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Morning Devotion for Holy Week

April 3, 2023

Invitatory

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Reading - John 12:1-8

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this perfume not 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; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it^* so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’

Meditation - Winnie Smith

This is a week of waiting. The liturgy yesterday took us from blessing Palms and shouting “Hosanna” to the reading of the Passion and a somber departure from church. Now we wait. We know what is to come: Maundy Thursday, our Last Supper before Easter; Good Friday when, at the very hour Jesus was thought to have died, we will hear that Gospel reading again and be reminded of our Lord’s great suffering. And at long last, Sunday will arrive and we will be filled with joy.

So what are we to do today? What does Monday in Holy Week ask of us?

Several days before Jesus’s crucifixion and death, he shared an intimate moment with Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. Using “nearly a pound of costly perfume,” Mary anointed Jesus’s feet and wiped them with her hair. The smell was alarming to those present who knew the cost of such perfume. It was unimaginable to own a vast quantity of fine oil like that, but to use it all wastefully at one time as Mary does was unthinkable. Upon reading this text, we might all ask the question Judas Iscariot did: why not sell the oil and give the money to the poor? A fair question, but one that Jesus answered easily: “leave her alone. She bought [the oil] so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

Perhaps Mary knew that Jesus’s death was imminent, and that this would be her last opportunity to show him such devotion. But maybe she didn’t know and was instead simply acting out of love and fidelity to Jesus because that’s what he demanded through his actions. Mary’s sharing valuable oil and using her own hair to wipe his feet was an extreme act of admiration. It was a small way of showing Jesus how much she loved him.

Maybe that is what Monday in Holy Week asks of us. To show our devotion to Jesus. To recognize his selflessness and the depth of sacrifice he made for the whole world and to spend these upcoming days marveling at that. I suggest reading the portion of John’s Gospel that begins with the Last Supper, in chapter 13. In John, the narrative does not flow immediately from Last Supper to arrest and trial. The writer spends four chapters on what is called the “Farewell Discourse,” in which Jesus explains to the disciples that he will soon depart this world. His lasting messages to his closest circle are to love one another, to believe and abide in him, to have peace, and for God to protect them. Jesus’s last hours with his friends are spent assuring them that they will be okay after he is taken and killed. If that was Jesus’s last act before a cruel and painful death, then perhaps we can take a few minutes over these first days of Holy Week to be grateful. Take a few minutes for prayers of gratitude to a God so generous He gave his only Son, and a Son so courageous, he was willing to die for us. Our time often feels as valuable as Mary’s perfume, so this week let us share it abundantly with our Lord.

Collect for Monday in Holy Week

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.