“You Say So” by Rev. Paul Berghout

“You Say So” by Rev. Paul Berghout 

Monday of Holy Week

Piety

Here is my servant whom I uphold,

    my chosen one with whom I am pleased,

Upon whom I have put my Spirit;

    he shall bring forth justice to the nations,

Not crying out, not shouting,

    not making his voice heard in the street.

A bruised reed he shall not break,

    and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,

Until he establishes justice on the earth;

    the coastlands will wait for his teaching. (Isaiah 42:1-4)

So, Jesus said, “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.” The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus, too, because many Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him. (John 12:7-11)

Study

Yesterday, Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, we made our way into Holy Week with the King on the back of a colt.  We read the gospel about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, Paul’s invitation to us to imitate Jesus who emptied himself, and the whole Passion this year from Mark’s Gospel.

Through Wednesday, we are in the final days of Lent. The first readings are from the Suffering Servant Songs of Isaiah. Though sung initially about Israel, God’s servant, and perhaps a specific servant, they spoke to the early Christian community about Jesus and his mission.

Monday and Tuesday’s gospels are from John’s Gospel. Today, we hear John’s version of the anointing at Bethany - at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.  (Sunday, we heard Mark’s slightly different version).  There is a beautiful celebration of Lazarus’ return to life and thanksgiving to Jesus in both cases. Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with the precious oil that reminds us of his burial.

The stage (and altar) are set for the Triduum.

Os Guinness tells a story about something that happened in the Soviet Union years ago:

“In one of their periodic efforts to eradicate religious belief in the Soviet Union, the Communist Party sent KGB agents to the nation’s churches on a Sunday morning. One agent was struck by the deep devotion of an elderly woman who was kissing the feet of a life-size carving of Christ on the cross.

 

“Babushka [which means Grandmother],” he said. “Are you also prepared to kiss the feet of the beloved general secretary of our great Communist Party?”

 

“Why, of course,” came the immediate reply. “But only if you crucify him first.” [Moody Publishers, 1992, pg. 112].

As many do throughout the year and especially during Lent, Pilate started our week questioning Jesus: “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus said to him in reply, “You say so.”  

Jesus is asking Pilate, “Is this a personal discovery? Or are you just repeating what others have told you?”

In a famous sentence, Plato said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” 

We may also say the unexamined faith is not worth preaching. We have to think through the words of Jesus that we hear at Mass, so they become a personal discovery.

By answering back to Pilate in that way, in front of the Jewish elite, Jesus displays “the very royal consciousness that he is being interrogated about since no one would dare to answer a ruler in this way unless he felt himself to be somehow his superior.  [source: James C. Scott, Domination, 202-7].

The trial reveals a political theology where resistance and resilience are faithful Christian practices within today’s political climate. The crowd or majority is fickle, malleable, and readily manipulated. As Samuel Crossman’s Good Friday hymn says, “A murderer they save; the Prince of Life they slay.”

When we live our uncrucified self, we risk pandering to other’s whims and emotions as part of man’s approval instead of looking in the first place in our hearts where God dwells. Indeed, only if we can let go of man’s support will our heart be gripped by Christ, who has become our first and only love.

Yet, he dies too for those who arrange for his death: the Sanhedrin, Romans, Pharisees, Sadducees, and his disciples, and Peter who run from him.

Action

I will close with a true story from Mark Wingfield on July 23, 2020:

Our pastor told of Father Michael Renninger, pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Richmond, Virginia. While a college student on his way home one weekend, Renninger stopped to visit his grandparents. They lived in the same row house in Philadelphia he had known growing up. His grandfather had a series of strokes that left him paralyzed on one side and unable to talk or swallow. His grandmother determined to take care of him at home, even though he required a feeding tube.

On that day, Renninger recalled, he opened the squeaky front door and immediately knew things were not right. The goopy liquid food was splattered all over his grandfather, whose face was red. His grandmother was struggling to care for him when she realized their grandson had entered the house. The college student started to leave, assuming he didn’t need to walk into this embarrassing situation. 

Then he heard his grandmother’s stern voice: “Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare leave! Sometimes this is what love looks like.”

Jesus permits a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, Alexander and Rufus’s father, to carry his cross.

We have a fellowship in His work. His merit is infinite, yet he allows us to share in infinite rewards by our labors in Him.  Amen.