Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
Today's reading from the Book of Isaiah the Prophet is the first of his four "suffering servant songs." We will hear the remaining three tomorrow, Wednesday, and Friday. Today's gospel also introduces a series of three readings preparing us for the "Triduum" of Thursday's Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper, Good Friday, and Easter.
The traitor Judas Iscariot appears in all of this week's gospels. Though he acts of his own free will, we know he is acting out the part assigned to him. Driven by the diabolical, his decision is both inevitable and predictable.
We too, like the audience in a street theater, must find our places in the drama. Some will take the closest positions, sitting at the feet of the actors, witnessing and profoundly moved by the drama. Others will stand farther back, interested but skeptical, fearful, tentative, but hopeful. None will go away unchanged by what they see.
Today we are surprised by an odor, "the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil." We know it as the smell of death as Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anoints the Lord's feet with oil. We might suppose it's the same myrrh the magi presented to the infant so many years before. The smell declares, "He was born to die for us."
Mary, the only woman in the room, hardly notices Judas or his skeptical cynicism. She only knows the Champion who immediately speaks for her, ""Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial."
Like Jesus and every disciple of Jesus, she is a prophet in word and deed. If she does not speak for herself, she may not know the import of her gestures. She is simply acting on the impulse of the Holy Spirit who has directed her what to say and how to say it; and what to do and how to do it. But the Lord knows what she means, and that the day of his burial will come soon.
Jesus 's passion and death, like his birth, must come at the appointed time. It is also like the Last Day, that "end of the world" which we cannot predict but must continually expect. It too will come in its time. If we do not know when, we know we must be prepared for even the elect will be caught by surprise.
Mary and Judas are in opposite camps and we must choose whether we 'll believe like Mary or stand back and criticize like Judas. We hear the Lord defend her and rebuke the traitor. Judas will die even before the Lord, while she remains to witness his resurrection.
Holy Week reenacts Jesus's last days. It anticipates our last day and that final day when the just will be delivered by God's mercy and the merciless will be overtaken by God's justice. Holy Week reminds us with dramatic and powerful language that
“This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.