Monday of Holy Week
March 25, 2024
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032524.cfm
Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil
John 12: 3;7
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…
… Jesus said, “Leave her alone.
Let her keep this for the day of my burial.
Mary knows.
Even though theories bounce back and forth about how Jesus will be received in Jerusalem, Mary knows.
She knows that someone she loves is on the brink of a desperate confrontation, and she cannot change it. What she can do is to cherish his presence by a silent act of love that strengthens both of them with a holy grace.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We know.
We know what Jesus did for us – still does for us. And there are no words adequate for our thanks. But our quiet prayer as we absorb the astounding mystery of Christ’s love – may it be an anointing of gratitude.
Poetry: Anointing at Bethany – Malcolm Guite
Come close with Mary, Martha, Lazarus
so close the candles stir with their soft breath
and kindle heart and soul to flame within us,
lit by these mysteries of life and death.
For beauty now begins the final movement
in quietness and intimate encounter.
The alabaster jar of precious ointment
is broken open for the world’s true Lover.
The whole room richly fills to feast the senses
with all the yearning such a fragrance brings.
The heart is mourning but the spirit dances,
here at the very center of all things,
here at the meeting place of love and loss,
we all foresee, and see beyond the cross.
Music: Pour My Love on You – written by Craig and Dean Phillips
Lavish Mercy 