Commentary
Monday, 3/26/2018, Monday of Holy Week
Called for the Victory of Justice
First Reading Commentary: Isaiah 42:1-7
Today, Isaiah tells us that God will send a Savior who will bring forth justice to the nations. Isaiah’s description of the Savior is someone who will be quiet and humble. He tells us that the Savior is formed by God as a covenant of the people and light for the nations. The Savior “will bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.” In short, Isaiah prophesized: the coming of Christ.
We are prisoners of sin and the souls in purgatory are in the dungeon of darkness. Christ came to save us all by taking on the sins of the world and giving His life for us on the Cross. Christ came and made a new covenant promising the Kingdom of Heaven and, Christ is the light of the world.
During Holy Week, we come to the end of Lent and we prepare ourselves for the fulfillment of, Isaiah’s prophesy. We reflect and meditate on the sacrifice that God made for us. We thank God and we give Him praise. We also repent and confess our sins remembering God’s mercy.
But we must also remember that through Baptism, we are called to evangelize which makes us a part of the call for the victory of justice. We do our part when we proclaim God’s Word and live our lives according to God’s Word. To do this, we need help because we are constantly tempted by the evil one and we are all sinners. So, let us pray with open hearts asking the Lord to grasp us by the hand and lead us to His Kingdom.
What Are You Willing to Do for Christ?
Gospel Commentary: John 12:1-11
A lot happens in today’s gospel. Jesus visits Lazarus who was brought back from the dead by Jesus. Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with expensive oil and dried them with her hair. Judas asked why the oil was used instead of being sold and the money given to the poor. People came to see Jesus and Lazarus and the Pharisees plotted to kill them both.
Mary did not stop with believing in Jesus because of who He was, the Son of God. She worshipped Jesus and showed Him praise and honor by what she did. Mary knew that she could not thank Jesus enough so as far as she was concerned, nothing was too good for Him and her act was nothing more than a small gesture. But it was a gesture what came from the heart which is what mattered to Jesus.
Not everyone accepted Jesus as the Son of the Father and not everyone accepts Him today. But for those of us who do, how important is Jesus in our lives? How much are we willing to do for Jesus? At Mass during the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest says, “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.” The congregation responds by saying, “It is right and just.” But do we have enough thanks in our hearts for us to praise Jesus enough to perform an act like Mary did? We should follow Mary’s example. There should be nothing that we would not do for our Lord and Savior. After all, He gave His life for us and that’s just part of the story.
Judas had problems with what Mary did because he was a thief. He was the disciple who would, in just a few days, betray Jesus because of his greed. How many of us allow greed to stand in the way of our giving God the real praise and honor that He is looking for, which is our love and following His commandments out of faith. Jesus taught us that the greatest commandment was to Love God with everything we have and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Today, so many of us are caught up in the pleasures of the world; that we make Christ second even though some of us say the opposite. We are all good people by nature because God made us in His image. Therefore, seldom is it our intent to make this mistake but think about it. Every time we turn our back, in any way, on someone who is in need, we make ourselves like Judas whose real intention was to satisfy his own personal greed. I have to say that when pondering the question, should we cut spending on social programs which help people in need, we should think of this gospel and the greatest commandment. This should make us also remember that there is more to being pro-life than supporting the rights of the unborn.
Finally, once again, the Pharisees plotted to kill Jesus but now they plotted to kill Lazarus as well. Why plot against Lazarus? Here is one possible reason: healing someone is one thing but bringing someone back from the dead is beyond words. The Pharisees couldn’t let that stand. If they could kill Lazarus, then they could make the case that Jesus was not so powerful after all. If He was, Jesus would protect Lazarus and they would not be able to kill him.
Another possible reason is that the Pharisees wanted to make an example of Lazarus demonstrating what could happen to anyone who followed Jesus. Another possible reason is that they wanted to remove the evidence which would make it possible for the Pharisees to deny the act all together. Then again, the reason could be all of the above.
The Pharisees were getting desperate and they would stop at nothing to discredit Jesus and kill Him. But as we learned yesterday when Jesus made His triumphant entry into Jerusalem, God’s plan would be carried out and there would be nothing that the Pharisees could do to stop it. The events which occur later in the week during the Triduum are just some of the things which we see throughout scripture which prove that our God is the Almighty. Like Mary in this gospel, we can’t do enough to say thank you nor can we say thank you enough.
