ATTENTION ON THE COVENANT OF LOVE

MONDAY OF HOLY WEEK    

Isa 42:1-7; Ps 27:1-3,13-14; Jn 12:1-11

The Covenant for the People

We have begun the Holy Week with the celebration of Passion Sunday. Within the week, Saint John will gradually lead us through the drama of the last days of the Son of Man in Jerusalem, culminating in his crucifixion on the day before the Sabbath, that is, on Good Friday. The prophecy of Isaiah the prophet supplies the scriptural background to the drama and story of the Messiah. As we noted previously, what we heard on Passion Sunday is detailed and drawn out for us throughout the week, so that we may deeply appreciate God's plan of our salvation and its exact execution. The psalmist offers us the mindset of the Son of Man as he approaches the time of his glorification in the completion of his total sacrifice of self to God. “The Lord is my light and my help; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; before whom shall I shrink?” This confession of total confidence in God is borne out of his beatific vision of God in the hypostatic union, or the union of the human and divine natures in the Person of the Son of God. Our human nature becomes completely illuminated and transformed into light when fully occupied by the Eternal Word. When our nature attains its end of containing God, it is invincible and able to accomplish all things in God. It is with this attitude of confidence that the Son of Man approaches his passion. “Though an army encamps against me, my heart would not fear. Though war breaks out against me even then would I trust.” Indeed, the fearsome army of forces of evil and human associates encamped against the Son of Man as he approached his Passion.

The confidence of the Son of Man in God is matched with the unfailing support of God for the servant who trusts in him. The correspondence is based on the fact that the confidence of the Son of Man is the effect of the divine word in which he trusts and upon which he built his human life. God confirms this through Isaiah the prophet, saying: “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have endowed him with my spirit that he may bring true justice to the nations. He does not cry out or shout aloud, or make his voice heard in the streets. He does not break the crushed reed, nor quench the wavering flame.” This supports what we stated previously that the Son of Man enters and plays the role of God in every event through his humble and steadfast obedience to God. So, he accomplishes all tasks or plans of God, not by his power or might, but through the Eternal Word of God. His faith in the word of God makes him a veritable tool in God’s hand to bring about his will among the people. “Faithfully, he brings true justice; he will neither waver, nor be crushed until true justice is established on earth, for the islands are awaiting his law.” The faithfulness of the Son of Man establishes him as a covenant for the people, which is the mediation of the Covenant of God to the people. By faithfully receiving the Covenant that God is, he mediates God’s faithfulness and loving providence to the peoples, who are his kindred. Hence, the Covenant which the word of God is, is made visible in human form in the Son of Man. Our meditation and contemplation of his life is therefore our contemplation of the covenant of love between God and us.

The above understanding of the Son of Man as the Covenant between God and us was deeply grasped by Mary of Bethany, as the Gospel relates to us. “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 the table. 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.” The ointment was a symbol of the sacrifice Mary made of herself to the Lord, substantiated by the use of her hair to apply the ointment on Jesus Christ; It proved beyond any doubt that she penetrated the mystery of the Son of Man deeper than most of the disciples. Recall that she was the one who remained at the feet of the Master/Teacher, listening with rapt attention, not minding her sister’s fretting with service. She demonstrates to us that attention to the Son of Man pays; the Lord called it a necessity. Judas, who paid the least attention to the Teacher, could not understand the deep significance of her action and complained. The Lord understood what she had done and defended her. “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.” With Mary, let us contemplate the Son of Man, to understand our Covenant with God.

Let us pray: 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.