Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Hai Tuần thánh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Hai Tuần thánh 2019 (John 12:1-11)
Thiên Chúa đã hứa thực hiện những điều tuyệt vời cho dân Israel đang phải lưu vong. Người tôi tớ của Thiên Chúa sẽ thiết lập nền công chính, cũng như một giao ước mới với mọi người. Và họ đã trở nên ánh sáng cho những quốc gia. Nhiều thế kỷ sau, những người Kitô hữu tiên khởi sẽ dùng những câu này để diễn tả về Chúa Giêsu. Thiên Chúa luôn làm những việc kỳ diệu cho chúng ta và luôn mong muốn đem lại hạnh phúc, niềm vui và bồi dưỡng tâm linh của chúng ta. Cho dù đó là thời điểm của tiên tri Isaiah, hay thời đại của Chúa Giê-su hay thời đại của chúng ta, Thiên Chúa luôn hiện diện ở đấy giữa chúng ta; chúng ta phải biết và tin rằng đó là chíng là đức tin của chúng ta.
Cũng sự biểu hiện tình yêu kính trọng tuyệt đối và sự tôn trọng tuyệt vời, cô Maria chị của ông Lazarus đã xức dầu cho Chúa Jesus bằng thuốc thơm đắt tiền và lau chân bằng chính tóc của cô ta. Giuđa phản đối việc làm của cô ta và cho đó là một sự lãng phí; vì số tiền mua thuốc thơm đó có lẽ giúp được bao nhiêu người nghèo. Nhưng đối với Chúa Giêsu Ngài đã nhận ra đó chính là một hành động của lòng tốt yêu thương và dẩu thơm đó cũng dành cho việc xức trên thân xác của ngài trong sự chôn cất của Ngài trong những ngày sắp tới. Chúa Giêsu luôn nhân tờ, bác ái và tỏ lòng từ bi với người khác, nhưng Ngài cũng biết cách đón nhận lòng tốt của người khác. Thường thì đó là điều khó khăn với mọi người , nhất là một số rất giỏi trong việc cho đi nhưng không thể đứng ra để nhận lãnh ăn huệ của người khác. Cho và nhận, cả hai đều có biểu hiện của tình yêu.
Lạy Chúa, xin giúp con biết sẵn cho đi và biết đón nhận.  Lạy Chúa Giêsu, xin hãy giúp chúng con dùng thời giờ cho người khác và không quá bận rộn với những thứ khác mà chúng con bỏ lỡ tất cả những gì Chúa đã cho chúng con trong Tuần Thánh này!
 
Monday of Holy Week 15th April 2019 (Is. 42:1-7; Ps. 27(26):1,2,3,13-14; Jn. 12:1-11 )
God promised great things to the people of Israel who were in exile. His servant would establish justice, as well as a covenant with the people. They were to become the light to the nations. Many centuries later, the early Christians would use these verses to describe Jesus. God is always working for us and always desires our well-being, happiness, and spiritual growth. Whether it’s in the time of Isaiah, the time of Jesus, or our own time, God is always there — knowing and believing that is what faith is all about.
As an expression of great love and respect, Mary the sister of Lazarus anointed the feet of Jesus with costly ointment and wiped them with her hair. Judas protested that it was a waste — the money should have been given to the poor. Jesus recognized it for what it was: an act of loving kindness and an anointing for his burial, which was approaching rapidly. Jesus was always kind and compassionate to others, but he also knew how to receive kindness. Often that is difficult for people — some are great at giving but cannot stand to receive. Giving and receiving are both expressions of love.
Lord, help me to give and to receive.
 “Jesus, help me to place you first this week. May I not get so busy with other things that I miss out on all that you have for me this Holy Week!”
 
Monday of Holy Week 2026
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. John 12:1–3
On Saturday evening, the day before Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus and His disciples enjoyed a meal at the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus in Bethany, located about two miles from Jerusalem. Lazarus—who had recently been raised from the dead after being in the tomb for four days—was present at the meal. Martha fulfilled her important role of loving service, while Mary once again took center stage with her profound act of devotion, honoring Jesus by anointing Him with a liter of costly perfume made from pure nard, worth nearly a year’s wages.
