Anointing as Servant

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, Monday of Holy Week, challenge us to adopt our role as servants of the Lord in our daily encounters with the people on our journey.

Our Servant Journey

The Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah presents The Servant of the Lord.

* [42:1–4] Servant: three other passages have been popularly called “servant of the Lord” poems: 49:1–7; 50:4–11; 52:13–53:12. Whether the servant is an individual or a collectivity is not clear (e.g., contrast 49:3 with 49:5). More important is the description of the mission of the servant. In the early Church and throughout Christian tradition, these poems have been applied to Christ; cf. Mt 12:18–21.

* [42:3] Bruised reed…: images to express the gentle manner of the servant’s mission.

* [42:4] Coastlands: for Israel, the world to the west: the islands and coastal nations of the Mediterranean. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 42 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 27 asserts boundless hope that God will bring rescue.

* [Psalm 27] Tradition has handed down the two sections of the Psalm (Ps 27:1–6; 7–14) as one Psalm, though each part could be understood as complete in itself. Asserting boundless hope that God will bring rescue (Ps 27:1–3), the psalmist longs for the presence of God in the Temple, protection from all enemies (Ps 27:4–6). In part B there is a clear shift in tone (Ps 27:7–12); the climax of the poem comes with “I believe” (Ps 27:13), echoing “I trust” (Ps 27:3). (Psalms, PSALM 27 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of John presents the Anointing of Jesus at Bethany.

* [12:1–8] This is probably the same scene of anointing found in Mk 14:3–9 (see note there) and Mt 26:6–13. The anointing by a penitent woman in Lk 7:36–38 is different. Details from these various episodes have become interchanged.

* [12:3] The feet of Jesus: so Mk 14:3; but in Mt 26:6, Mary anoints Jesus’ head as a sign of regal, messianic anointing.

* [12:5] Days’ wages: literally, “denarii.” A denarius is a day’s wage in Mt 20:2; see note on Jn 6:7.

* [12:7] Jesus’ response reflects the rabbinical discussion of what was the greatest act of mercy, almsgiving or burying the dead. Those who favored proper burial of the dead thought it an essential condition for sharing in the resurrection. (John, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB, n.d.)

Suzanne Braddock comments that the money spent to purchase this very expensive perfume could have been given to the poor as some in the company protest. Jesus knows when to place a different act of charity ahead, explaining that the poor we will always have with us but He will not always be present in this manner. There is room in His mind for Mary’s almost outrageously generous outpouring of love and care.

John’s well-known account of Jesus’ anointing is unique among the several gospels recounting the story, pointing to the later account of Jesus’ washing of the apostles’ feet.  What struck me most when I compared the different accounts was the actual act of anointing - Mary, Martha’s sister, pours the expensive contents of an alabaster jar on Jesus’ head in two gospels, but in John’s gospel, she anoints only His feet, then wipes His feet with her hair. Nard is used even today as a hair treatment. Mary’s act of kindness also blessed her. Perhaps we can claim a blessing from our acts of kindness as well.

During this Holy Week, what can I do to both give and receive love and kindness? The fragrance of acts of kindness can fill the whole room. (Braddock, 2026)

Don Schwager quotes “God first loved us,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"Fulfill the commandments out of love. Could anyone refuse to love our God, so abounding in mercy, so just in all His ways? Could anyone deny love to Him Who first loved us despite all our injustice and all our pride? Could anyone refuse to love God Who so loved us as to send His only Son not only to live among human beings but also to be put to death for their sake and at their own hands?." (excerpt from Catechetical Instructions 39) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that Isaiah is offering the first Song of the Suffering Servant, who would be killed and buried among robbers. In the passage today, the Servant would bring justice to the nations by being very meek and be a light to the people including the Gentiles and pagans including for the nations and all peoples on the earth. In John’s Gospel Mary is anointing the feet of Jesus in the house with an “aromatic nard”. It is important that this phrase only appears in the Hebrew Testament in the Song of Songs. The fragrance that fills the house is an act of great love. Judas wants social work and Mary wants to love the person in front of her. Jesus realizes that by giving life to Lazarus the leaders will try to kill Him. Friar Jude reminds us that in the Nazi regime modern art was forbidden to curb imagination and the power to believe in the Life Jesus gives us.

