I wonder about Judas

I'm not sure about whether to make any hard and fast judgment about Judas Iscariot. Jesus must have seen something in Judas when he chose him to be one of his apostles. Did something go wrong along the way? Was it just because he was given responsibility for looking after the group funds? Mind you, Jesus and the other apostles would have initially seen something trustworthy and efficient in the way Judas looked after their funds. They wouldn't have chosen him otherwise. It is sad that Judas would eventually give way apparently to greed and the need for power and control or maybe he just lost faith in Jesus and felt that his project of gathering together a small community of disciples who would live out the dream of a new humanity would end in failure or disaster. Despite the opinion of the evangelists, the writers of the gospels, I would prefer to hold back on making any judgment. I would hope that there would be some space in the divine heart for including a repentant Judas. As for myself, I recognise how easy it is to give way to temptations that come from the misuse of funds or income or from the enjoyment one can experience in having control over other peoples' lives. So rather than judgment, today's gospel text taken from John 13 calls for self-reflection. Besides I could also look at the failure of the great leader, Peter, who would openly deny that he knows Jesus. Let us be gentle with ourselves as we continue to journey through Holy Week and not be too harsh in judging ourselves or others.