March 30, 2026
Monday of Holy Week
Lectionary:
257
Reading
1
Here
is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
Upon whom I have put my Spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
Not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
A bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
Until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.
Thus says God, the LORD,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spreads out the earth with its crops,
Who gives breath to its people
and spirit to those who walk on it:
I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
To open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
Responsorial
Psalm
R.
(1a) The Lord is my light and my salvation.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life's refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
When evildoers come at me
to devour my flesh,
My foes and my enemies
themselves stumble and fall.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart will not fear;
Though war be waged upon me,
even then will I trust.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Verse
Before the Gospel
Hail
to you, our King;
you alone are compassionate with our faults.
Gospel
Six
days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany,
where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served,
while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him.
Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil
made from genuine aromatic nard
and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair;
the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples,
and the one who would betray him, said,
"Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days' wages
and given to the poor?"
He said this not because he cared about the poor
but because he was a thief and held the money bag
and used to steal the contributions.
So Jesus said, "Leave her alone.
Let her keep this for the day of my burial.
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."
The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came,
not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus,
whom he had raised from the dead.
And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too,
because many of the Jews were turning away
and believing in Jesus because of him.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/033026.cfm
Commentary on Isaiah 42:1-7
Today
we have the first of the four Songs of the Servant of Yahweh from
Isaiah. Together, they describe the finest qualities of Israel and her great
leaders. Today’s song describes a ‘chosen one’ like Moses, David, and all
Israel. As the Servant, he fulfils the role of Davidic king and prophet. It is
a beautiful description of a mysterious servant of God which the Church has
long realised applies so aptly to Jesus.
The
passage is taken from the ‘Book of Consolation’, or Second Isaiah (chaps
40-55). It speaks of Israel as a “Servant of Yahweh”, chosen or set apart, to
act as God’s witness before the nations. But the four Songs of the
Servant of Yahweh (42:1-9; 49:1-6; 50:4-11; 52:13—53:12) present a
mysterious ‘servant’ who in some ways is like the ‘servant-Israel’ of the other
passages. In today’s passage, however, he is distinguished from the
servant-Israel, and shown to have other qualities which show him as a
particular individual.
Called
by Yahweh while still in his mother’s womb, ‘formed’ by him, filled with his
spirit, the servant is a “covenant” (i.e. disciple). Yahweh has opened his
ears, so that, by establishing justice on earth, he may instruct mankind, and
sort them and judge them by his word. He performs his task gently and without
display, even appearing to fail in it. He accepts outrage and contempt and does
not succumb because Yahweh sustains him.
Yahweh
is speaking and says, “Here is my servant”. He designates and consecrates the Servant.
In the royal terminology of the ancient Near East, “servant” could mean
something like ‘trusted envoy’ or ‘confidential representative’.
Jesus,
too, called himself a ‘servant’:
For
the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom
for many. (Mark
10:45)
He
gave a dramatic example when he knelt down and washed his disciples’ feet at
the Last Supper (John 13:1-17).
He
will not only ‘gather’ Israel, but he will be the light to the nations
everywhere. The New Testament sees Jesus as this servant—in his person the
attributes of the King-Messiah, Son of David, are united with those of the
suffering servant (see also Luke 4:17-21).
In
the previous chapter, King Cyrus of Persia had been introduced as delivering
Israel from captivity in Babylon, but the Servant would deliver the whole world
from the prison of sin.
The
passage speaks of gentleness and non-violence, a message so necessary for our
time. He is gentle, but not weak or passive:
He
does not cry out or shout aloud…
He
is a bringer of harmony and peace, not of noise and turmoil:
…a
bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench…
He
does not exploit the weak in a false show of power, but empowers through
bringing healing and wholeness to the frail and the weak. This is just what
Jesus did in his mission to the people.
He
will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth,
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
This
passage is quoted by Matthew in his Gospel (Matt 12:18-21). In his gentleness
and compassion, there is no weakness. There is a great inner strength, but a
total rejection of violence.
As
well that passage says:
…the
coastlands wait for his teaching…
This
indicates the lands of the Mediterranean and, by implication, the pagan lands
lying beyond Israel. The Servant has a mission to all, not just to some.
Then
comes the special call made by Yahweh to the Servant:
I
have called you in righteousness…
This
is similar to the call made earlier to King Cyrus, who will deliver the Jews
from their Babylonian exile and allow them to return home. The reading
continues:
I
have taken you by the hand and kept you…
In
Hebrew, the same term for “kept” is also translated as ‘formed’, and is used in
the creation story of Genesis to describe Yahweh’s ‘forming’ or ‘modelling’ the
body of the first man. Jesus, of course, is the New Adam.
