April 28, 2019
Text: John 12: 3, 8
3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hsir. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 8 “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”
As I reflect on these verses of John's Gospel, I see that Mary made a profound action of love and generosity. Not only did she use a pint of the most expensive perfume, she also poured it on the feet of Jesus and wiped them with her hair. In the midst of an important dinner when everyone was being served by Martha, Mary stepped away from the table and went over where Jesus was reclining and met his needs.
My Brothers and Sisters, at a time of such a broken world, people are seeking the Good News of hope, love, and having someone to listen. Our Lord calls us to give generously of our time, talents, gifts and love. This is true essence of our faith. To love him with all our heart, and all our soul, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. These are the Great Commandments. Our Lord calls us to connect, build relationship, and share the good news of the gospel to the poor and to the rich.
We live in world where we assume the needs of others when we see someone holding up a sign asking for money for food. We roll down the window and offer them money or go buy them a sandwich, or tell them they need a job. When we see someone in need of clothes, we go home, come back and give them a bag of clothes; when we see people sleeping on the streets after losing their home due to being taxed out of their neighborhoods due to gentrification or loss of jobs or sick and unable to afford medical care, we tell them they need to be seen by a doctor; we may not know they’ve tried, given up and become in imprisoned by a system where they can’t get the assistance due to the vast bureaucratic webs with long wait times and daunting amounts of paperwork; they give up hope and experience one of the most curliness act of Capital Punishment of human society.
My Brothers and Sisters, we are called to live out the Resuscitation and be an example of Mary’s generosity by sharing the expensive gift of our time, by listening, by sharing our talents, and most important by sharing Christ’s Love and by remembering and reminding ourselves “The Poor Will Always Be With Us.”