On the sale of Jesus by the traitor Judas

“Lord Jesus Christ, Supreme Goodness and Eternal Majesty, I bless and thank you for being unjustly sold by your own disciple for so ignoble and meager a price as thirty pieces of silver.

I praise and glorify you for your patient sufferance of that disloyal disciple, for though you foresaw that he was hastening to betray you, nevertheless, you did not manifest any anger toward him, nor did you speak any harsh words to him. You did not make his evil intentions known to others, nor after so villainous a deed did you remove him from his office or refuse him Holy Communion.

How great is your patience, most gentle Jesus, and how great my impatience!

Alas! How poorly I tolerate a brother when he has said or done something against me. But you, for so long a time and without complaint, have endured your disciple Judas, who would soon sell and betray you, while I, for a paltry insult, quickly yield to anger and think of various ways of vindicating myself or of offering excuses. Where then is my patience, where is my meekness?

Help me, good Jesus, and instill the virtue of your meekness in my heart in greater abundance, for without your inspiration and special grace I cannot enjoy peace of soul amid this life’s many vexations.”

~Thomas à Kempis