Monday of Holy Week (2024)
Amy Carmichael once said: "You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving."
As we continue to enter more deeply into the mystery of our Lord's Passion, we listen to the opening verses of the 12th chapter of St. John. We hear a simple, and yet powerful story about love that also appeared in yesterday’s Passion Gospel from St. Mark.
Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, speaks no words, and she asks for no favors, and yet with such great love, she anoints the feet of Jesus with the costliest of perfume. She pours out the riches of her life upon the Lord— all because of her great love.
She cared not about what others might have thought about her, and she worried not about the cost of the fragrance.
Although others would raise their voice about the waste of money, in the silence of this loving act, Jesus knew that this was a fitting and appropriate deed.
And so, he said to all of those who ridiculed and criticized her: "Leave her alone."
Decades earlier, the Magi brought to the Christ-child’s crib, in the manger of Bethlehem, the gift of myrrh, a fitting gift for burial. And today, it is Mary who anoints her Lord, in anticipation of his death.
Today, we are given a chance to shape this Holy Week in any way we please. Perhaps, one might spend some of their precious time extravagantly on the Lord and those whom we love.
Let us make this week “holy” by setting aside our conflicts and our distractions and by allowing ourselves the opportunity that Mary took— to love and to be loved.