It is a frightening thought that Judas would receive Our Lord in the Eucharist, but it is also an extraordinary thought that Jesus would want to give himself to him knowing how unworthily he was receiving him. Would we give a special meal to someone who we knew - and Jesus knew - was about to betray us? Would we wash the feet of someone who would then use those same feet, just minutes later, to go out and lead soldiers to arrest us? Would we accept someone's kiss when we knew that kiss was absolutely false and treacherous?
But Jesus did all this for several reasons. First of all, to live what he taught us: to love our enemies, to do good to those who persecute us, to offer them our cheek even if it means slapping them in the face. And also because at every moment, up to Judas' last breath, Jesus was trying to call him to conversion. This is the love of Jesus. He always offers us another chance.
We must not increase the wounds of Christ by receiving Him unworthily. Yes, Our Lord told us: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.". And he was ready to eat in the homes of those considered sinners and outcasts. But the Holy Spirit also wanted to give us those words of St. Paul: "Whosoever therefore eateth of the bread, and drinketh of the cup of the Lord unworthily, is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." (1 Cor 11:27). Tonight we celebrate precisely this gift, the body and blood of Christ. What greater gift could he have given us? He did not limit himself to sharing our humanity by taking a body and becoming man. He wanted to enter into the humanity of every man and every woman. It was not enough for him to be in one body. He found a way to be in each of our bodies by receiving Him in Communion. This is why evangelization is so important: so that more and more people can receive Jesus in the Eucharist and thus fulfill his desire to come to them.
To receive Communion unworthily, knowing that we are in grave sin, is like the kiss of Judas. But when we betray and gossip and think evil of others, it is a bit like the Judas kiss. When we smile at people and say how good we look, while thinking badly of them or talking badly about them behind their backs, that is the Judas kiss. But instead, we can imitate Christ by loving those who treat us badly, reaching out to them, hoping and praying that they will change, seeking their conversion.
