3/25/2013 - Monday of Holy Week – John 12:1-11

        Today we hear a very striking Gospel account of Jesus' encounter with Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus, in a home near the city of Jerusalem, during the last Passover that Jesus would have just before his death.  Mary takes a jar of expensive perfume that would cost many thousands of dollars in today's money.  She lovingly anoints Jesus' feet with this perfume.  In response to what he sees, Judas remarks that it would be better to give this money to the poor, that this is an extravagant waste. 

         We remember how Jesus once complimented Mary for having gathered at his feet to listen to his teachings. In today's Gospel account, this same woman, Mary, falls at the feet of Jesus, as if she knew something the others did not quite 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 usually used for rituals of elevating one's status, such as anointing the head of one becoming a priest, prophet, or king.  Or, it was used in a status transformation, such as anointing the entire body of a dead person who moves from his earthly family to becoming a deceased ancestor.  Here, neither Jesus' head nor his whole body is anointed, just his feet. In ancient Israel, the feet were the body zone that symbolized an action being performed.  Thus, the anointing of Jesus' feet is a ritual that points us to a forthcoming transformative action; it points us to something significant that Jesus will do.   It's worth noting that the streets where people walked in ancient Israel were very dirty, so it was customary for guests to have their feet washed by a slave when entering a home before they ate a meal.  In this case, a slave does not do the washing, but rather Mary, the lady of a household.  In this action, she acknowledges this forthcoming significant event that will be occur in Jesus' life. 

         As we hear this wonderful Gospel story today on the Monday of Holy week, we may ask ourselves this question: How can we, in our own circumstances, in our own personalities, and in our own daily reality in the modern world, be like Mary of Bethany in this Gospel story?  Mary’s life had been so deeply touched by Jesus, so she wanted to do something precious and significant in return to honor him.  How can we do the same?  Can our lives be so deeply touched by Jesus that we also want to respond in a very special way?  May we really think about this as we commemorate Holy Week and Easter in our lives this week.