[stephenkhoo]

MOVED BY LOVE AS WE CONTEMPLATE ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: ISA 42:1-7; JN 12:1-11
http://www.universalis.com/20140414/mass.htm

With the celebration of Passion Sunday yesterday, the Church now wants us to contemplate further on the Passion of Christ. Indeed, all the scripture readings for the next few days are focused on the sufferings and imminent death of Christ. But why does the Church want us to reflect on the Passion? For only upon the contemplation of the Passion would our hearts be moved to repentance and conversion. That is why Pope John Paul II in the apostolic letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte, invites us to contemplate on the face of the crucified Christ so as to grow in holiness.


Today, the liturgy invites us to reflect on the Passion as love. There is a contrast between Mary and Judas in today’s gospel. Mary demonstrated her love for Jesus without reserve by using costly ointment to wash Jesus’ feet and her hair to dry His feet. Apparently, Judas being thrifty and practical considered this wasteful since the money could have been saved for the poor.


Putting aside John’s comment that Judas did not act out of concern for the poor but for selfish reasons, we must reflect further whether this remark is objectively true. Can love be reduced to a matter of money? Can love be reduced to a matter of giving? Whilst there could be a relationship between loving and giving, yet these two actions could be separate as well. Of course, if we truly love, we will give without reservation. But there could be giving without real love. There is a danger that we disguise our incapacity to love by giving instead. Quite often, we do not have real love for the poor but in order to soothe our conscience and guilt, we give away some of our money or material things. Thus, we tend to be calculative as to how much we should give.


When we think like Judas even if we mean well, are we not lacking in authentic love? Isn’t it true that love does not count the cost? With people we love, love is never measured in monetary terms. This is true in the case of Mary. In loving, we forget about ourselves. That is why Jesus said true love and generosity is to give in such a way that the left hand does not know what the right is doing.


Yet perhaps, the admonition of Jesus to Judas could well apply to us when Jesus said, “Leave her alone; she had to keep this scent for the day of my burial. You have the poor with you always; you will not always have me.” When we have no love for someone or something, we think logically. We do not think with our heart. But when we have true love for someone, we do not love with our heads, but with our hearts. When we love with our hearts, we do not calculate love in material terms. We give all that we can possibly give.


Indeed, today, Jesus is the exemplar of true love and giving. Jesus too was passionate about His Father’s unconditional love. In the first reading, Jesus was indeed like that servant who gave himself totally for the love and service of his people. At Jesus’ baptism, we remember the words of the Father declaring Jesus to be His beloved son in whom He is well pleased. As the Son of the Father, the Holy Spirit came down upon Him and the Spirit of Sonship which He received was of course the Spirit of servanthood. Clearly, for Jesus, sonship is spelt out in terms of servanthood. Jesus is truly the Suffering Servant of Isaiah because He is the Son of the Father.


Indeed, because Jesus shares the spirit of the Father, He too has the same passion of the Father for humankind. Because He loves the Father completely as He has been loved Himself, His whole life was given to do the will and the work of the Father, which is to bring justice to the nations, to be the “covenant of the people and light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to free captives from prison, and those who live in darkness from the dungeon.”


Can we also say that Jesus acted foolishly? Shouldn’t He retreat to a safe place if His enemies are mounting their attacks on Him? Shouldn’t He advise Mary to save the money for His mission instead? No, because He knows that love is to think less and feel more. Love is to feel and to act.


Indeed, if Judas was critical of Mary, it was because having witnessed such momentous love of Mary for Jesus; he knew deep within him that he was a selfish and calculative man who has no real love for Jesus. His prejudice against Mary was but a reflection of himself. After all, as it is often said, we never see things as they are but we see things as we are. So if we too condemn others for being extravagant in love, let us realize that it is because we are not capable of love and our hearts are not as magnanimous.


Often, we are critical of others for being prayerful, helpful or generous in their service for the community or with their money. We think that they are foolish to give so much of themselves. We impute motives to their generosity. Could it be that we are critical because we are not as generous and caring? We must search deeper within ourselves every time we are negative towards people who do good. Have our jealousy made us prejudiced?


Hence, may we who contemplate on Christ’ Passion this Holy Week be moved to real and authentic love for Jesus, so that we too will be passionate about our love for our fellow sisters and brothers and, most of all, our personal conversion from a life of sin to a life of holiness.

Written by The Most Rev Msgr William Goh
Archbishop of Singapore