Thursday, March 1

“It is one of the Twelve,” He replied, “one who dips bread into the 

bowl with me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him. 

But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better 

for him if he had not been born.”  (Mark 14: 20-21) 

I close my eyes and hear these words in my mind. They are words 

filled with sorrow, pain and perhaps even bitterness, for He is human.  

He knows what will happen, must happen. Does He utter the words 

with some small hope that the betrayer might reconsider his actions?  

Or is He simply saying, “I know who you are and what you are 

doing?” How excruciating it must be to know that someone He calls 

friend, disciple, trusted companion will soon deliver Him up to those 

who will torture and kill Him.   

And His words speak to us still. He knows what is in us, what we 

have done, what we will do.  We say that we follow Him.  How, then, 

do we nonetheless betray Him? Our human imperfection, our 

pettiness, apathy, and dishonesty continually denounce Him who 

suffered and died for us.  We must look into ourselves and ask Him to 

strengthen us in faith, hope and love that we may not fail or abandon 

Him when we are tempted. What is past is forgiven, what lies ahead 

is within us, with His help, to change, repair and improve.  

"God our Father, we are exceedingly frail and indisposed to every 

virtuous and gallant undertaking.  Strengthen our weakness, we 

beseech you, that we may do valiantly in this spiritual war; help us 

against our own negligence and cowardice, and defend us from the 

treachery of our unfaithful hearts; for Jesus Christ's sake." (Prayer of 

Thomas a Kempis)  

Barbara White

Wednesday, February 29

When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve.  While they were 

reclining at the table eating, He said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will 

betray me—one who is eating with me.”   They were saddened, and 

one by one they said to Him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”   

(Mark 14: 17-19) 

“Surely you don’t mean me?”  Has this happened to you?  The finger 

points at us for a wrong doing and we answer, “Surely you don’t 

mean me?”   We’re sitting and chatting with friends, maybe having 

wine and cheese, and  a statement is made, and we feel our knees 

get weak and our stomachs upset,  and yet  we think, “surely it 

wasn’t me?”   What would it be like to have been chosen to be the 

“betrayer?”  Someone had to do it.  There is always a “bad guy/ 

woman” around every corner.  What if that is me?  Are we all 

capable?  Do we have greed in us?  Do we want to do what others 

ask of us?   

All have betrayed in some way or another.  We may not have given 

aid to an enemy or committed treason, but have we been disloyal or 

unfaithful to someone, gossiped  or divulged a breach of confidence?   

It would be hard to go through life and have done none of these.  

What do we do once we know we have done wrong?   

 Most of us feel guilt.  Do we live with this guilt or find a way to get rid 

of it?   Jesus came to cleanse, redeem and to teach us how to love 

one another.   

Cleanse  -  Through prayer and seeking forgiveness. 

Redeem - The Redeemer came to save us from sin and set us free.  

 Love  -     Decide to change what made us vulnerable and let our love      

     flow to others. 

         Scars 

   Markings in dry clay disappear 

   Only when the clay is soft again. 

   Scars upon the self disappear 

   Only when one becomes soft within. 

     -Deng Ming-Dao 

   
Kaye White

Tuesday, February 28

So He sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a 

man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the 

owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest 

room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show 

you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for 

us there.” The disciples left, went into the city and found things just 

as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.   

(Mark 14: 13-16) 

It’s fascinating, isn’t it, how it all started? The prelude to the drama 

of our Lord’s arrest, mock trial, crucifixion, death, burial and 

resurrection turns out to be an inner-city rendezvous between two 

disciples of Jesus and a man carrying a water jar! 

Jesus hand-picks this man carrying his family’s water supply to direct  

His followers to the very room in which He will share His last intimate 

supper with His closest followers! And the tragic drama begins! 

Yet, this turn of events isn’t surprising considering God’s fondness for 

using “earthen vessel” people to get God’s plans worked out. “The 

disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had 

told them. So they prepared the Passover.” (Mark 14:16) 

God really does count on our faithfulness in obeying even the 

smallest nudges of the Holy Spirit in our lives! Today’s passage 

reminds us of all the people to whom God whispered or shouted, 

Mary, chief among them, who quietly DID what God asked. And, as a 

result, God wove the imprint of God’s incredible love into human 

history!  

