April 11, 2022
The wheels are in motion. Today’s readings are propelling us toward Good Friday. Isaiah’s Suffering Servant Song is the first reading. This servant is so concerned about all including even those with the smallest amount of faith. He will encourage that faith as one shelters a smoldering wick and treasures a bruised reed. And for this tender care this unnamed person will he harshly treated but his suffering will ultimately win victory. And why will this servant be vindicated? The answer is in the psalm for today, Psalm 27: “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” As long as we take refuge in the Lord, we have nothing to fear. By virtue of our baptism, we have been anointed as Priest, Prophet, and King. The Suffering Servant, whom Christians see as Jesus, had been set aside. In John’s Gospel, Jesus is anointed by a woman. Think of how athletes in the Colosseum oiled their bodies before entering the ring to fight. Today, Jesus is anointed in preparation for his greatest battle—Good Friday. We cannot avoid trials if we live our faith, like Jesus, the Suffering Servant. But we have been anointed at Baptism and some of us again at Confirmation. We have been given the strength to do battle and are promised that “we will see the bounty of the Lord” as Psalm 27 says.