The nard (spikenard) Mary used was an aromatic oil derived from the roots of a plant native to the Himalayan regions of modern-day Nepal and northern India. Due to the challenges of harvesting and transporting it over a distance of 3,000 to 4,000 miles, nard was a luxury item in Israel, reserved for the wealthy or used in sacred rituals. Its fragrance, prized for its therapeutic properties, was often used in perfumes, incense, and anointing oils. The lavish use of this rare oil emphasizes the depth of Mary’s devotion.
Practically speaking, it might be easy to sympathize with Judas’ strong objection: “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?” (John 12:5). Imagine how many people could have been helped by that money! Yet Jesus’ affirmation of Mary’s action is absolute: “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). Jesus’ words are not dismissive of the poor; rather, they point to the highest duty we must fulfill: the worship of God.
Mary’s act of love demonstrates that wholehearted worship is the foundation of all other good works. Recall Jesus’ twofold commandment: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind…You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37, 39). Only when the first and greatest commandment is fulfilled—love of God—can the second be fully realized—love of neighbor. Charity that does not flow directly out of our love for and worship of God becomes mere philanthropy. When charity is rooted in worship of God, it becomes an expression of and participation in divine love.
Mary got it right. She might not have fully understood what she was doing, but her heart told her to honor Jesus as God, sparing nothing in her effort. The symbolism cannot be missed. Her anointing not only prophesied Jesus’ impending death and the customary anointing of a body for burial but also pointed to His identity as the Messiah—God’s anointed King and High Priest. The quality and quantity of the oil symbolize our duty to generously offer God our very best—everything we have and are—placing nothing earthly above divine worship. Anointing His feet emphasizes Mary’s humility, prefiguring the service that Jesus Himself would show by washing His disciples’ feet. The fragrance filling the house shows how authentic acts of devotion leave a lasting witness. It lingers, symbolizing how acts of true devotion not only honor God but also inspire others, spreading the “aroma of Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:15) wherever they are offered. In this, Mary teaches us that love for God surpasses what the natural mind perceives as practical, reminding us that the wisdom of wholehearted worship is understood only through the gift of grace.
Reflect today on your sacred duty to imitate Mary’s loving act of devotion. How do you express your deep love for God? Sometimes we take God for granted, treating our relationship with Him as one-sided, always asking for favors. Imitate Mary of Bethany by choosing to honor and worship God for the single reason that He is God and is worthy of all our love. If you can get worship right, as Mary did, all else will flow from that interior disposition of wholehearted devotion, enabling you to fulfill every other duty God has entrusted to you.
My Lord and God, You are the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the World. I love and adore You with all my soul. Draw me into deep worship of You, making it my first and greatest priority, so that from that act of charity, all good things will flow. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Monday of Holy Week 2026
Opening Prayer: Lord God, you have called me and chosen me out of love. I did nothing to deserve this vocation and election. Strengthen me to respond generously to your call, to resist the temptations of this world, and to be your humble servant.
Encountering the Word of God
1. In the House of His Friends: John tells us that “six days before Passover,” Jesus came to Bethany, a village on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives. The village was about two miles east of Jerusalem. After resting on the Sabbath, Jesus had dinner that evening at the house of his three friends. Lazarus reclined at the dinner table with Jesus and his disciples. A likely theme of conversation was how Jesus recently restored Lazarus to life (John 11:1-44) and, because of this miracle, how Jesus had to retreat with his disciples into the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim (John 11:54). At this dinner, Martha served the meal without complaining, without being distracted, becoming anxious, and judging Mary, her sister. Mary was once again at the feet of Jesus. At an earlier dinner, narrated in Luke 10:38-42, Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to his teaching. Here, she anoints Jesus’ feet. Each of the three friends related to Jesus in different ways. Lazarus was a faithful and fearless friend who was always ready to welcome Jesus and his disciples into his home when Jesus was in Jerusalem. Martha was active in her service as she cooked and prepared the meals, cleaned the house, and made it ready for everyone. Mary was more contemplative than her sister and was willing to set aside everything to listen to Jesus or to sell everything for Jesus. While Martha would have spent the money on food for Jesus and his disciples, Mary spent what she had on perfumed oil to anoint the king of the universe, eternal high priest, and prophet greater than Moses. How do I relate to Jesus? As a faithful and courageous friend like Lazarus? As one who serves Jesus in others, like Martha? As one who sits in contemplation with Jesus like Mary?