So, while we’re working on any Lenten disciplines we may have 

chosen to draw us closer to Jesus, today might be a good time to 

write this one into the top of the list: “HELP ME, DEAR LORD, TO 

LISTEN ATTENTIVELY AS YOU WHISPER TO ME DAILY ABOUT THE 

LITTLE AND BIG THINGS YOU HAVE FOR ME TO DO. GRANT ME 

GRACE TO FOLLOW WHERE YOU LEAD, AND TO LEAVE THE RESULTS 

TO YOU!” AMEN.

      

 Craig Peel

Monday, February 27

On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was 

customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked Him, 

“Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat 

the Passover?”   (Mark 14: 12) 

Imagine yourself in the shoes of the apostles as they anticipate the 

first day of Unleavened Bread and ask Jesus to tell them where He 

wants them to go and prepare to eat the Passover. Judas has already 

gone to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. What answer do 

they expect to hear? Will it be left for them to find a suitable location 

for thirteen guests to eat and some family to prepare the meal?  

The importance of the gathering is signaled by the very detailed in- 

structions Jesus gives to the two apostles (Peter and John) who are 

given this task. Jesus has pre-ordained the event down to the last 

detail…1) Go to the city; 2) you will be met by a man carrying a jar of 

water and you are instructed to follow him; 3) wherever he enters, 

ask the owner of the house, “where is my guest room where I may 

eat the Passover with my disciples?” 4) He will show you a large 

room upstairs furnished and ready.   

Why such secrecy?  Two men meeting a third man carrying a water 

Jar would be less obvious than all of the apostles going together to 

the house. Privacy is essential for the institution of the most sacred 

rite of communion with Jesus.  

  

How will you react if sometime in the future, you must disguise your 

participation of communion in order to avoid persecution? Are you 

ready? 

Janet and David Harden

Sunday, February 26 - First Sunday in Lent

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to 

betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised 

to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand Him 

over.   (Mark 14: 10-11) 

“Jesus was born to die.”  

I recalled this opening line of a Christmas morning sermon many 

years ago as I started this meditation over the past Christmas 

weekend.  

Indeed, Mark reports that Jesus told His disciples He would be killed 

(Mk 8:31) and that the Son of Man would be betrayed and handed 

over to the people…and be killed. (Mk 9:31) Jesus knew the 

instrument of this betrayal was Judas Iscariot. (Mk 14:18-21) It is 

apparent that Judas was destined to be the bad actor in the divine 

plan of self-sacrifice. As the injustice of the crucifixion hit home to 

Judas, Matthew reports that he attempted to return his reward and 

thereafter hung himself.  My home study course on Augustine, whose 

influence on orthodox Christian Doctrine is manifest, summarizes 

Augustine’s concept of predestination as God’s deciding what shall 

happen in His plan to give grace to some and not others. If Judas was 

predestined to do what he did, does he deserve the opprobrium his 

name invokes? I can hear Judas say: “Why me God? and “It’s not 

fair.”   

But is fairness a concept applicable or relevant to an understanding of 

God’s choices? Does it make sense to say that God makes choices as 

we humans like to think we make?  

These questions are unanswerable. I don’t think one can “understand” 
God. Perhaps we shouldn’t be so hard on Judas.   Faith in the teaching
of Jesus is the only option regardless of whether one is predestined to
receive God’s grace or not. Let’s forgive Judas. 

Ron DeVeau 

Saturday, February 25

 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has 

done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, 

and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always 

have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body 

beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the 

gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also 

be told, in memory of her.”   (Mark 14:6-9) 

Re-membering Her: The Jar 

Smooth and white and cold in trembling hands 

  the jar shook with the pounding of her heart 

She paused outside the door - time still to turn! 

  time still to slip into the pitch of night 

Be still, my heart! For Him be still, be brave! 

How ill the thoughts of those who lay in wait 

  to pierce His flesh out of their lust for power! 

