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EXAMINING THE DEPTH OF OUR LOVE FOR THE LORD
03-29-2021, 03:46 PM
EXAMINING THE DEPTH OF OUR LOVE FOR THE LORD
EXAMINING THE DEPTH OF OUR LOVE FOR THE LORD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ IS 42:1-7; PS 27:1-3,13-14; JN 12:1-11]

As we approach the passion of our Lord, the liturgy invites us to examine the depth of our love for the Lord. Of course, for the enemies of Jesus, it is obvious. The chief priests and the Sadducees were the direct cause of Jesus’ death more so than the Pharisees. Their political interests were threatened by the ministry of Jesus, which could attract Rome’s intervention should a revolt take place. The fear of losing their autonomy and authority was the main threat to their status quo. Of course, they took offense that our Lord challenged their non-belief in the resurrection. The raising of Lazarus from the dead only served to strengthen the credibility of Jesus’ identity, not just as the Prophet but the Messiah. This explains why “the chief priests decided to kill Lazarus as well, since it was on his account that many of the Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus.”

As a consequence of a rising opposition against our Lord, the gospel tells us that He took refuge as before with Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus whom he raised from the dead. The hostility must have been intense and felt by our Lord, so much so that He needed to withdraw to regain His energy and focus. As usual, Mary was intuitive and sensitive to the needs of our Lord. She sensed also that our Lord’s days were numbered. When we are close to someone, we can feel with the person even before the person tells us of their worries and woes. Such perceptivity is only possible for one who knows us intimately. This was surely the case of Mary with our Lord. So, what did Mary do? Mary prepared the body of our Lord for burial. Only she knew what the Lord was thinking. And the Lord confirmed her perception, “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.” For the Jews, assisting in the burial of someone was considered a greater act of charity than serving the living who are poor. In fact, filial piety required the Jews to give priority to burying the dead. This was considered second only to serving the Lord.

She wanted to console our Lord with her extravagant love. “Mary brought in a pound of very costly ointment, pure nard, and with it anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them with her hair; the house was full of the scent of the ointment.” As Judas rightly estimated, the ointment would have cost a year’s wage because a denarius is a day’s wage for an ordinary worker, minus the Sabbath and feast days. Judas’ calculative mind immediately saw the cost of the ointment. But for Mary, love does not count the cost. When we love someone, we do not consider the price of love. We love with all that we have and more. When we love someone, we put the other person’s interests before our own. Or at least, we love the person as we love our very self because we are one with the person we love. Our loved one’s suffering is ours. So is their joy and happiness. This is why the Lord said that the second commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Mk 12:33) Love of others is but the love of self. If we love ourselves, then we know how to love our neighbour.

But it was not enough that the ointment was very costly; it was how she anointed our Lord’s body. In the synoptic gospels, Mary anointed the head of our Lord with expensive perfume to show Him honour. (Mt 26:7) Being anointed on the head is to honour the person. “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” (Ps 23:5) But in John’s gospel, Mary was not contented just to show Him honour. She wanted to show her worthiness of being loved by the Lord. She went down to His feet, anointed them and wiped them with her hair. This was the greatest act of humility in love because for a woman to untie her hair in public was considered a disgrace.

The measure of our love for someone is in whether we are able to love with our all. Earlier the Lord taught us, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn 15:13) This was the love that the widow had for God when she gave her last mite to the Temple. The Lord remarked, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” (Lk 21:3f) The Lord said to Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16) This is the measure of love. As St Paul wrote, “Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:6-8)

Once again, we see how the love of Mary anticipated the selfless and humble love of Christ. Not only was the love of Mary for Jesus complete and total, but she prepared us for Christ’s self-emptying love. The Lord has always taught His disciples not to fight for power and glory in service but to serve with humility as the Lord said, “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mt 20:26-28) Perhaps, the Lord was inspired by Mary’s act of humbling herself to anoint His feet and wiping them with her hair when He did the same for the apostles when He washed their feet also after supper.

This act of self-emptying prepares us for His death, as the letter of St Paul to the Philippians says, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!” (Phil 2:5-8) This is in line with today’s first reading when Isaiah spoke about the Suffering Servant whom, as Christians, we identify with the Lord. Indeed, the very first verse suggests that Jesus is the Suffering Servant prophesied by Isaiah, for Jesus is indeed that servant whom God said, “I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights.” These same words were used at His baptism. (cf Mt 3:17) Jesus as the Suffering servant would “bring true justice; he will neither waver nor be crushed until true justice is established on earth.” Most of all, as God said, “I have appointed you as 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.” Jesus is called not just for the Jews but to be the savior of all nations.

In contrast, we have the deceptive love of Judas. He was not for the Lord. He was ambitious and tended to his own interests. When he lamented, “Why wasn’t this ointment sold for three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor?”, the evangelist noted, “He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he was in charge of the common fund and used to help himself to the contributions.” Of course, he sounded sincere and persuasive, so much so that the other disciples agreed with him and were indignant. (Mt 26:8) This was because they did not know His real motive. Judas wanted power and wealth. He served the Lord not because he loved Him, but so that he could gain political power and wealth. Jesus knew him better than anyone else.

So, too, the Lord knows our motives as well. He knows how much we love Him sincerely and truly. Do we know how much we love Him? Have we examined our motives in being His disciples? Is it because we truly recognize Him as our Lord and Saviour, the Way, the Truth and the Life, or simply because He is our social security plan in case we needed help? If we are sincere in loving Him, that love must be seen to be humble, expressive and extravagant. When we love our Lord, He will stand by us as He stood for Mary when she was criticized. The Lord understands that love does not count the cost. It is a matter of the heart and not the head.
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