crucified. His intentions may have been different, but at the end of the day his action led to the killing of a man whose revolutionary ways were not understood at the time.

That Judas is not a welcome personality in the Catholic world can be seen from the fact that nobody would dare give that name to a newborn. Most of the names found in the Bible are common, even in Malta, but the name Judas is shunned. It is too synonymous with betrayal and, knowing us, that boy would be scarred for life.

Yet, each and every one of us has, in one way or another, worn Judas’ shoes. We have all been a Judas some time in our life, perhaps unknowingly or, more probably, voluntarily. We have all betrayed someone we love or have loved. And we have all been hurt by being betrayed by someone who we thought loves us.

Betrayal can take several forms and, contrary to what many believe, it does not only happen when a husband or a wife strays. It can happen in all types of relationships – father and son, mother and daughter, grandpa and niece, colleague and colleague, friend and friend, employer and worker, teacher and student, priest and Church member, and so on.

We should all therefore take the opportunity of what the Catholic Church is marking tonight and stop and think on how we could have hurt others by betraying their trust and belief in us. We might not be Church-goers, we might not be practicing Catholics, we might be atheists or agnostics, but today’s occasion does give us a chance to reflect on how we are living our life and how we could make it better for those around us.

Judas betrayed his master and friend. He thought he was doing it for the right reasons. He thought that his betrayal would have pushed Jesus into changing his ways. He had not understood that he himself was being betrayed by those who had told him that Jesus would have been given a fair trial. When he realised his mistake, it was too late to turn back.

Each and every one of us has a reason to betray, but this can be encapsulated in just one word – selfishness. We betray because it suits us, because we want more, because we want to satisfy our needs and desires, because we want to climb on a higher level, because we are greedy, sometimes just to hurt.

Many times, we do not realise that we are acting like Judas; we think that what we are doing is correct and justified; we calm our conscience by believing it is not a betrayal if nobody else knows; and we think we can get away with it too.

The New Testament says that, when he grasped the extent of his betrayal, Judas hanged himself. It is probably the most famous suicide. His remorse was too great, his weakness too strong, his solitude too crushing.

Suicide is not the way to react when things go wrong. Yet each and every betrayal is in itself a small death – in us who have committed it, and particularly in us who have been on the receiving end.

Let us all stop and think of the many times we have betrayed those who mean to us the most.

Judas may not be our first name. But it could well be our second.