The sight of Him that hour drew her on- 

  kind eyes that held no trace of harm or blame 

  feet bruised and worn by travel in the name 

of love and hands that had no fear to touch  

  the leper’s oozing sore, the sinner’s shame 

She knew, she knew 

in Him was life—her life; 

this jar—all she possessed—love’s sacrifice 

She stood behind Him where He lay to dine 

  as guest of one poor leper in the town 

then snap! 

the jagged alabaster shards 

sharp scent of nard 

  the ointment streaming down— 

all this from woman’s hands-- 

called forth harsh cries  

  of “Waste!” and “What about the needy poor?” 

But He blazed back at them, those blinded men, 

“Leave her alone, she’s done this for my death.” 

With inner eyes He saw the waiting cross 

and seeing her, knew He’d not run but stay 

the course, be broken and like unguent spilled 

  would fill the earth with fragrance of His love 

 

For she, He knew, would love the poor He loved 

  and for their sake set free from fear His friends 

to heal, forgive, befriend, become as one 

  anointing vessel—broken, blessed and given. 

Julia Dorsey Loomis 

Friday, February 24 - Feast Day of St Matthias

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why 

this waste of perfume?  It could have been sold for more than a year’s 

wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her 

harshly.  (Mark 14: 4-5) 

Picture the scene in your mind. A dinner given with Jesus as a guest 

of honor. All gathered at the table when suddenly this woman 

appears with a vial of expensive perfumed oil which she proceeds to 

pour on Jesus’ feet and wipe them with her hair. In itself an 

outrageous gesture. But the cost of this oil! Half-a-years’ wages!  

Unbelievable! 

Indignation at a gift - a gift of love! Indignation at the timing! Little 

understanding her or its meaning or intention. The woman involved is 

often assumed to be Mary Magdalene but even if she’s not Mary, at 

least she comes with a gift of love. The response from those around 

her is the dismay at the pure waste when there are so many poor in 

need. For this is a really extravagant gift, its intention mistaken and 

assumptions made about the person offering it. Perhaps, you and I 

need to look more clearly at our assumptions about the actions of 

others!!   

Fr. Ted Bishop  

Thursday, February 23

 While He was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon 

the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive 

perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the 

perfume on His head.  (Mark 14: 3) 

Expensive perfume! What woman would give up a whole jar of 

expensive perfume and pour it on the head of a man? It was probably 

worth a years wages. It was probably all she had that was worth 

anything. What WAS she thinking? 

  

Maybe she just wasn’t thinking. Maybe she was just loving Him so 

intensely that she just poured out every drop of that precious 

perfume on His head. Did she know something that no one else 

knew? Had she seen something with the eye of her heart and the 

passion of her mind? Did she know, at the depth of her being, who 

this man really was? Was she willing to pour out everything she had 

for Him, just as he would pour out his very life for all of us? Oh, that 

I had that passion – that insight - that wisdom, to know without 

doubt, that this was (is) God incarnate! 

Give thanks!  Give everything! 

Pat Wilson

Wednesday, February 22 - Ash Wednesday

Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two 

days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were 

scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill Him. “But not during the 

festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”  (Mark 14: 1-2) 

Jesus is God; He’s the Messiah. He’s 100% divine, bodily resurrected 

from the dead. He’s on Facebook and YouTube. He’s eating oysters at 

Kelly’s after shopping at Wal-Mart. Jesus hangs out wherever people 

are. 

Jesus loves those on the margins and fringes. Those who don’t 

belong and even those who do. Everyone is invited to His party! 

Contrary to what an east coast priest and a west coast scribe make 

money saying, Jesus is what the Holy Bible says He is. I attest that 

years of solid Jesuit academic theological study have not educated 

out of me what I knew at age 10: Jesus is my Savior, He is my Lord. 

The world beholds His glory, full of grace and truth; the Word made 

flesh 2016 years ago, the Spirit among us this very day. 

Call me a schemer, tell me I might upset people or incite a riot. Oh to 

be like Him and cause even a tiny stir! 

He poured Himself out; He gave everything for everyone on this tiny 

planet. I’ve given up a few possessions, memorized some verses and 

done a lot of volunteering. 

Oh to be like Jesus; just to see Him and be Him in everything I do. 

Sharon Keene