The Betrayer at the Eucharist
- Fr. William Wainio
- 23 hours ago
- 3 min read
The following was preached by Fr. Will Wainio as a homily on Holy Thursday - April 2, 2026 at Saint Patrick Catholic Church in Kent, Ohio.
Well, here we are. Yet, another year. Another, Holy Thursday night.
We once again find ourselves in the Upper Room—at the table with Jesus and His apostles. It is a sacred, intimate moment. The Gospel of John tells us that Jesus “loved them to the end.”
But we have to notice something that can be easy to overlook. Judas is still there.
Judas Iscariot has already made his decision. The betrayal is in motion. Thirty pieces of silver have already changed hands. And yet… Jesus does not send him away. Jesus does not expose him or shame him in front of the others. Instead, Jesus sits at table with him. He washes his feet. He feeds him.
Judas receives the Eucharist from the hands of Christ. That should stop us.
Because it means that on the night Jesus gave us the greatest gift—the gift of His Body and Blood—He gave it even to the one who would betray Him.
Which tells us something profound: Jesus does not wait for us to be perfect before He gives Himself to us. He gives Himself to us so that we might be changed.
We live in a world where betrayal, division, and mistrust seem almost constant. Turn on the news, and it doesn’t take long to find it. Leaders failing the people they serve, public figures falling from grace, relationships breaking down, institutions struggling to hold trust.
There is a kind of quiet cynicism that can creep into our hearts: people will disappoint you… everyone eventually lets you down.
And if we’re honest, we don’t just see Judas “out there.” We can find him uncomfortably close to home.
Because betrayal is not always dramatic. Sometimes it is subtle. It’s the promise we fail to keep. The prayer life we neglect. The quiet ways we choose ourselves over God. The moments we turn away, even when we know better.
Could betrayal be standing in the way and putting up a fight for a parish merger that has to happen? Or maybe betrayal is not accepting a new pastoral assignment wholeheartedly because you are afraid to move from something that is comfortable.
In small but real ways, we all know what it is to sit at that table with mixed hearts. And yet—Jesus still gives Himself. This is the heart of Holy Thursday. Not that we are worthy. But that Jesus Christ is faithful.
Even knowing Judas’ betrayal, Jesus still kneels before him. Even knowing Peter’s denial, Jesus still feeds him. Even knowing the others will scatter, Jesus still calls them friends.
And tonight, He does the same for us.
But Judas’ presence at the table is not just comforting—it is also a warning. Because Judas receives the gift… but he does not allow it to change him. He encounters Love itself, and still walks away. That is the real tragedy of Judas—not simply that he betrayed Jesus, but that he did not trust in the mercy that was still being offered to him.
So tonight, as we come forward to receive the Eucharist, we stand in that same place. We are not just observers of the Last Supper. We are participants.
And the question is not simply: Will we receive the Eucharist? The deeper question is: Will we allow the Eucharist to change us? Will we let His mercy reach the places in our lives we would rather keep hidden?
Will we let His love heal the parts of us that are broken or divided?
Will we stay with Him—or walk away?
In a world that is so often marked by betrayal, Jesus offers something entirely different. He offers fidelity. He offers mercy. He offers Himself.
And He offers it tonight—to each one of us—knowing everything about us. So as you come forward this evening, don’t come as someone who has it all together. Come as you are. But do not leave unchanged.
Because tonight, Jesus places Himself into your hands…and invites you not just to receive Him— but to become like Him.