About Today
Wednesday 1 April 2026
Wednesday of Holy Week
Christ the Lord was tempted and suffered for us. Come, let us adore him.
Year: A(II). Psalm week: 2. Liturgical Colour: Violet.
Other saints: Saint Ceallach (1080 - 1129)
Ireland
He became hereditary bishop of Armagh in 1105 and made many reforms; not least on his deathbed, when he abolished the hereditary principle by appointing St Malachy as his successor.
Today's gospel reading
Matthew 26:14-25
Wednesday of Holy Week gospel Matthew 26:14-25
One of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?’ They paid him thirty silver pieces, and from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray Jesus.
Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus to say, ‘Where would you want us to make preparations for you to eat the passover?’ ‘Go to so - and -so in the city he replied and say to him, “The Master says, My time is near. It is at your house that I am keeping Passover with my disciples.” ’ The disciples did what Jesus told them and prepared the Passover.
When evening came he was at table with the twelve disciples. And while they were eating, he said, I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me.’ They were greatly distressed and started asking him in turn, ‘Not I, Lord surely?’ He answered, ‘Someone who has dipped his hand into the dish with me, will betray me. The Son of Man is going to his fate, as scriptures say he will, but alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had never been born!’ Judas, who was to betray him, asked in turn, ‘Not I, Rabbi surely?’ They are your own words’ answered Jesus.
Reflection on the painting
The early Christian community never tried to hide a very difficult reality: that Jesus was betrayed by one of his own disciples, by his close friend. I have always found that the Gospels speak about this with remarkable honesty. The one who would betray Christ was not a distant enemy but someone who had shared the road with him, someone who had sat at the same table and eaten from the same dish. We could well imagine that the early Christians may have preferred to sweep this under the carpet, or not even account it in the Gospels, as it is an uncomfortable truth. Yet the Gospel writers record it plainly and honestly. And in doing so they reveal something important: the Gospels are not polished legends designed to protect reputations. They are faithful accounts of what truly happened! Their honesty, even when it exposes weakness and failure among Jesus’ closest followers, reminds us that we are reading real, true events that unfolded in the life of Christ.
When Jesus announces at the meal that one of those present will betray him, the Gospel of Matthew tells us that the disciples are deeply troubled. The shock of betrayal cuts deeply because it comes from within a circle of trust. It is painful not only for the one betrayed, but for everyone who witnesses it. Many of us know something of that experience ourselves; the sadness of trust broken, when words spoken in confidence are turned against us. And it upsets us when this happens.
Yet Holy Week reveals something greater than betrayal. The treachery that led to the Cross did not have the final word. God did. Through the Resurrection, God transformed the darkest moment of human disloyalty into the beginning of salvation. These sacred days invite us to trust that no painful experience, however heavy it may seem, lies beyond the reach of God’s redeeming grace. Even in the shadow of any betrayal we may experience, God is there to help us.
Our painting by Welsh artist Christopher Williams we see the dramatic moment described in the Gospel of John when Judas Iscariot sneaks out and leaves the Last Supper. The entire scene is dominated by darkness, visually echoing the Gospel’s haunting line: “and it was night.” Judas is shown stepping away from the table into the shadows, behind a curtain, his figure caught in a narrow beam of light that reveals his troubled face and tense posture. He is holding his purse of coins given to him as a reward for betrayal. The painting therefore becomes a meditation on human freedom: how someone who has walked so closely with Jesus can still choose to step into the night.
Judas the Iscariot: And It Was Night,
Painted by Christopher Williams (1873–1934),
Painted in 1906,
Oil on canvas
© Aberystwyth University School of Art Museum and Galleries
Aberystwyth
Wednesday of Holy Week
Christ the Lord was tempted and suffered for us. Come, let us adore him.
Year: A(II). Psalm week: 2. Liturgical Colour: Violet.
Other saints: Saint Ceallach (1080 - 1129)
Ireland
He became hereditary bishop of Armagh in 1105 and made many reforms; not least on his deathbed, when he abolished the hereditary principle by appointing St Malachy as his successor.
Today's gospel reading
Matthew 26:14-25
Wednesday of Holy Week gospel Matthew 26:14-25
One of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?’ They paid him thirty silver pieces, and from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray Jesus.
Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus to say, ‘Where would you want us to make preparations for you to eat the passover?’ ‘Go to so - and -so in the city he replied and say to him, “The Master says, My time is near. It is at your house that I am keeping Passover with my disciples.” ’ The disciples did what Jesus told them and prepared the Passover.
When evening came he was at table with the twelve disciples. And while they were eating, he said, I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me.’ They were greatly distressed and started asking him in turn, ‘Not I, Lord surely?’ He answered, ‘Someone who has dipped his hand into the dish with me, will betray me. The Son of Man is going to his fate, as scriptures say he will, but alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had never been born!’ Judas, who was to betray him, asked in turn, ‘Not I, Rabbi surely?’ They are your own words’ answered Jesus.
Reflection on the painting
The early Christian community never tried to hide a very difficult reality: that Jesus was betrayed by one of his own disciples, by his close friend. I have always found that the Gospels speak about this with remarkable honesty. The one who would betray Christ was not a distant enemy but someone who had shared the road with him, someone who had sat at the same table and eaten from the same dish. We could well imagine that the early Christians may have preferred to sweep this under the carpet, or not even account it in the Gospels, as it is an uncomfortable truth. Yet the Gospel writers record it plainly and honestly. And in doing so they reveal something important: the Gospels are not polished legends designed to protect reputations. They are faithful accounts of what truly happened! Their honesty, even when it exposes weakness and failure among Jesus’ closest followers, reminds us that we are reading real, true events that unfolded in the life of Christ.
When Jesus announces at the meal that one of those present will betray him, the Gospel of Matthew tells us that the disciples are deeply troubled. The shock of betrayal cuts deeply because it comes from within a circle of trust. It is painful not only for the one betrayed, but for everyone who witnesses it. Many of us know something of that experience ourselves; the sadness of trust broken, when words spoken in confidence are turned against us. And it upsets us when this happens.
Yet Holy Week reveals something greater than betrayal. The treachery that led to the Cross did not have the final word. God did. Through the Resurrection, God transformed the darkest moment of human disloyalty into the beginning of salvation. These sacred days invite us to trust that no painful experience, however heavy it may seem, lies beyond the reach of God’s redeeming grace. Even in the shadow of any betrayal we may experience, God is there to help us.
Our painting by Welsh artist Christopher Williams we see the dramatic moment described in the Gospel of John when Judas Iscariot sneaks out and leaves the Last Supper. The entire scene is dominated by darkness, visually echoing the Gospel’s haunting line: “and it was night.” Judas is shown stepping away from the table into the shadows, behind a curtain, his figure caught in a narrow beam of light that reveals his troubled face and tense posture. He is holding his purse of coins given to him as a reward for betrayal. The painting therefore becomes a meditation on human freedom: how someone who has walked so closely with Jesus can still choose to step into the night.
Judas the Iscariot: And It Was Night,
Painted by Christopher Williams (1873–1934),
Painted in 1906,
Oil on canvas
© Aberystwyth University School of Art Museum and Galleries
Aberystwyth