Monday Of The Holy Week

It is Holy Week. We have entered the most profound time in the church year. We began yesterday with Palm Sunday by reliving both our high hopes with cries of “Hosanna” and the horror of the passion with cries of “crucify him!. These holy days invite us to pay special attention to the readings offered to us during this time that leads up to the Triduum of our Lord.

It is not hard to see in today’s reading from the Prophet Isaiah references to Jesus. That is why they are offered to us for prayer and reflection. Jesus is God’s servant, the anointed one who brings justice to the nations through gentleness and healing. God speaks to us through Isaiah saying, “you are my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my Spirit.”

In today’s gospel, Mary the sister of Lazarus took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.
Judas Iscariot is shocked by the waste of money involved in the spectacular event, and protests, only to be silenced by Jesus. Judas did not care about the poor and Christ knows the intentions of his heart that it is beyond greed and selfishness; the evil is betrayal.

It means therefore that no time,effort or resources given to God is a waste for our thanksgiving had nothing to his greatness. Let us not walk through this week as spectators. We engage the story of our Lord’s passion and resurrection as our own story. We learn how we can be a light to the world, open the eyes of the blind, or bring out prisoners from their darkness.  Perhaps this week you can ask yourself, “How do I feel called to live as a disciple of Jesus and the beloved of God?”

Osho