Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint 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 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.
He returned to Bethany
1. Bethany. It’s the place where friends live, where those who share life and love are. It’s the breath of fresh air that Jesus needs before the many existential asphyxiations that he will have to go through. It’s so important that you dedicate time to your Bethany, to those people who do you good and who accompany you in good times and bad. I’m thinking of my parents – they are my Bethany. When I went through hard times in my life, without asking any questions, they welcomed me, pampered me with my favourite food, and they were simply there for me. Look for your Bethany, those people who help you face difficulties with the strength of affection and familiarity. Take care of your Bethany!
2. Judas. When money gets into your head, you no longer see God or the things of God as sacred. Everything becomes purely a monetary issue, reducing even your life to economic matters. There are people who only look at material things, but they don’t look at the underlying effort. It makes me smile when someone comes up to me and says, “Hey, what a truck you have! A 4 by 4 pickup truck! I want to be a priest!” And I reply, “Great, come along with me tomorrow; we have 5 masses, then we travel 151 km to go and help two people who are bedridden and live up in the mountains. That’s why we have a 4 by 4 truck, because we travel along hard, difficult dirt roads that can only be reached that way”. Then the person looks at me and says, “better not”. Sometimes we are a little like Judas, because we aren’t happy when someone does well, or we don’t consider the effort made by them. We measure everything from the material and economic point of view. Don’t be a Judas.
3. The poor. Poor people are not those who have little, but those who lack much. It’s true that nowadays there is great poverty in many places – too many places- , but I also see existential poverty. And there is nothing poorer than believing yourself omnipotent, thinking that you can solve everything and that everything goes through you, that is poverty. Enrich yourself with God and seek God, He will never reject you.
Have a good Holy week. Don’t forget that something good is on the way!
God bless you and protect you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
