Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all progress through this sacred time of this Holy Week, approaching the pinnacle of our whole entire liturgical year, we are all invited to focus our attention ever more and ever deeper in appreciating all that the Lord Himself has done for us in loving us all, the ultimate proof and evidence of which is what He had done for our salvation, in taking up willingly upon Himself and bearing on His own shoulders the combined weight of all of our sins, our faults and mistakes, everything that we should have suffered and endured by our disobedience and sins. And yet, through His infinite love and mercy, God has shown us all His redemption and ever enduring Love manifested to us in Christ His Son, Our Lord and Saviour.
In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which the Lord spoke about the coming of the One that He had prepared for the salvation of the world and of His beloved people. This prophecy can and has indeed been interpreted and linked to the coming of the Messiah Himself, or that of His messenger and herald, none other than St. John the Baptist. In both cases, they have been prepared since before they were even conceived, with St. John the Baptist miraculously being conceived in the elderly couple Zechariah and Elizabeth, who had been barren for a long time, while the Lord Jesus Himself was conceived without man’s interference, by the will of God the Father and by the power of the Holy Spirit in His mother, Mary.
However, reading closely through the passage of this prophecy, we can see that this is specifically referring to what the Lord would do through His Passion, referring to His suffering, all the persecutions, humiliations that He would endure for our salvation, the mockery, opposition, hatred and all that He would receive amidst His Passion, all of which had been foretold by the prophets especially that of Isaiah just as we heard in our first reading today. This description of the Suffering Servant or the Suffering Messiah actually clashed and contradicted what was common in the understanding among the people of God, in their expectations on what the Messiah would be like. They thought that the Messiah would be the One to restore the Kingdom of Israel and liberate them from their enemies and oppressors.
That was why the Lord Jesus and His mission, and what would eventually happen to Him became an enigma to many among the Jewish people, especially to their leaders, the Pharisees and the chief priests, the members of the Sanhedrin and others who were more concerned about their worldly status and prestige, worrying about would happen should the Lord’s growing popularity led to the end of their privileged status among the community of God’s people and the status quo that they had been enjoying under the rule of the Romans and the kings they placed to rule them, the family members of Herod. It was from this opposition and refusals to follow what the Lord had intended, that led to them persecuting the Lord and fulfilling what the Lord Himself had promised through Isaiah.
Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we are all reminded by the Lord Himself that we should not be hypocrites in our faith and way of life, and we should not forget to show love towards the Lord and towards one another, and not merely putting our focus and attention on one or the other. As true and genuine Christians, each and every one of us are called to heed the words of the Lord as we heard in that Gospel passage today, reminding us all to be humble and generous in loving God and others, as He Himself has taught us to, and not to be like traitor Judas Iscariot, who was a hypocrite, prideful and haughty, in looking down on the actions of others done in love.
As we heard, Mary, also known as Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus, took a jar of pure nard, an expensive perfume and anointed the Lord’s feet with it, and then with her tears and hair, she dried the Lord’s feet, something that immediately brought criticism and condemnation from Judas Iscariot, one of the Lord’s inner circle and member of the Twelve. And we heard how this same Judas, the one who would come to betray the Lord just a few days later after this occasion, was in fact a thief, a liar and a hypocrite, as he often helped himself to the common fund that he managed for the Lord and His disciples. Therefore, whatever he said to Mary regarding wastefulness and how the perfume could have been sold to give the proceeds to the poor was no less than pure hypocrisy, and can even be surmised as having risen from greed.
That is because he could have then taken even more from the proceeds and the common fund, and for a greedy man like him, Judas could not understand and appreciate the actions of Mary. But Mary showed us all the great example of obedience and humility, humbling herself and even using her own hair, which has always been considered as a woman’s crown of beauty and glory, to wipe the Lord’s feet, the part of the human body which is often considered as the dirtiest and most disgusting, and hence, it was a tremendous act of humility and love for Mary to do such a thing before everyone to see, in showing her love and gratitude towards the Lord for His kindness, compassion and mercy. Let us also not forget that this is the same Mary whose brother Lazarus had died and then the Lord resurrected him from the dead.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all gather together to reflect upon the message of this Word of God contained within the Scriptures, let us all therefore reflect carefully on what we have just received, remembering the great love which God had given us through His most Beloved and only Begotten Son, so that by examining and reflecting every events that we are going to celebrate in this upcoming period of Holy Week and then Easter, we can truly carry on living our lives with genuine faith and not merely paying lip service to the Lord, or merely going through the motion in how we observe the Law and commandments of God. We should be truly sincere in living our faith and become good role models and examples to everyone around us. Let us all be humble and remember that each and every one of us are equally sinners in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness, instead of looking down on others.
May the Lord our most loving God, our most compassionate and merciful Saviour continue to help us persevere and remain strong throughout this journey of faith and life, as we continue to progress through this time of Holy Week, the upcoming joyful and glorious season of Easter and beyond, so that in our every efforts, endeavours and all the things we do in love, in showing genuine care and concern for everyone around us, in manifesting God’s love ever more perfectly in this world we may truly be genuine, faithful and good Christians, exemplary in our every deeds, following the examples of Mary who anointed the feet of the Lord, in showing love both for God and for others around us, especially to those dearly beloved to us and to others who need our love too. May God bless all of us and remain with us always. Amen.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 