Monday of Holy Week 2023
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?
When evildoers come at me
to devour my flesh,
My foes and my enemies
themselves stumble and fall.
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart will not fear;
Though war be waged upon me,
even then will I trust.
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.
-Responsorial Psalm for Monday of Holy Week (Psalm 27 excerpts)
The days of Holy Week are filled with a certain anticipation as we look toward the celebration of the exceedingly rich, three-day liturgy that is the Paschal Triduum. But what about Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week? These seem to be almost “non-days” that get lost in our excitement about what is to come. Unlike the days of the “O” Antiphons (December 17-23) that precede Christmas, these three days don’t function as a countdown to what is to come and the liturgies on these days don’t represent any dynamic insights into what is to come.
On Holy Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we find ourselves in a posture of waiting, even lingering, forced to pause and simply be present to the moment. And here, we begin to enter into the subtle, easily overlooked mystery of these days. Because, in these three days we join Jesus in his own waiting for what was to come.
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."
-John 12:3-11
The Gospel proclaimed today presents us with the moving image of Jesus in the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus (transporting us to a time immediately before the Entrance into Jerusalem). The Evangelist John uses this final visit to Bethany as an opportunity to prefigure what is to come (the burial of Jesus) and to highlight the growing animosity of Judas Iscariot and all those who wanted Jesus to die.
But when we think back to that first Holy Week and those days that Jesus spent waiting for events to unfold, he had already entered into the Passion because waiting, courageously enduring is its own kind of suffering. As Henri Nouwen reflected in Road to Daybreak:
“Passion is a kind of waiting—waiting for what other people are going to do. Jesus went to Jerusalem to announce the good news to the people of that city. And Jesus knew he was going to put a choice before them: Will you be my disciple, or will you be my executioner? There is no middle ground here. Jesus went to Jerusalem to put people in a situation where they had to say “Yes” or “No.” That is the great drama of Jesus’ passion: he had to wait upon how people were going to respond. What would they do? Betray him or follow him?”
It would have been easy enough for Jesus to simply walk away, to claim power over these unfolding events. But he stayed, accepting what was to come. Like the singer of Psalm 27 (the Responsorial Psalm), Jesus did not choose fear. He had made his decision.
As we also wait during these days, we, too, are being invited to make a decision.
Looking back over the days of Lent, what have you learned about yourself? Where have you discovered opportunities for growth or even places in your life and disciple-commitment that have grown dull and barren? Have you moved forward in your spiritual journey or are you marking time, watching divine mysteries unfold, but venturing no further?
As we look forward, what is your decision? Will you betray him or follow him?
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that, though in our weakness we fail,
we may be revived through the Passion of your Only Begotten Son.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Collect for Monday of Holy Week
