Session 3: The Bread

I ease away from stress and strain… I let my body rest at peace… I focus on the here and now…

I begin by setting the scene of today’s reflection in my mind…

Faces lit by flickering lamp wicks, flames casting shadows on the walls, food spread to be shared amongst us, lying with my head at rest on Him, one morsel of bread divides us, then a sudden sigh: it was night…

I ask for the grace to follow Jesus as he accepts the Father’s will…or whatever it is that I need at this moment…

John 13:21-30


After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, ‘Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.’ The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, ‘Lord, who is it?’ Jesus answered, ‘It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.’ So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, ‘Do quickly what you are going to do.’ Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, ‘Buy what we need for the festival’; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

As darkness falls, let yourself be drawn into this moment of intimacy and betrayal…At the same moment in which Jesus shares bread with his friends, it falls to Judas to betray him…Let your attention fall on the thoughts passing through the mind of Jesus…and the thoughts passing through the mind of Judas….why does Jesus have to be betrayed for the Father’s will to be done?

As you listen to these words again, ponder the meaning of Jesus free acceptance of his Father’s will…

One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, ‘Lord, who is it?’ Jesus answered, ‘It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.’

Speak to Jesus, as one friend speaks to another, share with him what the Father wants for you, then listen to his response…

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit…
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.