Generous love and gratitude
Gospel: Jn 12:1-11
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032524.cfm
In today’s gospel, Mary shows her generous love and gratitude for Jesus as she anoints his feet with her hair. We are called like Mary to show generosity and gratitude for others.
What alters the perspective of the story is Judas interjecting that the gratuitous cost of the perfume could have been used to help the poor. The gospel then shows how Judas was selfishly motivated. Jesus responds, "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."
This passage has been debated historically. It has been used to justify lavish churches and to condone behaviors that are not caring for the poor, but I do not believe the gospel should be used in this way. The gospel writer is having Jesus address Judas directly, not make a broad proclamation about the poor among us. For those who take advantage of the fringe of society and those in need, there will always be the poor. Those who take advantage of others will always find an opportunity to limit their generosity in service to others. When you have the mentality that you help others so that you can take your share off the top, you will always find others in need of your help. It is not truly helping when one is self-serving. We are called to generous love and gratitude, not to use others as a means to our own ends.
We too quickly can judge the generosity and actions of others when we don’t fully understand the context. In the situation with Mary, she recently experienced her brother dying and Jesus raising her brother from the dead. Jesus soon too is going to experience the same. Mary is showing gratitude to Jesus during the limited amount of time they have together. She has a new appreciation for treating the time she had with those close to her as sacred.
We too have the same opportunity. We must be generous with our time and treasures with others and that includes those that are closest to us.
