Message of Abbot Paul - Monday 3rd April 2023

Looking back at Palm Sunday, all our celebrations were very well attended with good participation by each of the congregations. If there was one thing that really stood out for me, it was a birdsong that accompanied the blessing of palms and the procession to the church at the 11 o’clock Mass. At present they begin singing each morning at around 5.30am and are still singing as I write these few words at 8.30pm. Where do they get all that energy from? And I do envy their perfect pitch and the ability to reach the top notes without fail every time.

 

Our Gospel today comes from John, (Jn 12: 1-11), and sees Jesus return to Bethany and the house of his dear friends, Martha, Mary and Lazarus. John sets the scene. “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.” Once again, we find Martha waiting at table, serving Jesus, and Lazarus sitting among the guests, but where is Mary? We soon find out. “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.” What can be the meaning of this anointing? Why only his feet? And why wipe them with her hair? What do you make of all this? Yet, only Judas Iscariot reacts. “’Why wasn’t this ointment 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 contributions. So 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.’” The ointment used is costly. Judas’ reasoning seems justified, yet John comments that Judas was a thief and often stole from the common fund for his own personal use. Jesus, on the other hand, seems to interpret her act as one of charity towards the dead, implying that he himself will soon be a dead man and that her action is prophetic.

 

The home of his friends at Bethany is bursting to the seams with visitors, some come to see Jesus, other to see Lazarus. The result is that the high priests decide to kill not only Jesus, but also his friend Lazarus, who could be used as a propaganda tool by the disciples of Jesus. In fact, we are told that, “It was on account of Lazarus that many of the Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus.”