Passion/Palm Sunday

Mark 14: 6 – 7

Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why are you giving her a hard time? She has just done something wonderfully significant for me. You will have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives. Whenever you feel like it, you can do something for them. Not so with me.”

It was Friday afternoon at 2:30 when I took my place on a street corner in front of the Federal courthouse. The temperature was rather low and the sky was grey as snow flurried around us. I came to the United States to join a small group in a vigil protesting federal executions. I held a sign that said: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Others held signs that read: “Stop executions” and “Do not kill in my name.” Some passerby honked in support, some drove by without reaction and others gestured in disagreement.

It was a simple and quiet witness. Until suddenly, a young woman came running to us, clad in a short jacket that was open to the cold, no hat, no gloves, and frantically murmuring, over and over, “Someone is going to kill me.” We looked around and saw no one. I repeatedly reassured her that there was no one that was going to kill her … until a jeep turned the corner, and the driver stopped in mid-street to stare down the woman.

She took off running in the opposite direction as the jeep went to the next corner to turn around and presumably follow her. I called the police and made my own frantic report as I described what had happened and provided the Jeep’s number plate information. Then, I returned to the corner holding my sign, staring into the distance, haunted by the question, “Why didn’t I take her to a shelter?” Jesus’ words echoed in me: The poor will always be with you and whenever you wish you can do good to them. I had done something, but had I done enough? I don’t think so.