The Anointing at Bethany
MORNING
PRAISE | April 05, 2020
The Anointing at Bethany
PERSONAL REFLECTION
How does one measure self-worth in the time of Covid-19? In
the midst of helplessness and isolation, where does one even begin to find his
value to his family, his community, and the world?
As I go through my quarantine-altered life here in Arvisu, my
social media feed is bombarded with stories that direct my attention to what’s
happening outside 134 B. Gonzales Street. My digital screens open my eyes to
stories of other people’s pain and suffering: the dire situation that our
medical front liners are being made to confront; the plea of the marginalized
for food to quell their hunger; the grieving of families who lost someone they
love to the virus, and how their final moments are laced with loneliness –
dying alone in the company of strangers, deprived of the dignity of final
goodbyes and I love you’s.
Yet almost in the same breath, I am also made aware of how
oblivious some people seem to be of other people’s plight: like a neighbor’s
pressing need to find a punching dummy; or how some public officials see the
urgency in putting a stop to “solicitations and actions that compete with or
undermine the national government’s efforts to mitigate the impact of the
health crisis.”
Meanwhile, I feel caught in the middle – I wrack my brain to
find something meaningful to do for my own sanity, our community, and for the
country – doing it almost round the clock: even as I take one more bite of the
delicious Chicken Hamonado, as I struggle to reverently pray before the blessed
sacrament in our air-conditioned chapel, and even as I scour through Netflix
and the internet for films I would want to watch next.
These days, our privileged lives make it is so easy to be
lured into the grip of guilt in the face of other people’s suffering. I imagine
that must be how Mary felt when Judas Iscariot calls her out for spending
valuable resources on costly perfumed oil. She must have felt guilty and
somehow found merit in what Judas had to say, because stripped of Judas’
malicious intent, there is indeed value in prioritizing helping those in need.
Jesus’ response to Judas and Mary might as well be the
invitation for us today. It was almost as if Jesus told them to be in the
moment; to value now what will be gone soon; to relish the little time that
they have left to be together.
To me, however, this invitation, goes beyond nurturing ties
and bonds as we count the days leading to results day. The invitation is to be
present not just to the people here but perhaps, just as important, to those
outside – especially to family and friends who need someone to listen to them,
to be with them as they unburden themselves from all the stress, fears, and
anxieties that they had been carrying with them for the past few weeks.
And so I beg the Lord that I may truly see my worth in these
trying times – to see that there is also much value in making myself available
to Him and to others in need during these challenging times; in devoting my
presence to address the not-so-obvious needs of the present; and to not be
limited by the idea that one has to be in the front lines or do spectacular
things to be of value to others.
Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
“It's
being here now that's important. There's no past and there's no future. Time is
a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience
from the past, but we can't relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we
don't know if there is one.”– George Harrison
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