This day’s readings recall the woman who anointed Jesus with costly oil and is scolded by the apostles for its waste (Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:1-11). Jesus defends her loving gesture, telling them that she has prepared his body for burial and that wherever the Gospel is preached in the world, “what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Are we captivated with love for Jesus Christ and a willingness to be broken? In other words, are we prepared and willing to give everything we have, to sacrifice those things and ideas that are most valuable to us, our very lives, our egos, our personal agendas, as an expression of our devotion to Christ? What connections to oil (mercy, compassion, almsgiving) does this story have in our everyday lives?

Dn. Eric Vozzy