Christian Reflection and Prayer

Readings: Isaiah 42:1-7;
John 12:1-11

Scripture:

"Then she dried his feet with her
hair, and the house was filled with
the ointment's fragrance." (John 12:3)

Reflection:

We usually take great pains to prepare
for big occasions. The greater the occasion,
the more personal preparation time we
need. Brides take all day to prepare for
their weddings; a teenager spends the
afternoon dressing for the prom; the coroner
spends a day dressing and perfuming a body
for viewing. During Holy Week, we watch
Jesus face the greatest events in His
ministry--His Passion, death, and resurrection.
In our gospel today, Jesus allows Mary to
begin His preparation. The costly perfume
she uses to anoint Jesus symbolizes her
love and the love of His friends who will stay
with Jesus through the tumultuous week
ahead. For Judas, who has no love or
intention to stay with Jesus, the perfume
becomes a sign of conflict.

As this Holy Week begins, who will we be?
Will we be Mary, who has a passionate love
for Jesus and respects His mysterious personality?
Can we, like Mary, take the expensive perfume
of our lives and lay it at the feet of Jesus? Can we
choose to love Jesus with all of our being (using
even our very hair to dry His feet)? This is the love
Jesus will display to us through this week!

Or will we be Judas? Will we be concerned about
all the exterior things? Will we worry about how
our money is used and what others will say?
Will we avoid the journeys through suffering and
death, eventually living more in the dark than in
the day?

Renew this day your passionate love for the Lord.
Choose to stay with the Lord and with yourself
through the sufferings of the week.

Prayer:

All-powerful God, by the suffering and death
of your Son, strengthen and protect us in our
weakness. We ask this through our Lord Jesus
Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.