the sin of treachery
Today, we commemorate he betrayal of Jesus by Judas and partially by Peter. Last night I got the dictionary and looked for the word betrayal. It has several meanings.
One of the meanings stated in the dictionary is to lead astray and to deliver to an enemy by treachery.
If you are familiar with Dante Alighieri’s book Divina Comedia he portrayed hell as consisting of 9 circles with the ninth as the deepest circle where the most sinful among men and women are confined for all eternity. The first seven circles of hell are reserved for those who committed sin considered as lesser crimes, so to say, because of our natural human instincts - sexual sins or lust, gluttony, our tendency to commit acts of violence to one another. But the last two are reserved for those who deserved to be in the bowels of hell, in the deepest recesses of hell. Why? Because they abused the unique gift given to man and man alone - they abused the gift of the intellect, they abused the gift of reason through cunning. In other words they used their intellect, the gift of their knowledge to commit sin. The eighth circle, for example, is reserved for those who committed graft and corruption, for thieves because they used their God-given talent to doctor the books so to say so that they can satisfy their greed. But the ninth is reserved for traitors - those who betray the trust of others. They used their intellect, their know-how, a know-how which was given to them, handed over to them in trust and in all probability handed over to them in love and friendship, and used these in order to betray, to turn traitor. According to Dante they deserved the deepest recesses, the very bowels of hell. This is the sin of treachery.
Trust is a small word but big in meaning. In fact all relationships crumble, all relationships will turn to nothing but dust when trust, which is its very foundation is destroyed. I cannot tell the driver to bring me to the chapel of SM Delgado if I could not trust him - as simple as an employer-employee relationship crumbles without trust. You cannot say you love your husband, you love your wife, you love your children if you cannot trust - love crumbles, love turns to dust. Betray your vows, betray your promises, betray your word and you slowly erode the basics of any relationship.
A loaded expression is found in the gospel today. When Jesus dipped the morsel of bread and gave this to Judas, Jesus told him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” And the narrative said, “so Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.” In the cover of darkness Judas moved to do what he intended to do - in the cover of darkness.
Trust accompanies us even when we are doing things in secret and away from prying eyes. It is an identity that we bring with us which influences the actions we do and the decisions we make in broad daylight or under the cover of darkness, seen or unseen, heard or unheard. That is why the guilt that we feel in betrayal can be devastating whether divulged or kept secret. It is one virtue that defines us, a virtue that defines our person. The effects of betrayal revert back to the traitor as forcefully and even more so than the person he or she betrays. Darkness cannot cover a betrayal because every betrayal strikes the traitor more than the betrayed. That is why Judas committed the worst of all crimes - suicide. Do not belittle trust. Do not belittle the trust that we give to each other.
As we go deeper into lent let us be aware of the power of the virtue of trust and also the power of betrayal. Let us be truthful, let us be trustworthy, let us be true to our promises, let us be true to our word, let us bring back the long lost, the now lost palabra de honor, let us honor our vows, let us be worthy of trust. For dante the violation of trust is the worst of all crime man can do because it hits the very heart which makes human beings, human. To betray is to debase ourselves to the level of brutes.
One of the meanings stated in the dictionary is to lead astray and to deliver to an enemy by treachery.
If you are familiar with Dante Alighieri’s book Divina Comedia he portrayed hell as consisting of 9 circles with the ninth as the deepest circle where the most sinful among men and women are confined for all eternity. The first seven circles of hell are reserved for those who committed sin considered as lesser crimes, so to say, because of our natural human instincts - sexual sins or lust, gluttony, our tendency to commit acts of violence to one another. But the last two are reserved for those who deserved to be in the bowels of hell, in the deepest recesses of hell. Why? Because they abused the unique gift given to man and man alone - they abused the gift of the intellect, they abused the gift of reason through cunning. In other words they used their intellect, the gift of their knowledge to commit sin. The eighth circle, for example, is reserved for those who committed graft and corruption, for thieves because they used their God-given talent to doctor the books so to say so that they can satisfy their greed. But the ninth is reserved for traitors - those who betray the trust of others. They used their intellect, their know-how, a know-how which was given to them, handed over to them in trust and in all probability handed over to them in love and friendship, and used these in order to betray, to turn traitor. According to Dante they deserved the deepest recesses, the very bowels of hell. This is the sin of treachery.
Trust is a small word but big in meaning. In fact all relationships crumble, all relationships will turn to nothing but dust when trust, which is its very foundation is destroyed. I cannot tell the driver to bring me to the chapel of SM Delgado if I could not trust him - as simple as an employer-employee relationship crumbles without trust. You cannot say you love your husband, you love your wife, you love your children if you cannot trust - love crumbles, love turns to dust. Betray your vows, betray your promises, betray your word and you slowly erode the basics of any relationship.
A loaded expression is found in the gospel today. When Jesus dipped the morsel of bread and gave this to Judas, Jesus told him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” And the narrative said, “so Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.” In the cover of darkness Judas moved to do what he intended to do - in the cover of darkness.
Trust accompanies us even when we are doing things in secret and away from prying eyes. It is an identity that we bring with us which influences the actions we do and the decisions we make in broad daylight or under the cover of darkness, seen or unseen, heard or unheard. That is why the guilt that we feel in betrayal can be devastating whether divulged or kept secret. It is one virtue that defines us, a virtue that defines our person. The effects of betrayal revert back to the traitor as forcefully and even more so than the person he or she betrays. Darkness cannot cover a betrayal because every betrayal strikes the traitor more than the betrayed. That is why Judas committed the worst of all crimes - suicide. Do not belittle trust. Do not belittle the trust that we give to each other.
As we go deeper into lent let us be aware of the power of the virtue of trust and also the power of betrayal. Let us be truthful, let us be trustworthy, let us be true to our promises, let us be true to our word, let us bring back the long lost, the now lost palabra de honor, let us honor our vows, let us be worthy of trust. For dante the violation of trust is the worst of all crime man can do because it hits the very heart which makes human beings, human. To betray is to debase ourselves to the level of brutes.
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