The Word Among Us Meditation on John 12:1-11 comments that Mary knew that Jewish kings and priests were anointed, so she decided to treat Jesus like the king and priest that he was. And she didn’t use the everyday oil people would ordinarily use. She held nothing back. She chose this special oil, held in a jar made of alabaster.

Mary’s extravagant love calls us to follow in her footsteps. So consider: how can you be generous with God? How can you pour yourself out to honor him? You might spend some extra time praying with the Mass readings this week or lifting your heart in praise and worship as you sit before the Blessed Sacrament or a crucifix. You might say yes to a chance to serve this week, loving the Lord through the sacrifice of your time and energy. It’s never too late to draw close to Jesus and to respond to the lavish love and mercy he has shown you!

“Jesus, grant me the grace this Holy Week to pour myself out in love for you.” (Meditation on John 12:1-11, n.d.)

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, describes the scapegoat ritual that took place on Yom Kippur, the Jewish holy day of atonement. The word “scapegoating” originated from an ingenious ritual described in Leviticus 16. According to Jewish law, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest laid hands on an “escaping” goat, placing all the sins of the Jewish people from the previous year onto the animal.

In worshiping Jesus as the scapegoat, Christians should have learned to stop scapegoating, but we didn’t. We are still utterly wrong whenever we create arbitrary victims to avoid our own complicity in evil. It seems to be the most effective diversionary tactic. History has shown us that authority itself is not a good guide. Yet for many people, authority figures soothe their anxiety and relieve their own responsibility to form a mature conscience. We love to follow someone else and let them take the responsibility. It is a universal story line in history and culture.

With the mistaken view of God as a Punisher-in-Chief that most Christians seem to hold, we think our own violence is necessary and even good. But there is no such thing as redemptive violence. Violence doesn’t save; it only destroys all parties in both the short and long term. Jesus replaced the myth of redemptive violence with the truth of redemptive suffering. He showed us on the cross how to hold the pain and let it transform us. (Rohr, n.d.)

As we journey in Holy Week, we invoke the Spirit to enlighten our understanding of the role of the Suffering Servant as the guide in our action as followers of Christ.

References

Braddock, S. (2026, March 30). Daily Reflection March 30, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved March 30, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-march-30-2026 

Isaiah, CHAPTER 42 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 30, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/42?1 

John, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 30, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/12?1 

Meditation on John 12:1-11. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved March 30, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/03/30/1529328/ 

Psalms, PSALM 27 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 30, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/27? 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). A Communal Ritual. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved March 30, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-communal-ritual/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Extravagant Love for Jesus. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 30, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Palms and Passion

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, invite us to contemplate the presentation of the Passion as our invitation to participate in the Holy Week liturgies central to our Faith, Hope and Love.

Courage to Cross the Bridge to Love

 

The Reading for the Entrance Blessing is from the Gospel of Matthew.

* [21:1–11] Jesus’ coming to Jerusalem is in accordance with the divine will that he must go there (cf. Mt 16:21) to suffer, die, and be raised. He prepares for his entry into the city in such a way as to make it a fulfillment of the prophecy of Zec 9:9 (Mt 21:2) that emphasizes the humility of the king who comes (Mt 21:5). That prophecy, absent from the Marcan parallel account (Mk 11:1–11) although found also in the Johannine account of the entry (Jn 12:15), is the center of the Matthean story. During the procession from Bethphage to Jerusalem, Jesus is acclaimed as the Davidic messianic king by the crowds who accompany him (Mt 21:9). On his arrival the whole city was shaken, and to the inquiry of the amazed populace about Jesus’ identity the crowds with him reply that he is the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee (Mt 21:10, 11).

* [21:1] Bethphage: a village that can no longer be certainly identified. Mark mentions it before Bethany (Mk 11:1), which suggests that it lay to the east of the latter. The Mount of Olives: the hill east of Jerusalem that is spoken of in Zec 14:4 as the place where the Lord will come to rescue Jerusalem from the enemy nations.

* [21:2] An ass tethered, and a colt with her: instead of the one animal of Mk 11:2, Matthew has two, as demanded by his understanding of Zec 9:9.

* [21:4–5] The prophet: this fulfillment citation is actually composed of two distinct Old Testament texts, Is 62:11 (Say to daughter Zion) and Zec 9:9. The ass and the colt are the same animal in the prophecy, mentioned twice in different ways, the common Hebrew literary device of poetic parallelism. That Matthew takes them as two is one of the reasons why some scholars think that he was a Gentile rather than a Jewish Christian who would presumably not make that mistake (see Introduction).

