Thursday, May 14
Liturgical Color: Red
St. Maria Mazzarello died on this day in
1881. With the help of St. Don Bosco,
she founded the Daughters of Mary, Help
of Christians to care for girls. She was
known for the great compassion and love
given the girls entrusted to her charge.
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1 It was now two days before the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth, and kill him; 2 for they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be a tumult of the people."
3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the jar and poured it over his head. 4 But there were some who said to themselves indignantly, "Why was the ointment thus wasted? 5 For this ointment might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, b and given to the poor." And they reproached her. 6 But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good to them; but you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burying. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her."
10 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11 And when they heard it they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.
the Passover: The yearly Jewish feast celebrating Israel's deliverance from Egyptian slavery (Ex 12). Paschal lambs (14:12) were sacrificed in the Temple courts the afternoon before the feast. At sundown families or small groups would gather to eat a Seder meal of lamb, unleavened bread, wine, and herbs. Combined with the festival of Unleavened Bread, the liturgical celebrations ran seven days, from the 15th of the month (Mar/ Apr) until the 21st of the month (Lev 23:4-8; Num 9:1-14). Passover was one of three pilgrim feasts that required Jewish men to travel to Jerusalem (Deut 16:16).
the people: Jerusalem's normal population of approximately 50,000 swelled to several hundred thousand with the influx of Passover pilgrims. This made the Jerusalem leaders think twice about arresting a popular figure like Jesus, since provoking such unmanageable numbers could easily incite a violent reaction from the Jews and ultimately bring Rome's reprisal upon the city.