Monday, March 26, 2018

How might I be covering up disordered motives using an altruistic facade? What am I distracted by and where do I need to redirect my focus to Jesus, even if Jesus is sharing some startling or sobering news in my own life, that could be difficult for me to accept?


Man can and does rationalize his sins. He finds reasons for all his weakness, invents excuses that first calm and then deaden his conscience. He blames God, society, education, and environment for his wrong doing.  - Mother Angelica: ((born Rita Antoinette Rizzo; April 20, 1923 – March 27, 2016), also known as Mother Angelica, was a Catholic American Franciscan nun best known for her television personality.)

Gospel Text: (JN 12:1-11)
Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany,
where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served,
while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him.
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.
Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples,
and the one who would betray him, said,
"Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days' wages
and given to the poor?"
He said this not because he cared about the poor
but because he was a thief and held the money bag
and used to steal the contributions.
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 of the Jews were turning away
and believing in Jesus because of him.

In the end, His death was not an accident. But for every person who worked to nail Jesus to the Cross, there was a choice made, or many choices. We remember that on the Cross, Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Every one of us who is a sinner has the chance to accept this prayer. We have the chance to realize that even on the Cross, Jesus is our Good Shepherd, who wants to offer us His divine mercy and forgiveness.


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