Is 41:1-7 / Jn 12:1-11
How often have we seen in the movies the downward spiraling tale of an ordinary person who gets caught up in some scheme or chain of events that leads him to the edge of a precipice. At so many points along the way, we want to shout, "Stop! Turn back before it's too late! You can still escape!" But the person on screen can't hear us, and finally he goes over the edge into murder or suicide or some equally dreadful tragedy. And even though it's only a story, we mourn: "It didn't have to happen."
One can have much the same thoughts about the chief priests in today's gospel. They started out as ordinary, decent human beings who wanted to serve God, and then through an almost infinitely long series of choices, they slowly deteriorated into cold careerists who would stop at nothing to preserve their positions of power. Not only Jesus would have to die, but Lazarus as well, because he was living evidence of Jesus' power to give life.
This is the kind of tragedy that can sneak up on any of us, if we're not paying close attention to the patterns in our lives. We can be soothed by the fact that we still have the right words, and simultaneously fail to notice that our deeds have walked away from those good words.
So that's our task for the day: Lay the deeds next to the words. Are you satisfied with the match? If not, Holy Week is a great time to name your need to the Lord.
