family life.
Gay people are never again going to be a closeted silent minority. The rest of society must accept that reality, whether they like it or not. If laws are made about gays, they must be fair and just laws.
The Rev. W. Thomas Faucher is pastor at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
The house where a retired Boise priest lived for 15 years — until he was accused in February of sharing child pornography online and of drug possession — has been cleaned out, freshened up and blessed by an exorcist, according to the priest preparing the property for sale.
“We bless houses all the time,” said Father John Worster, pastor at St. Mary’s Catholic Church the past three years. “I had our diocesan exorcist and his prayer team come and pray over the house.”
“The actual rite of exorcism involves prayers in which the priest demands that the demon(s) leave the possessed person’s body,” according to a 2017 article on Newsweek.com. “Those present are sprinkled with holy water and the priest makes the sign of the cross on the possessed person’s forehead, as well as laying his hands on them.
The Diocese of Boise evicted Father W. Thomas “Tom” Faucher from the house at West Holly Hill Drive and Hill Road soon after he was arrested. Residents in the neighborhood, which has a school, expressed concern for the safety of their children.
Mark Manweiler, Faucher’s attorney, declined to comment Friday on the exorcism of the church-owned house.
Faucher is being held at the Ada County Jail. A trial is set to begin on Oct. 15, but his attorney indicated in court on June 1 that he’s in negotiations with prosecutors on a plea deal.
Rev. W. Thomas Faucher speaks to the Idaho Statesman from the Ada County Jail about how he would like to be remembered in the community and what will happen after his trial. By
On July 12, Manweiler filed a change of venue request for Faucher’s trial to be moved outside of the Fourth Judicial District on the grounds that a fair and impartial trial is not possible in Ada County due to “extensive prejudicial pre-trial publicity.”
More than a dozen offers were made by people wanting to buy the house at West Holly Hill Drive and Hill Road, and the diocese accepted one. The two-bedroom, two-bathroom house is selling in the range of $240,000 to $260,000, Worster said.
“The market is so incredibly good right now. We’re getting everything we asked for and more,” he said. “It bid itself up a bit.”
Worster said the property was filthy, and the mice were “living large and in charge.” All the appliances were replaced.
“Our main goal is to turn the house over in good condition to the next owner,” he said. “We’re painting, cleaning up the floors and cleaning carpet, even as we speak. Part of that is taking care of the spiritual side of things.”
He wanted the exorcism to clear away the “spiritual filth” associated with the house and its former occupant.
The Vatican formally recognized the Rome-based International Association of Exorcists in 2014, the Catholic News Service reported. The association said it has 250 members in 30 different countries. Worster said the Boise diocese has two exorcists.
“We believe in demonic powers. We brought in the ghostbusters,” he said. That was in early June.
There were 10 people from the diocese exorcism prayer team at the Holly Hill house; they are parishioners from different churches in the Valley. Many are prominent members of the community but don’t want to be identified publicly, Worster said.
He said he informed Bishop Peter Christensen in advance and was met with approval.
“It’s a relatively routine thing but evil is real, so we’re taking no chances,” said Worster, who prepared a meal for the “prayer warriors” after the house exorcism and blessing. “We prayed for the house and prayed in the house, just to be sure, and to reassure the public and new owners.”
Katy Moeller: 208-377-6413
Read more here: https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/community/boise/article214943575.html#storylink=cpy