Reflection Tuesday, March 31, 2026  

First Reading: Isaiah 49:1-6; Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 71(70):1-2. 3-4a. 5-6b. 15ab, 17. R/ 15ab; Gospel: John 13:21-33, 36-38. 
 Many years ago, during those endless emotive teenage years, I was asked to express and reflect upon a verse in the Gospels that had touched me. Without hesitation I replied, “And it was night.” to which I received an unfavorable response. To make matters worse later that day, I overheard a conversation insinuating that I had not given any consideration to an appropriate verse and that I verged on the edge of being insolent. That sense of disloyalty sapped my confidence and went to the core of my heart. The profound emotions captured in today’s Gospel provide a mere glimpse into the sorrow that Jesus must have experienced in knowing that he would be betrayed by a friend and disciple. Even the friendship of sharing bread with the betrayer would not stop the darkness of unfaithfulness. And it was night.  However, we are also given great assurance in today’s reading that ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified’ and a sense of awe that out of absolute darkness and immense suffering came immeasurable light through glorification of the Son by the Father. Sitting alongside Peter and witnessing first-hand the events of that night I would have felt distraught at the thought of laying down my life; however, as a reader in contemporary society the thought that I may have denied Christ three times in a row perturbs me more. That sense of disloyalty and betrayal does not sit easy, yet if the love and mission I have been given by God to build his Kingdom on earth turns merely inwards and not outwards, then how many times am I part of that unfaithfulness? In the dark of night, the betrayer generated further darkness, yet through the Light of Christ we have been given freedom and choice to reflect that light through our servant ministry and the opportunity to serve as Christ’s missionary disciples in a complex contemporary society. Here I am Lord…I have heard you calling in the night…I will go Lord if you lead me, I will hold your people in my heart. (‘Here I am Lord’ lyrics by Dan Schutte). Reflection written by:  
Trisha Tindall, St Mary’s, Forest Hall.