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April 9, 2017
In the Sacred Scriptures of the New Testament, we never find Jesus asking anything for himself. Whether entering the synagogue or a person’s home, he never says, “I deserve the place of honor.”
Never from his lips do we hear him saying to his apostles, his disciples, or the great crowds that came to him: “What are you going to do for me? What will you give me for all I am doing for you?” That was never part of his vocabulary.
Maybe that’s why his life so resonates with the words of the prophet Isaiah in today’s first reading. Maybe that’s why so many people are drawn to his warmth and tenderness and selflessness. Maybe that’s why Mary took such costly perfume and anointed Jesus’ feet.
Perhaps she knew he would not be with us for long, and she wanted to offer a visible sign in return for all the good he had done for her, for Martha, and for Lazarus.
Maybe that’s why, during this most Holy Week in your life and my life, we will find the time to sit with him in foot washing, in Eucharist, in his passion and his resurrection, just to let him know we have not forgotten and to say once again, “Thank you.”
Father Denis J. Sweeney, C.Ss.R.
BostonScripture readings for today: Isaiah 42:1-7; Psalm 27; John 12:1-11