Scriptures: Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Mark 14:1–15:47
Here we are Holy Week; 40 days of Lent are coming to an end.
Today’s Gospel from Mark might come across to us as a “play,” a “Passion Play.”
However, the Gospel today is only a play, something to watch, if it has no effect on our Christian commitment to follow Jesus in our world of today.
St. Paul was convinced that in order to be “another Christ” (A disciple of Christ) one had to have the “mentality of Christ.”
The mindset of Jesus is always geared to surfacing and responding to the needs of others. We have countless examples of this in the Scriptures. Right at the beginning of today’s Gospel some of the disciples are concerned that a woman is wasting perfumed oil, that might we use, for the poor. But Jesus comes to her defense and says, “Leave her alone.”
In the mind of Jesus – the intentions of the person always trumps another person’s interpretation of those intentions.
As people called at Baptism to be the Lord’s Disciples in today’s world, we are called daily to have and to grow in having the mindset of Christ.
One scripture scholar has shared:
“God’s authentic followers hit the floor every morning listening for what God is telling them today that they did not notice God telling them yesterday; Listening for the needs of those around them, needs that they had not heard yesterday.” (Isaiah 50: 4-7: “Morning after Morning the Lord God opens my ears that I may hear.”)
May this Holy Week, and hopefully our participation in the services of Holy Week – remind us of the “mindset of Jesus,” a mindset that is all encompassing. A mindset that we as Christians are called to take on daily that shares with others, “Jesus is alive today, sharing his love of all people through each of us.”