Those of you who have been following along will know that the Supreme Executive Committee has been promoting Spy Wednesday as the day for the final battle for the Golden Halo. Several of you have asked us about the name Spy Wednesday. Ever happy to educate and inspire, we are only too happy to oblige.
Spy Wednesday gets its name because this is the day on which Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin. Because Judas is thought to be sneaky, his actions conjured up the image of a spy. This is how the Gospel of Luke recounts the events of today:
Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them. They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money. So he consented and began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them when no crowd was present. (Luke 22:3-6)
The illustration here evocatively depicts this infamous scene. If you go to Holy Eucharist every day of Holy Week, the Gospel readings provide the narrative of Jesus' final days, an ever-quickening story that spins out of control and finally brings us to Good Friday.
It is surely a strange juxtaposition to think about Spy Wednesday and Lent Madness in the same moment. But the whole point of Lent Madness is to engage us all in an exploration of the ways God's grace has filled the lives of women and men through history and across all cultures. Sure, we've been silly and even competitive about our Lenten exercise. In the end though, we are learning to see in fresh ways how Jesus Christ matters to all humanity. That seems like a good and holy thing to do on Spy Wednesday.
Now, get thee to the polls and vote! Only one saint will emerge standing today, wearing the coveted Golden Halo. Will it be Emma of Hawaii or Mary Magdalene? You decide.
68 comments on “Spy Wednesday”
Thanks Scott and Tim,
You have done a wonderful job!! It has been educational, fun, insightful, and most of all a holy event.
Now, may the best woman win---of course who ever wins it will be the best woman, because all the saints who competed this year are the best woman and the best man, some just got more votes than others.
Thanks for the explanation - I'd been wondering but hadn't gotten around to asking. "Spy Wednesday" sounds so much classier than "Sneaky Wednesday".
Ditto on Cynthia's comment. I have never heard the term "Spy Wednesday" used before and I was planning on looking it up.
Loved playing thank you do much for the saintly education. And my choice made it this far. Go Mary!
In the English of the 15th and 16th centuries, "spy" was used as a direct synonym for "traitor." We tend to draw a distinction today that wasn't understood then.
Such erudite people in the Lent Madness community - always someone to fill in a knowledge hole. Thanks be to everyone whose engagement built this community. Lent would have been interminable otherwise. I'll miss you all.
Thank you all so much. I've learned something every day and had fun learning. This is a good way to spend Lent.
This has been so much fun - and educational on top of it! I hope you do it again next year.
To Tim, Scott, and all the Celebrity Bloggers - thanks so much for all of the time and effort you have put into Lent Madness. What has obviously been a labor of love for you has been a fun and educational experience for me. I'm not looking forward to sustained LMW, but am certainly looking forward to next year's Lent Madness!
Thank you this was such fun!
Thank you, this was such fun!
Thanks Tim and Scott and Celebrity Bloggers - for such a wonderful romp through Lent. I can't wait for next year's Lenten Madness! I have appreciated your humor and the thoughtfulness (edged in humor) that has gone into learning more about all the saints (dead AND alive) that surround us!
Thank you, Fr. Tim & Fr. Scott, for inventing , then refining & monitoring LM! It's been fun, mostly. Sometimes ---okay, Often times---emotional adventure re-living the lives of saints through Lent. A Blessed Easter to you and to all "gamers" (game players? LM players? LM participants? Choose your favorite moniker.)!
Ditto to all the thanks noted above! This has been great! Fabulous work all.
Thank you Fr. Tim and Fr. Scott - this has been the best Lenten Journey!! In the past I would try to keep up with lenten devotions and keep up the readings for a couple of days and forget and remember - the cycle goes on. Every day in Lent I looked forward to reading LM with a "Who am I going to get the dirt on today" - its been great!! The other morning, I was saying some prayers in the shower and I realized that I have been following a Lenten devotion all along. I also got the ebook. A most Blessed Easter to all and....Go Mary Magdelene!!!!
[...] that is Lent Madness, that I had ever heard the Wednesday in Holy Week be referred to as “Spy Wednesday,” but I get it. Judas, the betrayer of our Lord, was a sneaky bugger, spy like, so we [...]
My son likes to refer to it as the day Judas spied on Jesus in the shower. Nice to know that 11 years of Catholic school education have not been wasted.
O, get over the whole, Judas was the betrayer thing! There was only one entity who could 'take this cup from me' and it didn't. No finger-pointing at the Jews/Herod/Judas/or yourself.
For what ever infinitely mysterious reason, the Divine needed to experience death. And for that enormous gift we weep at the cross.
I cant loose tim & Scott!!!
Lets start an uprising! Pentecost Madness...
C U all next year.
Thank you for this wonderful experience. All my friends want to join next year. Be back then.
Thank you to both Tim and Scott for a wonderful, prayerful, saint-filled Lent. What do you have up your sleeves (or chasubles) for Pentecost?
Thank you to Tim and Scott for making this my best Lent ever! All I need now is for Mary to take the Golden Halo and it will be perfect.
I relished the absurdity.
I reveled in the silliness.
I thought more than I had planned to about each vote.
I learned more than I intended about many people, and about what it takes to make a saint.
I will truly be suffering from Lent Madness Withdrawal next week.
(To my co-workers - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.)
Tut. Tut. Is that a jar of nard on Mary's lap? It is NOT universally acknowledged that she was the annointer of Jesus at Bethany before the Palm Sunday entry.
[...] What is Spy Wednesday? Lent Madness has an excellent explanation. [...]
[...] Yesterday was Spy Wednesday. If you would like to know more about how this day gets its name, here is a neat explanation. [...]
Spy on then!
As a Rookie, I have enjoyed the mixture of humor and enlightenment provided by Lent Madness. This has been a most rewarding experience. As for the meaning of Spy Wednesday, it is undeniable that Judas betrayed Jesus;. I once had a conversation with someone who believed that Judas' role was played out as a necessary element in the design of the sacrifice Jesus was born to make on our behalf. All roles in the events that led to Jesus' death and resurrection were preordained. Thinking about that certainly presented me with some conflicting feelings about Judas and his actions. All I know for sure is that Jesus forgave him his betrayal, as he does us our trespasses.
Indeed, I believe it is fair to say that Judas betrayed Jesus in fulfillment of scripture as I believe it is equally fair to say that Jesus was not tried or crucified because of the mere betrayal of a disciple as the overarching role of the Anointed One is to be "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."
Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus hath undone thee.
'T was I Lord Jesus, I it was denied!
I crucified thee.
For me, kind Jesus, was they incarnation,
thy mortal sorrow, and they life's oblation;
thy death of anguish and they bitter passion,
for my salvation.
Interesting observation, thank you...
Thank you, Tim, Scott and the whole bloggeratia (my word) for the wonderful commentaries you have given us this Lent, and for continually calling us back to the true meaning of Lent Madness: "to engage us all in an exploration of the ways God's grace has filled the lives of men and women.... and...learning in to see in fresh ways how Jesus Christ matters to all humanity."
I echo Jan in thanking Tim and Scott for their communication skills and for using them to make the meaning of Lent and the last days of Jesus on earth even more meaningful. The directness of these thoughts also gives us applications to our own daily lives and encounters.
So is it a painting of Rembrandt? Surely something more than "an illustration."
Painting by Caravaggio
Had fun and learned about new saints.Even voted against my favs.
It has been a fun Lent, full of intrigue and learning, one not soon forgotten. I leave this lent enlightened and encouraged. Thankyou for the experience.