I
have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations…
Jesus
as Messiah will inaugurate the New Covenant by his suffering and death, a
covenant now embracing peoples everywhere. We will see that more clearly when
we read more of the Suffering Servant during Holy Week.
This
Servant has been called by God, the creator of all things, to do God’s work and
carry out his will. He will be “a light to the nations” and will:
…open
the eyes that are blind…bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the
prison those who sit in darkness…
Originally
this referred to release from the prison of the Babylonian exile, but it also
indicates the hope of liberation for every person from all spiritual and moral
bondage.
As
we begin Holy Week, we are reminded that this work of God’s servant, which we
also are, has to go on through us. We are not here this week just to be
spectators, even grateful spectators. We are to be part of the work which the
Paschal Mystery inaugurated. We, too, are to be servants, ready, if necessary,
to suffer as Jesus did for the sake of our brothers and sisters.
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Commentary on John 12:1-11
Today’s
Gospel serves as a lovely prelude to the Passion of Jesus. Jesus is back in the
house of his friends, Mary, Martha and of course, Lazarus—so recently brought
back from the dead. Perhaps these are Jesus’ last moments of companionship
before the horrors that are to come.
True
to character, Martha is the active hostess. Mary, the contemplative, brings in
a jar of an expensive perfumed unguent and pours it all over the feet of Jesus,
filling the house with its fragrance. It is a sign of great love and echoes
what the ‘sinful’ woman in Luke’s Gospel also did. This account is probably the
same as that described in Mark (14:3-9) and Matthew (26:6-13), but is distinct
from the story of the woman in Luke (7:36-50).
As
opposed to the “Beloved Disciple” in John’s Gospel (a nameless character),
Judas, on the other hand, is a spiritually blind materialist, and sees what he
regards as terrible waste. Hypocritically, he suggests the money would have
been better spent helping the poor. John implicates Judas as “a thief”, more
interested in getting the money for himself than sharing it with those in need.
Jesus
sees an altogether different meaning in Mary’s action. He sees the tremendous
love behind the action, and interprets it as a symbolical anointing for his
burial. Dying as a common criminal, Jesus would normally not have been anointed
(and, in fact, he was not anointed after his burial; when the women went to do
the act on Sunday morning, Jesus was already risen). Jesus says in response:
You
always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.
This
is not to be understood in any cynical way. The poor cannot be truly loved
except in God and in Jesus:
Truly
I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and
sisters of mine, you did it to me. (Matt 25:40)
Only
those who truly love God (by whatever name they call him) are able truly to
love the poor and all those in need—and vice versa. Also, in Jewish tradition,
there was disagreement as to whether giving alms to the poor or burying the dead
(which would include anointing) was the greater act of mercy. Those in favour
of burial thought it an essential condition for sharing in the final
resurrection.
Finally,
we are told Lazarus’ own life was in danger as well as Jesus’. Lazarus is seen
as the living sign of Jesus’ divine power, and so they both must be wiped out.
Many of the Church’s martyrs died for the same reason. The word martyr means
‘witness’, witnessing to the truth, love and power of Christ.
Am I
willing to be a martyr-witness for Christ, to stand beside him on the cross as
he is mocked and insulted? This is the week for me to find the answer to that
question.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/l1062g/
Monday,
March 30, 2026
Season of Lent
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
You have called Your people to be the servants of one
another in the cause of justice and mercy.
You showed us in Jesus, Your Son,
what it means to serve and how much this may cost us. Fill us with the Spirit
of Jesus, that we too may not break those who are weak nor repel those groping
in the dark.
Let Him teach us to serve and to love with compassion for the
helpless and respect for the least and the poorest, together with Jesus Christ
our Lord.
Gospel Reading - John 12: 1-11
Six days before Passover Jesus came to
Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a
dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those
reclining at table with him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from
genuine aromatic spikenard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with
her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Judas the
Iscariot, one of his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said,
"Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days' wages and given to the
poor?" He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was
a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions. So, Jesus
said, "Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always
have the poor with you, but you do not always have me." The large crowd of
the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of him, but
also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. And the chief priests
plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and
believing in Jesus because of him.
Reflection
We have entered into Holy Week, the week of the Passover of
Jesus, of His passing from this world to the Father (Jn 13: 1). Liturgy today
places before us the beginning of chapter 12 of the Gospel of John, which
serves as a link between the Book of the Signs (cc 1-11) and the Book of the
Glorification (cc 13-21). At the end of the “Book of Signs” there appears, very
clearly, the tension between Jesus and the religious authority of the time (Jn
10: 19-21, 39) and the danger which Jesus was facing. Several times they had
tried to kill Him (Jn 10: 31; 11: 8, 53; 12: 10). It was such that Jesus was
obliged to lead a clandestine life, because He could be arrested at any moment
(Jn 10: 40; 11: 54).
