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MOVED BY LOVE AS WE CONTEMPLATE ON THE PASSION
OF CHRIST
26 MARCH, 2018, Monday of Holy Week
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Isaiah 42:1-7 ©
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Here is my chosen one in whom my soul delights
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Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom my soul delights.
I have endowed him with my spirit
that he may bring true justice to the nations.
He does not cry out or shout aloud,
or make his voice heard in the streets.
He does not break the crushed reed,
nor quench the wavering flame.
Faithfully he brings true justice;
he will neither waver, nor be crushed
until true justice is established on earth,
for the islands are awaiting his law.
Thus says God, the Lord,
he who created the heavens and spread them out,
who gave shape to the earth and what comes from it,
who gave breath to its people
and life to the creatures that move in it:
‘I, the Lord, have called you to serve the cause of right;
I have taken you by the hand and formed you;
I have appointed you as covenant of the people and light of the
nations,
‘to open the eyes of the blind,
to free captives from prison,
and those who live in darkness from the dungeon.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 26(27):1-3,13-14 ©
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The Lord is my light and my help.
The Lord is my light and my help;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
before whom shall I shrink?
The Lord is my light and my help.
When evil-doers draw near
to devour my flesh,
it is they, my enemies and foes,
who stumble and fall.
The Lord is my light and my help.
Though an army encamp against me
my heart would not fear.
Though war break out against me
even then would I trust.
The Lord is my light and my help.
I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness
in the land of the living.
Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.
Hope in the Lord!
The Lord is my light and my help.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Hail to you, our King!
You alone have had compassion on our sins.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
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Gospel
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John 12:1-11 ©
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'She had to keep this scent for the day of my burial'
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Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus
was, whom he had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there; Martha
waited on them and Lazarus was among those at table. Mary brought in a pound of
very costly ointment, pure nard, and with it anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping
them with her hair; the house was full of the scent of the ointment. Then Judas
Iscariot – one of his disciples, the man who was to betray him –
said, ‘Why wasn’t this ointment sold for three hundred denarii, and the money
given to the poor?’ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but
because he was a thief; he was in charge of the common fund and used to help
himself to the contributions. So Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone; she had to keep
this scent for the day of my burial. You have the poor with you always, you
will not always have me.’
Meanwhile a
large number of Jews heard that he was there and came not only on account of
Jesus but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. Then the chief
priests decided to kill Lazarus as well, since it was on his account that many
of the Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus.
MOVED BY LOVE AS WE CONTEMPLATE ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ISA 42:1-7; JN 12:1-11 ]
With the
celebration of Passion Sunday yesterday, the Church now wants us to contemplate
further on the Passion of Christ. Indeed, all the scripture readings for
the next few days are focused on the sufferings and imminent death of
Christ. But why does the Church want us to reflect on the
Passion? For only upon the contemplation of the Passion would our
hearts be moved to repentance and conversion. That is why Pope John Paul
II in the apostolic letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte, invites us to contemplate
on the face of the crucified Christ so as to grow in holiness.
Today, the
liturgy invites us to reflect on the Passion as love.
There is a contrast between Mary and Judas in today’s
gospel. Mary demonstrated her love for Jesus without reserve by using
costly ointment to wash Jesus’ feet and her hair to dry His feet.
Apparently, Judas being thrifty and practical considered this wasteful since
the money could have been saved for the poor.
Putting aside
John’s comment that Judas did not act out of concern for the poor but for
selfish reasons, we must reflect further whether this remark is objectively
true. Can love be reduced to a matter of money? Can
love be reduced to a matter of giving? Whilst there could be a
relationship between loving and giving, yet these two actions could be separate
as well. Of course, if we truly love, we will give without
reservation. But there could be giving without real love. There is a danger
that we disguise our incapacity to love by giving instead. Quite often,
we do not have real love for the poor but in order to soothe our conscience and
guilt, we give away some of our money or material things. Thus, we tend
to be calculative as to how much we should give.
When we think
like Judas, even if we mean well, are we not lacking in authentic love?
Isn’t it true that love does not count the cost? With people we
love, love is never measured in monetary terms. This is
true in the case of Mary. In loving, we forget about ourselves.
That is why Jesus said true love and generosity is to give in such a way that
the left hand does not know what the right is doing.
Yet perhaps, the
admonition of Jesus to Judas could well apply to us when Jesus said, “Leave her
alone; she had to keep this scent for the day of my burial. You have the poor
with you always; you will not always have me.” When we have no
love for someone or something, we think logically. We do not think
with our heart. But when we have true love for someone, we do not love
with our head, but with our heart. When we love with our heart, we do not
calculate love in material terms. We give all that we can possibly give.
Indeed, today, Jesus
is the exemplar of true love and giving. Jesus too was passionate
about His Father’s unconditional love. In the first reading, Jesus was
indeed like that servant who gave himself totally for the love and service of
his people. At Jesus’ baptism, we remember the words of the Father
declaring Jesus to be His beloved son in whom He was well pleased. As the
Son of the Father, the Holy Spirit came down upon Him and the Spirit of Sonship
which He received was of course the Spirit of servanthood. Clearly for
Jesus, sonship is spelt out in terms of servanthood. Jesus is truly the
Suffering Servant of Isaiah because He is the Son of the Father.
Indeed, because
Jesus shares the spirit of the Father, He too has the
same passion of the Father for humankind. Because He loves the Father
completely as He has been loved Himself, His whole life was given to do the
will and the work of the Father, which was to bring justice to the nations, to
be the “covenant of the people and light of the nations, to open the eyes of
the blind, to free captives from prison, and those who live in darkness from
the dungeon.”
Can we also
say that Jesus acted foolishly? Shouldn’t He have retreated to a safe place if His enemies were
mounting attacks on Him? Shouldn’t He have advised Mary to save the money
for His mission instead? No, because He knows that love is to think less
and feel more. Love is to feel and to act.
Indeed, if
Judas was critical of Mary, it was because having witnessed such
momentous love of Mary for Jesus, he knew deep within himself that he
was a selfish and calculative man who had no real love for
Jesus. His prejudice against Mary was but a reflection of himself.
After all, as it is often said, we never see things as they are but we see
things as we are. So if we too condemn others for being extravagant in love,
let us realize that it is because we are not capable of love and our hearts are
not as magnanimous.
Often, we are
critical of others for being prayerful, helpful or generous in their service
for the community or with their money. We think that they are foolish to
give so much of themselves. We impute motives to their generosity.
Could it be that we are critical because we are not as generous and
caring? We must search deeper within ourselves every time we are
negative towards people who do good. Has our jealousy made us
prejudiced?
Hence, may
we who contemplate on Christ’ Passion this Holy Week be moved to
real and authentic love for Jesus, so that we too will be passionate about
our love for our fellow sisters and brothers and, most of all, our personal
conversion from a life of sin to a life of holiness.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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