Holy Monday

Holy Monday
The prayer for peace is held in the basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere

Reading of the Word of God

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

John 12,1-11

Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom he had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there; Martha waited on them and Lazarus was among those at table. 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 filled with the scent of the ointment. Then Judas Iscariot -- one of his disciples, the man who was to betray him-said, 'Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?' 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 contents. So Jesus said, 'Leave her alone; let her keep it for the day of my burial. You have the poor with you always, you will not always have me.' Meanwhile a large number of Jews heard that he was there and came not only on account of Jesus but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. Then 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.

 

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

The Gospel of John opens the narration of the Passion of Jesus with a dinner in Bethany at the house of Martha, Mary and Lazarus - a family that was very dear to Jesus. In those days of his harsh struggles with the Pharisees and the priests of the Temple, the home of these friends had become a place of rest. It was six days before the Passover, as it is for us now, and once again Jesus was having dinner with them. At one point during the dinner Mary gets up, comes close to Jesus, and kneels at his feet, covering them with ointment and then drying them with her hair. It is a gesture of love that has the smell of gratuitousness and fills the house. Every gesture of love, even the smallest, expands its perfume and strength. But Judas looks at this gesture with a wicked gaze: for him, this gesture is not a manifestation of love but of waste. His greed and desire of possession had blinded him. Jesus responds directly to Judas and says, "Leave her alone." The ointment she uses foreshadows the oil that will be poured on his body before his burial. Jesus was about to begin his "Way of the Cross," which would lead to his death. Mary was the only one who understood that Jesus was going to be put to death and therefore needed special affection and closeness, exaggerated ones as passionate love always is. Mary's tender and loving act, made up of simple and concrete gestures, is a symbol of the path of salvation: when we are close to the poor, the weak, and the elderly, we are close to Jesus himself. This is what Jesus means when he says, "The poor you always have with you." They could tell us how much need they have of the perfume of friendship and love.