Monday in Holy Week
there is no safe distance
Cast me not away from your presence
and take not your holy Spirit from me.
Psalm 51:12
Judas, friend and believer, tries to distance himself
through betrayal
and is still welcome at the table
James and John and others
abandon Jesus
falling asleep in the garden
and then fleeing
Peter, having fled with the others, returns
trying to stay near Jesus
by keeping a safe distance
but is recognized
and then denies
Pilate, the governor
distances himself
denying responsibility
Mary Magdalene
looks on from a distance
and is not safe from the witnessing the horror
and carrying the grief
there is no safe distance
there is only Jesus
truly God and truly human
dwelling with us
with all our dreadfulness and all our splendor
and as many times as we betray,
abandon, deny, renounce
as many times as we fail Jesus
Jesus does not fail us
