The worst of times was coming; two of them knew it. John’s Gospel tells it this way:
Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
After indicating the villain will be the one to whom he hands a morsel after dipping it, Jesus gives the bit to Judas, whereupon satan enters the apostle and Judas leaves the meal.
Peter, oblivious as he so very often is, asks who the betrayer is, failing to understand 
what’s happening. Then he loudly proclaims he’ll die for Christ.
Of course, he won’t–then. He’s not ready. In fact, he proceeds to deny Jesus three times that night. But he doesn’t give up. He believes, just as David ages before believed, that God could make something out of his mess of humanness. Peter goes on to truly become the rock on which the Church was built–and to die for Christ.
And Judas? He convinces himself there was no forgiveness, not by his community, not by God, and not within, for his treachery. His faith shattered, he dies, devoid of hope.
Like Peter and Judas and all the rest, we fall short of expectations, our own and those others have for us, every day of our lives. We can either give up–or we can believe that we can be forgiven, and pray for the wisdom to conduct ourselves in a more pleasing manner the next day. We can believe that with faith, the worst of times will be followed by the best of times.
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