www.yourdailytripod.blogspot.com
by Beth DeCristofaro
I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness. (Isaiah 42: 6-7)
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. (John 12:3)
Piety
Loving and potent God, on the road to the Cross, open my heart so that I can hear your Word. Open my heart so that I can see Jesus in those around me. Open my heart so that I can touch others as Jesus would have touched them, in loving mercy. Open my heart so that I can taste the sweetness of the Lord and live without fear. Open my heart so that I can smell the freshness of Spring and know that Jesus, too, loved the world. Thank you, my Lord and my God, for opening and holding my heart.
Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/040207.shtml#reading1 In the prologue to the Rule, St. Benedict says: “Listen carefully, my children, to the master’s instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart” (Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue: 1)
Judas could not hear nor see with the ear or eye of his heart. Rather, he saw the loving ministrations of Mary to Jesus through the eyes of his greed. Those gathered for the meal did not hear Jesus with the ears of their hearts when He told them: “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: 7-8) They did not hear him foretell that his death and burial were near.
Mary saw the dusty feet of Jesus as the worn out feet of a special guest. How do we see the feet of the homeless? Mary saw the feet of Jesus as the hurting feet of a well-loved friend. How do we see the injured feet and bodies of those caught in war? Mary saw the feet of Jesus as the road-flattened feet of a teacher who walked miles to teach those in need. How do we see the feet of the immigrant who has traveled miles to a new life?
God marked Isaiah as His own, prefiguring Jesus in whom He is well pleased. God marks each of us as well; we each have the opportunity to say yes. Do we choose to be as Jesus, a light for the nations, seeking justice and living in mercy? Or do we choose to see, hear and speak from our own eyes, ears and mouth which move with an agenda of our own?
Action
During Holy Week listen, read aloud the words of Scripture; look up from your prayer and study to see the world with the eyes of your heart, listen to your neighbor with the ears of your heart, act with the hands and feet of your heart guided by the Word within you. Pray especially this week for people who are marginalized, persecuted, despised.
Also, pray for our new Cursillista Brothers. May they experience this Holy Week with new hearts and eyes, guided by the Light of Christ.
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