•
John 12: 1-2: Jesus persecuted by the Jews, goes
to Bethany. Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany to the house of
His friends Martha and Mary and of Lazarus. Bethany means, House of Poverty.
The police were looking for Him (Jn 11: 57). They wanted to kill Him (Jn 11:
50). But even now that the police were looking for Jesus, Mary, Martha, and
Lazarus received Him in their house and offered Him something to eat. Because
love overcomes fear.
•
John 12: 3: Mary anoints Jesus. During the meal,
Mary anoints the feet of Jesus with a pound of perfume of pure spikenard (cf.
Lk 7: 36-50). It was a very costly perfume, so very expensive that it cost
three hundred denarii. Then she dried His feet with her hair. The whole house
was filled with the scent of the ointment. Mary does not speak during this
whole episode. She only acts. The gesture filled with symbolism speaks for
itself. In washing the feet, Mary becomes a servant. Jesus will repeat the
gesture at the Last Supper (Jn 13: 5).
•
John 12: 4-6: Reaction of Judas. Judas
criticizes the gesture of Mary. He thinks that it is a waste. In fact, three
hundred denarii were the wages of
three hundred days! The wages of almost a whole year spent in one time alone!
Judas thinks that the money should have been given to the poor. The Evangelist
comments and says that Judas had no concern at all for the poor, but that he was
a thief. They had a common fund and he stole the money. A strong judgment which
condemns Judas. It does not condemn the concern for the poor, but the hypocrisy
which uses the poor for self promotion and to enrich oneself. Judas, in his own
egoistic interests, thought only about money. This is why he was not aware of
what Mary kept in her heart. Jesus reads the heart and defends Mary.
•
John 12: 7-8: Jesus defends the woman, Judas
thinks only of the waste and criticizes the woman. Jesus thinks of the gesture
and defends the woman: “Leave her alone; so that she can keep it for the day of
My burial!” And immediately Jesus says: “You have the poor with you always; you
will not always have Me!” Which of the two lived closer to Jesus: Judas or
Mary? Judas, the disciple, lived together with Jesus for almost three years,
twenty-four hours a day. He was part of the group. Mary saw Him once or twice a
year, on the occasion of some feast, when Jesus went to Jerusalem and visited
her in her house. But to live together with, not having any love does not help
us to know others. Rather it blinds people. Judas was blind. Many people live
together with Jesus and praise Him even with many hymns, but do not truly know
Him and do not reveal Him (cf. Mt 7:21). Two affirmations of Jesus merit a more
detailed comment: (a) “You have the poor with you always” and (b) “let her keep
it for the day of My burial.”
•
“You have the poor with you always.” Is it
perhaps that Jesus wants to say that we should not be concerned about the poor,
given the fact that there will always be poor? Or does He want to say that
poverty is the destiny imposed by God? How is this phrase to be understood? At
that time, people knew the Old Testament by heart. It sufficed for Jesus to
begin quoting a phrase of the Old Testament and persons already knew the rest.
The beginning of the phrase said: “There will never cease to be poor people in
the country” (Dt 15: 11ª). The rest of the phrase which people already knew and
which Jesus wants to remind is the following: “And this is why I am giving you
this command: always be open handed with your brother, and with anyone in your
country who is in need and is poor!” (Dt 15:11b). According to this Law, the
community should accept the poor and share its goods with them. But Judas
instead of “opening his hand to help the poor” and to share his goods with
them, wanted to do charity with the money of others! He wanted to sell the
perfume of Mary for three hundred denarii and use it to help the poor. Jesus
quotes the Law of God which taught the contrary. Anyone, who like Judas,
carries out a campaign with the money from the sale of the goods of another,
does not disturb or trouble. But, the one who, like Jesus, insists on the
obligation to accept the poor and to share with them one’s own goods, this one
disturbs, troubles and runs the risk of being condemned.
•
John 12: 9-11: The crowds and the authority. To
be the friend of Jesus could be dangerous. Lazarus is in danger of death
because of the new life received from Jesus. The Jews had decided to kill Him.
Lazarus alive was a living proof that Jesus was the Messiah. This is why the
crowd was looking for Him, because people wanted to experience closely the
living proof of the power of Jesus. A living community runs the risk of its
life because it is the living proof of the Good News of God!
Personal Questions
•
Mary was misinterpreted by Judas. Have you been
misinterpreted sometimes?
•
Do I actually serve the poor, or do I just share
the goods of others?
•
Are lavish expenses on church buildings and
decorations a case of worshiping Jesus as Mary did, or is taking from the poor?
Concluding Prayer
Yahweh is my light and my
salvation, whom should I fear?
Yahweh is the fortress of my life, whom should I dread? (Ps
27: 1)
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