JESU,

JOY OF MAN’S DESIRING

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Monday in Holy Week is, “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.”

BLOG QUOTES

I put a quote for every day on my blog. I have a lot of quote books and look for a quote that is challenging, timely, interesting, and intriguing.

The quote I chose for today is from something Roger Fry said, “Bach almost persuades me to be a Christian.”

It’s a quote found in a something written by Virginia Woolf on Roger Fry [1940 – Chapter 11].

I find it to be an interesting and intriguing quote. It triggered some questions: Do I try to find out more about who Roger Fry or Virginia Woolf were? I heard of them – but I don’t know enough about them. Or do I find some Bach and listen to him – in hopes of hearing why Roger Fry said what he said? “Bach almost persuades me to be a Christian”?

Next, I recalled the wedding I had on Saturday. For the seating of the mothers the music was, “Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring” by Bach.

I’m not good at music – but I know that piece when I hear it.

So I typed into Google, “Bach Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.”

The Internet is great. There were all kinds of YouTube pieces by Bach - including, “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.”

I listened to 3 or 4 of them. Sure enough, I got a glimpse into what Roger Fry was saying, “Bach almost persuades me to be a Christian.”

I wondered when this happened. Was Roger Fry at a concert? Where was it or what was it when he heard Bach and made that statement?

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Then I began to prepare for this homily. I read the readings and the word “perfume” in today’s gospel hit me. I read the gospel again and Judas’ words hit me,

“’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.” [Cf. John 12:1-11]

I then wondered how much does perfume cost. I’m not good at perfume – just as I’m not good at music.

Surprise! I noticed that there is a bottle of perfume entitled, Clive Christian’s Imperial Majesty. They make 5 bottles of it a year. A 16.9 ounce bottle of this perfume costs $215,000 dollars. It has an 18 carat gold collar and it has on the bottle a 5 carat diamond.

Why wouldn’t a man give a gift card to his wife or girlfriend, especially if the man was a Christian, “In lieu of giving you a $215,000 bottle of Clive Christian’s Imperial Majesty perfume, I made out a check for $215,000 to your favorite charity, St. Mary’s Saint Vincent de Paul Society, for the poor or Annapolis?”

Then I noticed that there were cheaper perfumes. I also noticed that Number 8 in price is listed at $800. It's a one ounce bottle of perfume – entitled, “Joy!”

There's that "joy" word again.

Question: Did Jesus go, “OOOOh nice” when he got a whiff of the expensive perfume Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with?

We know Judas knew his perfumes because he estimates the price of the perfume Mary used to be 300 days’ wages.

John says that Judas’ motive was not the poor but his pocket.

CONCLUSION

The clock was ticking and I had to get out here to St. John Neumann’s for this Mass, so I had to come up with a conclusion for this homily.

So what’s the bottom line?

Is it that perfume is good? Jesus accepted Mary anointing his feet.

Is it that concern for the poor is better? Judas was voicing that - in a backdoor sort of way.

Or is  it that Jesus is best – and he is Joy – the greatest Joy one can experience – as Bach and Mary – the sister of Martha and Lazarus - as well as Roger Fry,  knew?