Divine Appeal Reflection - 253
Today, consider in Divine Appeal 253: "Mankind like Judas betrays My heart and drags souls down to perdition to chase blindly after them."
When our Adorable Jesus speaks of betrayal, He speaks not only as the Crucified One of Calvary, but as the Eternal Word pierced again by His own people in every generation. This Divine Appeal unveils a sorrow that surpasses all earthly grief: mankind, like Judas, continues to betray His Sacred Heart. This is not merely about sin in general, but a specific kind of sin — betrayal from those who know Him. Judas did not act from ignorance, but from hardened will; he had heard Christ’s voice, touched His hands, shared His table — and yet handed Him over for a lesser love. Such is the terrifying echo today: those consecrated to Him, those who teach in His name, those formed by His sacraments, yet choose the thirty silver coins of modern idols — comfort, power, relevance, pleasure — and worse still, drag others behind them into ruin.
This betrayal is tragically manifest in many states of life. A priest, desiring acceptance over truth, dilutes the Gospel until it has no salt, leaving souls starved of the Bread of Life. A sister, once vowed to poverty and prayer, pursues activism that forgets Christ, trading the habit of Mary for the language of politics. Parents, formed in the faith, fail to pass it on, preoccupied with worldly success, and soon watch their children drift toward atheism and spiritual confusion. The youth, unmoored from clarity, follow influencers and ideologies that praise sin as liberation and mock virtue as oppression. These are not isolated cases. They form a pattern — a spiritual pandemic of disorientation, where those entrusted with light instead walk into darkness and, worse, carry others with them. In the language of the Gospel, the blind lead the blind, and both fall into the pit (cf. Matthew 15:14).
Yet what makes this betrayal more tragic is that it proceeds “to chase blindly after them.” Mankind does not just fall — it pursues the fall. Judas not only betrayed; he tried to justify his plan, deceived by a logic that separated love from truth. Likewise, many today claim love but reject doctrine, claim mercy but forsake repentance. They build their houses on sand, ignoring the storm (cf. Matthew 7:26-27), all the while gathering crowds to admire the architecture. But love that leads away from Christ is not love — it is a lie dressed in sentiment. Only fidelity to His Sacred Heart, to the voice of the Shepherd (cf. John 10:27), can preserve us from this descent. When we betray truth for popularity, we do not walk alone — we carry with us the eternal consequence of souls misled.
Still, the voice of Jesus in this Divine Appeal is not void of hope. He reveals His wound not to destroy, but to invite repentance. His Heart is not closed — it is pierced and open, still offering grace. To the priest, the sister, the parent, the youth: He pleads for return. Unlike Peter, who denied Christ in fear but repented in tears and returned to become a rock of fidelity, Judas embraced his fall through calculated defiance, using intimacy with Christ as a means of his own agenda. The Divine Heart is still calling us to be repairers, not destroyers, of the vineyard. Our world is dark with confusion and spiritual treason, but those who choose to hear His voice and amend their lives become beacons — they show that fidelity is still possible. In this hour, to live the truth is not only holiness; it is rescue. Souls depend on our integrity. Let us not be the reason they fall — let us be the reason they find their way home.
Prayer
O our Adorable Jesus, betrayed by Your own, yet always merciful, receive our sorrow and repentance. Grant us the courage to be faithful amid confusion, and the grace to guide others in Your truth. May our lives repair what sin has shattered, and draw many back to Your Sacred Heart. Amen.
Sr. Anna Ali of the Most Holy Eucharist, intercede for us.
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