2. Anointing Jesus’ Feet, Head, and Body: Jesus will be anointed three times. We read today about the first anointing. Mary anointed Jesus’ feet by pouring out a pound (litran) of pure spikenard, worth a year’s wages (300 denarii). When Judas complained about the gesture, and how the oil could have been sold, and the money given to the poor, Jesus corrected him and told Mary to keep the rest of the oil for the day of his burial. The second anointing took place a couple of days later, in the house of Simon the Leper, which was also in Bethany (Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9). This time, an unnamed woman didn’t just pour out some of the spikenard oil, but broke the jar, and poured out all of it on Jesus’ head. On the one hand, the woman expressed her love for Jesus. On the other hand, to anoint the head with oil was a way to crown a king (1 Samuel 10:1; 16:13) and to ordain a priest (Exodus 29:7). “This woman’s gesture is a symbolic recognition of Jesus the messianic king and high priest! Although she may have been only vaguely aware of the significance of her act, Jesus recognized and affirmed it. It is the only time in the Gospel that he is literally anointed (the meaning of ‘messiah’), and it takes place just days before he completes his messianic mission” (Healy, The Gospel of Mark, 277). The third anointing will be at the burial of Jesus, when Nicodemus brought 100 pounds (litras) of myrrh and aloes, and anointed the body of Jesus (John 19:39-40). Jesus was anointed with perfumed oil that befits a high priest because the Law of Moses (Exodus 30:22-33) insisted that the high priest be anointed with an oil of the finest spices, including myrrh, for his ordination (see Bergsma, New Testament Basics for Catholics, 252).
3. Anticipations in Today’s Gospel: Today’s Gospel includes many foreshadowings and anticipations. Judas’s complaint about the waste of money anticipates his betrayal for thirty pieces of silver. The mention of Lazarus, who was restored to life on the fourth day, anticipates Jesus’ resurrection o on the third day. Mary’s anointing in Bethany anticipates the anointing of Jesus’ body at his burial. Mary drying Jesus’ feet with her hair anticipates Jesus’ gesture of washing and drying his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper. The fragrance spreading throughout the room anticipates the spread of the Gospel throughout the entire world. How am I called to spread the Gospel today?
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, teach me everything I need to be a servant like you. You humbled yourself through your Incarnation, birth, and hidden life. Your public ministry was one of humble service. Your death on the Cross was the supreme example of humble obedience. Even now, reigning in heaven, you are the Servant King, who intercedes for his people.
 
Monday of Holy Week
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?” John 12:4–5
Jesus was with His disciples at the home of Lazarus, Martha and Mary. He regularly spent time at their home and was close to them. This meal took place just before Jesus entered into Jerusalem for the first Palm Sunday and Holy Week. It was six days before Jesus would die on the cross.
Recall that Lazarus had recently been raised from the dead by Jesus and also that Mary, Lazarus’ sister, was deeply devoted to Jesus and is recorded as the one who sat at His feet, while her sister Martha served. During this visit, Mary offered another act of devotion to Jesus when she anointed Him with “a liter of costly perfumed oil.” She offered Him an act of love and devotion. The Scripture passage above records Judas’ response as he also was at the meal. Jesus rebukes Judas and defends the act of devotion given by Mary, and the meal continues on. 
One clear lesson this teaches us is that nothing is too good for our Lord. It’s true that we must do our part to help care for the poor, but Jesus’ response to Judas is quite interesting. He says, “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.” Jesus was not downplaying the importance of caring for the poor; He was emphasizing the importance of offering acts of love and devotion to Him.
As we enter into this the holiest week of the year, we are given this image of Mary lavishing upon Jesus this liter of costly perfumed oil as a way of inviting us to do the same. Though we serve Christ in others who are in need, we must also seek to regularly offer Him devotion and love directly, even in ways that others may think is excessive. Honoring Him, expressing our love, spending time with various devotions, praying for extended periods of time, and even offering Him our financial resources are all ways in which we give Jesus the glory that is due Him.
Reflect, today, upon ways in which you can imitate this act of loving devotion offered by Mary to Jesus. In what ways can you pour forth in an abundant way your time, money, talents, and energy upon our Lord? How can you best express your devotion to Him this Holy Week? Seek out ways to do this directly for the one and simple reason that you love our Lord and want to express that love this week.
My glorious Jesus, You are worthy of all praise and honor. You are worthy of our deepest devotion and love. As I enter into this Holy Week, I pray that it will be a time in which I may express my deepest love for You. Help me to pour forth that love in abundance this week so as to show You the glory and praise You deserve. Jesus, I trust in You.