These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Standing by the cross of Jesus
were his mother and his mother’s sister,
Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary of Magdala.
When Jesus saw his mother
and the disciple there whom he loved
he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”
Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.”
And from that hour
the disciple took her into his home.
(Jn 19:25-27)
I have been crucified with Christ, and the life I live now is not my own, it is Christ living in me; oh I still live my human life, but it is a life of faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me. (Saint Paul, Galatians 2:19-20)
O Love, how deep, how broad, how high,
how passing thought and fantasy,
that God, the Son of God
should give himself for love of me.
(Saint Bernard of Clairvaux)
Before the feast of Passover,
Jesus knew that his hour had come
to pass from this world to the Father.
He loved his own in the world
and he loved them to the end.
(Jn 13:1)
In the Fourth Gospel, the Foot Washing is the center of the last supper that Jesus has with his disciples. As the Lord says, “If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.” If Jesus can “get low” to go to the Cross, then we are called to “get low” and wash each other’s feet. Maybe that’s what “he loved them to the end” is all about. Jesus, the one who came not to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for us all.
One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot,
went to the chief priests and said,
“What are you willing to give me
if I hand him over to you?”
They paid him thirty pieces of silver,
and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.
(Mt 26:14-16)
Traditionally, the Wednesday of Holy Week is called Spy Wednesday. It is noteworthy that all four gospels record that it was one of the Twelve, one of the leadership, who betrayed Jesus. Perhaps that’s why the church was reluctant to canonize its leaders. In the past, there weren’t that many canonized popes. One reason, there was a 50 year wait-period before beginning the process of canonization. Today it’s different. But there are still good reasons why we shouldn’t shout “Súbito Santo!” too quickly.
Reclining at table with his disciples,
Jesus was deeply troubled and testified,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
one of you will betray me.”
The disciples looked at one another,
at a loss as to whom he meant.
One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved,
was reclining at Jesus’ side.
So Simon Peter nodded to him
to find out whom he meant.
He leaned back against Jesus’ chest
and said to him,
“Master, who is it?”
Jesus answered,
“It is the one to whom I hand the morsel
after I have dipped it.”
So he dipped the morsel and took it
and handed it to Judas,
son of Simon the Iscariot.
(Jn 13:21-16)
Receive me now, O Son of God,
as a participant in your mystical supper,
for I will not betray your mystery
to your enemies
nor give you a kiss like Judas,
but like the thief I confess you:
Remember me, Lord,
when you come into your kingdom.
—Liturgy of St John Chrysostom
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.
(Jn 12:1-3)
I remember the dedication of the new altar at Our Lady of Fatima Chapel in Winston-Salem when it belonged to Saint Benedict the Moor Parish. The bishop dumped the whole container of the Oil of Chrism on the surface of the altar and began to rub it in to the wood of the altar. Everyone was astounded at the extravagance of the gesture as the fragrance of the Chrism filled the whole Chapel.
