Today we hear a very striking Gospel account of Jesus' encounter with Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus. Mary is in a home near the city of Jerusalem during the last Passover that Jesus would partake in just before his death. She takes a jar of enormously expensive perfume that would cost thousands of dollars in today's money. She lovingly anoints Jesus' feet with the perfume. In response, Judas remarks that it would be better to give this money to the poor, that this is an extravagant waste.
Mary was the one whom Jesus complimented for have gathered at his feet to listen to his teachings. When her brother Lazarus died, it was Mary who rushed out to Jesus when he came to their home, weeping and pleading, “Jesus, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died.”
In today's Gospel, Mary falls at Jesus’ feet as if she knew something the others did not recognize: that Jesus would soon die and would need to be prepared for burial. Sensing something, Mary wants to do something special for him.
In ancient Israel, anointing was used for rituals of elevating one's status, such as anointing the head of one becoming a priest, prophet, or king. Anointing was used in a status transformation, for example, in anointing the whole body of a dead person. Here, neither Jesus' head nor his whole body is anointed, just his feet. In ancient Israel, the feet were the body part that symbolized action. he anointing of Jesus' feet points to a ritual of a forthcoming transformative action in which Jesus would do something significant. The streets where people walked in Ancient Israel were very dirty, so it was customary for guests to have their feet washed by a servant when entering a home before they ate a meal. In this case, a servant does not do the washing, but rather Mary, the wealthy woman of the household. In this action, she acknowledges this forthcoming significant action that will occur in Jesus' life.
How can we be more like Mary in the reality of our lives? Mary’s life had been so deeply touched by Jesus that she wanted to do something precious and significant in return to honor him. Can we be so deeply touched by Jesus acting in our lives that we also want to respond in a special way? May we reflect upon this as we approach Holy Week and the Easter season.
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