The Zealot Program

Judas belonged to a revolutionary movement in Israel which primary objective is to topple down the colonization of Israel by the Roman Empire . It is a movement which was willing to resort to violence in order to achieve social change and dispel the conquerors from their lands. He was a pragmatist. Pope Benedict XVI calls this mentality as the Zealot project. (Jesus of Nazareth: Entry into Jerusalem to the Resurrection).

This gives us a background on the way Judas thinks. For him, the only thing that mattered are the practical side of reality. For these people, freedom is achieved in violence, social well-being is achieved in selling the expensive private properties, well-being is defined by how one could literally “go, sell what you have and give to the poor" (Matthew 19:21) and follow the Lord.

The Gospel today does not run in contradiction with this. When Jesus responded to Judas: “You have the poor with you always, you will not always have me,” (John 12:19) he was affirming the value of Mary’s faith and devotion to him. Mary has decided to express her faith and devotion by not putting a price or estimation to her love for the Master. She, for all we know is the avid fan of the Lord. She preferred to savor the presence of the Lord instead of tending the household chores as mentioned in Luke 10:38–42, the episode where Martha complained about Mary not helping her with the works of hospitality.

In attempting to put a price on the costly perfume, Judas has shown that he is putting a price on Jesus. It indicates that faith in Jesus is not priceless; that it can be bought and sold. Judas’ selling out of Jesus to the Pharisees must not surprise us on account of this Gospel. It is an identity marker to Judas and his primary values.

On the other hand, Mary stands the opposite of Judas. She is willing to give it all. She values Jesus beyond priceless. For her, Jesus is incomparable and is without a price. For her, as a friend of Jesus, Jesus is the One. This is a symptom of true love; you can never express it in words only in action and in effort. Most of the time, you can only express it by willing and giving the best for the other. Love is all about willing the good of the other. (Barron) Love gives unsparingly. (Dianzon)

The expensive art works in the Churches, particularly the priceless collections at the Vatican museum, the ornate retablos, the dazzling vestments, the ornate sculptures and statues, and the intimately-designed interiors of the Churches are all humanity’s expression of love for Jesus the Christ, the Son of God. In short, they belong to humanity and history. Nobody has the right to sell them, not even the Church. Making the mistake of thinking that these expressions of devotions are extravagant and uncalled for is similar to the mentality of the Zealot program.

While feeding the poor is our primary concern, our identity as Christians must not be lost in the midst of a highly pragmatic times. When Jesus says: “You have the poor with you always, you will not always have me,” he means the feeding of the poor entirely depends on our work and generosity to provide means.

This does not mean that we divide our works of faith into feeding the poor and beautifying our churches. It means we multiply our expressions of our faith to include both. We multiply our loving. We multiply our generosity according to reasonable ways.

This is the level of generosity that our faith demands from us because God loved us unconditionally.

Arts help us in our prayers. Arts remind us of the value of our faith. Arts help us interpret our faith.

How about you? What are you willing to give for the Lord, and how willing are you to give it? Are you Judas or are you Mary?

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FIRST READING | Is 42:1-7

Here is my servant whom I uphold,

my chosen one with whom I am pleased,

Upon whom I have put my Spirit;

he shall bring forth justice to the nations,

Not crying out, not shouting,

not making his voice heard in the street.

A bruised reed he shall not break,

and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,

Until he establishes justice on the earth;

the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

Thus says God, the LORD,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spreads out the earth with its crops,

Who gives breath to its people

and spirit to those who walk on it:

I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,

I have grasped you by the hand;

I formed you, and set you

as a covenant of the people,

a light for the nations,

To open the eyes of the blind,

to bring out prisoners from confinement,

and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM | Ps 27:1, 2, 3, 13-14

R. (1a) The Lord is my light and my salvation.

The LORD is my light and my salvation;

whom should I fear?

The LORD is my life’s refuge;

of whom should I be afraid?

When evildoers come at me

to devour my flesh,

My foes and my enemies

themselves stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me,

my heart will not fear;

Though war be waged upon me,

even then will I trust.

I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD

in the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD with courage;

be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.

GOSPEL | John 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.