Monday of Holy Week
Jn 12:1-11
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not 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 kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Sensing the Calm Before a Storm
It is strange what “pops out” when entering Scripture through an Ignatian lens. On the precipice of our holiest of weeks, with the Savior about to be betrayed and brutalized on my behalf, my attention is drawn to the swirls and abundant fragrance of costly perfume filling a house from the space where all recline.
In this moment of intimate communal encounter at a meal lovingly prepared and shared with closest friends, is Jesus savoring every moment, the sights, sounds, textures, touches, flavors and especially the smells? Is he deeply centering in his incarnation and “storing up consolations” to fortify himself for what inevitably lies ahead?
This week I beg for the grace to turn my attention entirely in your direction, Lord. What is it like to be surrounded by this lavish fragrance and tender love? How may we recline together and absorb this calm before the storm?
—Patricia Feder serves in St. Louis as the administrator of the Office of Ignatian Spirituality for the Jesuits USA Central and Southern Province.
Prayer
Beloved Lord,
Please steady me in my senses that I might become open and attentive to your presence as we walk this holiest of weeks together laden with the sights, sounds, tastes and touches of divine and human love.
Amen.
—Patricia Feder