Wednesday of Holy Week

one

Wednesday of Holy Week begins with the conspiracy against Jesus.

Matthew tells us: Jesus had now finished all he wanted to say, and he told his disciples, 'It will be Passover, as you know, in two days' time, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified'. Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and made plans to arrest Jesus by some trick and have him put to death. They said, however, 'It must not be during the festivities; there must be no disturbance among the people'.

two - The anointing at Bethany

Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, when a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of the most expensive perfumed ointment and poured it on his head as he was at table. Then Judas Iscariot - one of his disciples, the man who was to betray him - said, '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…

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.' When she poured this ointment on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you solemnly, wherever in all the world this Good News is proclaimed, what she has done will be told also, in remembrance of her.' (Matthew 26 and John 12)

three - He Knows Our Value

We may feel that we are not enough…not good enough, beautiful enough, smart enough, that we have not achieved enough…I am not enough. In this scene Mary Magdalene, for Tradition tells us this was she, knows she is being watched and judged by all those in the room. To them she doesn’t measure up. But there is one in the room who knows her, he understands her, His eyes behold her heart, not her appearances and not even her past reputation. And Mary is not disturbed by the judgment in the room. In fact, she doesn’t care anymore. In the past she tried to prove her worth through her beauty, through the ability to have power over others. All of that ended when she met Jesus. He knows her value – it’s the price of His life. Now she knows her worth. It comes from Him. He made her, He loves her, and He is about to die for her. So, she breaks the costly oil and anoints him with her love for his burial.

Jesus, make me know that my identity and worth come from you, that it is founded on you and not on the fragile and passing things of this life. Then I may be at peace.

four - Mary Magdalene did something great for God

As the all-seeing gaze of Jesus penetrates the hearts of all those in the room of Bethany, he sees many things that displease him. He sees worldliness, self-interest, even treachery, but there is one heart that is true and desires only to return her love to God.

While others are busy chatting and filled with distractions, Jesus looks into the depths of Mary’s heart and finds something of what he has found in the heart of his Mother; he finds attentiveness to his presence, the attentiveness of love. He finds adoration.

Mary Magdalene did something great for God. I too want to do something great for Him. But too often what I want to do for God is mixed up with what I want to do for myself.

five - Judas betrays Jesus

Then one of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, 'What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?' They paid him thirty silver pieces and from that moment he looked for an opportunity to betray him.

Thirty pieces of silver was the price of a slave. It is ironic that it only took such a small amount of money to make Judas a slave since he was a thief.  But Judas is not alone – we are all slaves to sin which makes us slaves to death.

Yet, for our sake, Jesus became a slave, he traded places with us, to ransom us from sin and death and the power of the devil, to give us eternal Life.

There is nothing we can ever do to repay him, but we should at least try. Let us constantly offer him our prayer, our work, our joy and our suffering in return.