Also, there is John 17:
[11] And now I am not in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name whom thou has given me; that they may be one, as we also are. [12] While I was with them, I kept them in thy name. Those whom thou gavest me have I kept; and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture may be fulfilled. [13] And now I come to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy filled in themselves.
I, for one, am not looking forward to the last judgment, when all of my many sins will become visible for all to see. If I had betrayed a child, or an innocent person, or Jesus Himself, I would want to die rather than submit to that judgment. I would view that simple judgment as worse than never having been born. But this passage is susceptible of another interpretation: none of the Twelve fell to Satan’s temptations but Judas, who was lost to the Church (“let his bishopric another take”) and became the son of perdition (a follower of Satan).
There are an inexhaustible list of Church Fathers and saints who attest to Judas damnation St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, and St. Thomas Aquinas among them, but this article mentioned a few more of the arguments and sources:
catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=3344&CFID=145674108&CFTOKEN=88670696
Again, they aren’t “attesting” to his damnation; they’re simply concluding it from Scripture. But it isn’t an infallible interpretation of the Magisterium. In fact, if we combine John 17 and Acts 1 and Psalm 109/108-depending-on-your-Bible-formatting to conclude that Judas inescapably was condemned to Hell, then we arrive at disturbing implications for the converts that Judas won (his “children” in the Church) as one of the Twelve (“Let his children be carried about vagabonds, and beg; and let them be cast out of their dwellings”).
I’m not saying Judas is in Heaven, because I don’t know that. I am simply saying that we also don’t know whether he’s in Hell. We are, of course, entitled to our opinions; but the Church has no official teaching on the subject.
In any event, back at the point of this thread (Judas taking the Eucharist), I commend your attention to an address of Pope Benedict XVI a little over five years ago on this subject:
In any case, the Evangelists insist on the status as an Apostle that Judas held in all regards: he is repeatedly called “one of the twelve” (Mt 26: 14, 47; Mk 14: 10, 20; Jn 6: 71) or “of the number of the twelve” (Lk 22: 3).
Moreover, on two occasions, Jesus, addressing the Apostles and speaking precisely of Judas, indicates him as “one of you” (Mt 26: 21; Mk 14: 18; Jn 6: 70; 13: 21). And Peter will say of Judas that “he was numbered among us and allotted his share in this ministry” (Acts 1: 17).
He is therefore a figure belonging to the group of those whom Jesus had chosen as strict companions and collaborators. This brings with it two questions in the attempt to provide an explanation for what happened.
The first consists in asking how is it that Jesus had chosen this man and trusted him. In fact, although Judas is the group’s bursar (cf Jn. 12: 6b; 13: 29a), in reality he is called a “thief” (Jn 12: 6a).
The mystery of the choice remains, all the more since Jesus pronounces a very severe judgement on him: “Woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed!” (Mt 26: 24).
What is more, it darkens the mystery around his eternal fate, knowing that Judas "repented and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood’” (Mt 27: 3-4). Even though he went to hang himself (cf. Mt 27: 5), it is not up to us to judge his gesture, substituting ourselves for the infinitely merciful and just God.
Benedict XVI,
General Audience, October 18, 2006, paras. 7-12.
:twocents:
