Leave Her Alone

Have you ever saved something to be used for a special occasion, without knowing what that occasion might be, but you would just know when; a special outfit, a bottle of wine, expensive perfume, jewelry, etc.? Perhaps during quarantine you’ve brought out the good wine you’ve been saving? Mary just knew somehow that the time was now to give what she had saved to Jesus and to give it in such a way that He would know how precious it was to her. She poured the special fragrance lavishly, like He pours his love and grace lavishly, and she used her hair to rub it in and wipe away the excess. I wonder how long that fragrance lingered in her hair, the fragrance of the Christ. I’m sure if you just picture the scene in your mind, you can imagine how sensual this must have seemed from the spectators’ points of view, but Jesus and Mary knew what was happening and these soul friends were uniting themselves for probably the last time, therefore the need for the deep expression of love, honor, gratitude, friendship, and goodbye. Depth in relationships is hard to grasp sometimes because these kinds of friendships are so rare and we are used to more surface level acquaintances. Every now and then you may find a connection with someone that goes way deeper than the surface. I’m sure Jesus and Mary were such a pair and that is why this scene may have seemed so scandalous. Her act of deep love and foreshadowing of his death was turned into a waste of expensive perfume and a platform for rumors I’m sure. I love that Jesus defended her so sternly as He did when she was scolded for sitting at his feet before. 

He really loved Mary so deeply, so beautifully, so tenderly, and so sweetly. She knew that she was special in his eyes and so she behaved as one set apart and was able to endure ridicule and disdain on behalf of her beloved friend. I know that I want this kind of relationship with Jesus. I want to know how deeply He loves me so that I am willing to show my gratitude in such beautiful ways that would make people wonder why. Jesus defends us when we are serving him. He knows our heart and He knows when we are trying to honor him with whatever gifts we have. Don’t let naysayers like Judas get you down when you are showing love to Christ. Perhaps it was Mary’s action that inspired Jesus’ final teaching moment with his apostles when He too would bend down and wash their feet, including Judas. Mary’s extravagant love was a mirror of Jesus’ extravagant love and that is how I want to live this day, as a reflection of the extravagant love of Christ. People may think I’m too much or that I’m wasting something precious on people that won’t even remember it, but I will simply listen to Jesus tell them, “Leave her alone.” Let’s love extravagantly today so that people will see that we have poured out all that we have at his feet because of our deep and abiding friendship. 

As Holy Week begins in this unique time of “retreat,” I pray for each one of you that you will know and believe how deeply the Savior loves you. He poured his precious blood out as an extravagant display of his love for each one of us. I encourage you to sit at His feet and let Him love you. It is well with my soul. 

Reading 1 IS 42:1-7

Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
Upon whom I have put my Spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
Not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
A bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
Until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

Thus says God, the LORD,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spreads out the earth with its crops,
Who gives breath to its people
and spirit to those who walk on it:
I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
To open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

Responsorial Psalm 27:1, 2, 3, 13-14

R.    (1a)  The Lord is my light and my salvation.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R.    The Lord is my light and my salvation.
When evildoers come at me
to devour my flesh,
My foes and my enemies
themselves stumble and fall.
R.    The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart will not fear;
Though war be waged upon me,
even then will I trust.
R.    The Lord is my light and my salvation.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R.    The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Verse Before The Gospel

Hail to you, our King;
you alone are compassionate with our faults.

Gospel JN 12:1-11

Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany,
where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served,
while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him.
Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil
made from genuine aromatic nard
and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair;
the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples,
and the one who would betray him, said,
“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.
So Jesus said, “Leave her alone.
Let her keep this for the day of my burial.
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came,
not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus,
whom he had raised from the dead.
And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too,
because many of the Jews were turning away
and believing in Jesus because of him.