* [21:7] Upon them: upon the two animals; an awkward picture resulting from Matthew’s misunderstanding of the prophecy.

* [21:8] Spread…on the road: cf. 2 Kgs 9:13. There is a similarity between the cutting and strewing of the branches and the festivities of Tabernacles (Lv 23:39–40); see also 2 Mc 10:5–8 where the celebration of the rededication of the temple is compared to that of Tabernacles.

* [21:9] Hosanna: the Hebrew means “(O Lord) grant salvation”; see Ps 118:25, but that invocation had become an acclamation of jubilation and welcome. Blessed is he…in the name of the Lord: see Ps 118:26 and the note on Jn 12:13. In the highest: probably only an intensification of the acclamation, although Hosanna in the highest could be taken as a prayer, “May God save (him).”

* [21:10] Was shaken: in the gospels this verb is peculiar to Matthew where it is used also of the earthquake at the time of the crucifixion (Mt 27:51) and of the terror of the guards of Jesus’ tomb at the appearance of the angel (Mt 28:4). For Matthew’s use of the cognate noun, see note on Mt 8:24.

* [21:11] The prophet: see Mt 16:14 (“one of the prophets”) and 21:46. (Matthew, CHAPTER 21 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Reading from the Prophet Isaiah proclaims Salvation Through the Lord’s Servant.

* [50:4–11] The third of the four “servant of the Lord” oracles (cf. note on 42:1–4); in vv. 4–9 the servant speaks; in vv. 10–11 God addresses the people directly.

* [50:5] The servant, like a well-trained disciple, does not refuse the divine vocation.

* [50:6] He willingly submits to insults and beatings. Tore out my beard: a grave and painful insult.

* [50:10–11] The Lord offers a choice to those who walk in darkness: either trust in the true light (v. 10), or walk in their false light and suffer the consequences. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 50 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 22 is alluded to in the accounts of Jesus’ passion (Mt 27:35, 43; Jn 19:24).

* [Psalm 22] A lament unusual in structure and in intensity of feeling. The psalmist’s present distress is contrasted with God’s past mercy in Ps 22:2–12. In Ps 22:13–22 enemies surround the psalmist. The last third is an invitation to praise God (Ps 22:23–27), becoming a universal chorus of praise (Ps 22:28–31). The Psalm is important in the New Testament. Its opening words occur on the lips of the crucified Jesus (Mk 15:34; Mt 27:46), and several other verses are quoted, or at least alluded to, in the accounts of Jesus’ passion (Mt 27:35, 43; Jn 19:24). (Psalms, PSALM 22 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Reading from the Letter to the Philippians presents Christ’s humiliation and then exaltation.

* [2:6–11] Perhaps an early Christian hymn quoted here by Paul. The short rhythmic lines fall into two parts, Phil 2:6–8 where the subject of every verb is Christ, and Phil 2:9–11 where the subject is God. The general pattern is thus of Christ’s humiliation and then exaltation. More precise analyses propose a division into six three-line stanzas (Phil 2:6; 7abc, 7d–8, 9, 10, 11) or into three stanzas (Phil 2:6–7ab, 7cd–8, 9–11). Phrases such as even death on a cross (Phil 2:8c) are considered by some to be additions (by Paul) to the hymn, as are Phil 2:10c, 11c.

* [2:6] Either a reference to Christ’s preexistence and those aspects of divinity that he was willing to give up in order to serve in human form, or to what the man Jesus refused to grasp at to attain divinity. Many see an allusion to the Genesis story: unlike Adam, Jesus, though…in the form of God (Gn 1:26–27), did not reach out for equality with God, in contrast with the first Adam in Gn 3:5–6.

* [2:7] Taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness: or “…taking the form of a slave. Coming in human likeness, and found human in appearance.” While it is common to take Phil 2:6, 7 as dealing with Christ’s preexistence and Phil 2:8 with his incarnate life, so that lines Phil 2:7b, 7c are parallel, it is also possible to interpret so as to exclude any reference to preexistence (see note on Phil 2:6) and to take Phil 2:6–8 as presenting two parallel stanzas about Jesus’ human state (Phil 2:6–7b; 7cd–8); in the latter alternative, coming in human likeness begins the second stanza and parallels 6a to some extent.

* [2:8] There may be reflected here language about the servant of the Lord, Is 52:13–53:12 especially Is 53:12.

* [2:9] The name: “Lord” (Phil 2:11), revealing the true nature of the one who is named.

* [2:10–11] Every knee should bend…every tongue confess: into this language of Is 45:23 there has been inserted a reference to the three levels in the universe, according to ancient thought, heaven, earth, under the earth.

* [2:11] Jesus Christ is Lord: a common early Christian acclamation; cf. 1 Cor 12:3; Rom 10:9. But doxology to God the Father is not overlooked here (Phil 2:11c) in the final version of the hymn. (Philippians, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)

Matthew’s Gospel of the Passion of Christ is presented from Matthew 26.14 – Matthew 27.66.

Eileen Wirth comments that whether the authorities actually plotted to murder Jesus, we know he threatened them by flaunting some of their religious laws and customs. He talked to women, socialized with sinners, welcomed outcasts like lepers, and preached parables about the Good Samaritan. He prioritized radical love for all types of people above everything else, even if that meant ignoring a law or two from time to time, and his movement was growing. She asks whether we still threaten powerful establishments by prioritizing radical love for all people?

Certainly, we’ve seen some of that recently in places like Minneapolis and Chicago, where people have risked their safety and security to aid immigrants-- the least of our brothers and sisters, in biblical terms. Countless other people like those in my own parish are devoting Lent to donating and collecting food for immigrant families who are afraid to leave their homes. They, too, are standing with their brothers and sisters.

What’s happening now echoes back to the Civil Rights and Vietnam protest movements when heroic Christians like the late Rep. John Lewis suffered greatly for standing up to unjust authorities. Years later, when Lewis wrote a book describing the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma in which he was badly beaten, Stephen Colbert interviewed him about it.

“Isn’t there an easier bridge for the rest of us to cross?” Colbert asked.

When I look at the generous people of my parish collecting food and similar efforts everywhere, I see them marching across that “easier bridge.” But the important thing is that they are CROSSING it. Blessings to all of you who have found such bridges to cross in the name of Jesus. (Wirth, 2026)

Don Schwager quotes “The following of Christ,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"Come, follow Me, says the Lord. Do you love? He has hastened on, He has flown on ahead. Look and see where. O Christian, don't you know where your Lord has gone? I ask you: Don't you wish to follow Him there? Through trials, insults, the cross, and death. Why do you hesitate? Look, the way has been shown you." (excerpt from Sermon 64,5) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments for today.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 26:14–27:66 quotes a homily on Palm Sunday, when St. Bernard of Clairvaux remarked,

How different the cries that now are calling him “King of Israel” and then in a few days’ time will be saying, “We have no king but Caesar!” What a contrast between the green branches and the cross, between the flowers and the thorns! Before they were offering their own clothes for him to walk upon, and so soon afterwards they are stripping him of his, and casting lots upon them.

As you begin Holy Week, join the crowds in shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Matthew 21:9). Then stay with Jesus all week as he prepares to suffer and die. Take some time each day to consider this one realization in today’s Gospel: “Truly, this was the Son of God!” (27:54). Jesus, the Son of God, suffered and died for you—and that is better than any Hollywood ending.

“Hosanna! Jesus, my King and my Lord, I praise you!” (Meditation on Matthew 26:14–27:66, n.d.)

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, identifies the human impulse to solve problems by blaming others. If we read today’s news, we see the pattern has not changed. Hating, fearing, or diminishing someone else holds us together, for some reason.

 

The creating of necessary victims is in our hardwiring. Philosopher René Girard called this “scapegoat mechanism” the central pattern for the creation and maintenance of cultures worldwide since the beginning. [1] (Rohr, n.d.)

References

Isaiah, CHAPTER 50 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 29, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/50?4 

Matthew, CHAPTER 21 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 29, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/21?1 

Matthew, CHAPTER 26 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 29, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/26?14 

Matthew, CHAPTER 27 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 29, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/27 

Meditation on Matthew 26:14–27:66. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved March 29, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/03/26/1526440/ 

Philippians, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 30, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/philippians/2?6 

Psalms, PSALM 22 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 29, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/22?8 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). A Harmful Delusion. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved March 29, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-harmful-delusion/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Blessed Is the King Who Comes in the Name of the Lord. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 29, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Wirth, E. (2026, March 28). Daily Reflection March 28, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved March 29, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-march-28-2026