Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her

After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death. But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people."

And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, "Why was this fragrant oil wasted? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor." And they criticized her sharply. But Jesus said, "Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.

- Mark 14:1-11

Over the course of the past few days, Jesus has been speaking about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple built by Herod the Great, and the times of the end of the age. In yesterday's reading, He gave us the byword, to "Watch!" We are to be vigilant, and to understand that we don't know the time of the Master's return. We watch for the signs He's given us (and indeed, the Church at Jerusalem was prepared for its siege in A.D. 70 because of His warnings of what was to come). But mostly, in yesterday's reading, He counseled that we were not to know beforehand the time of His return. We simply must be prepared, and watch and pray. We must be about His business, as He has taught. Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."

After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death. But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people." The Passover meal starts the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and lasts seven days. "Both feasts," says my study bible, "commemorate Israel's liberation from Egypt." The word Passover indicates the "passing over" the homes of the Hebrews by the angel of death, when killing the firstborn children in Egypt (see Ex. 12:12-20). The Unleavened Bread is a reminder of the haste with which the Hebrews left Egypt -- my study bible says it also symbolized holiness unmixed with evil. Jesus will often refer to "leaven" as something mixed with dough in negative terms. The haste of the Israelites to leave Egypt gives us a reminder of Jesus' warnings in yesterday's reading about the times in which we live now, that we are to be vigilant and to watch, to know what we are about and to remember the time. My study bible also adds, "Passover prefigures the new deliverance of humanity by Christ from the power of sin and death."

And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, "Why was this fragrant oil wasted? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor." And they criticized her sharply. What is love and what does it look like? How must it be represented in our actions? Can we put limits on it? Here, Christ is anointed by a woman who in this case is anonymous. The ones who are indignant are the apostles -- as reported in John's gospel, it was Judas Iscariot. My study bible writes, "Knowledge of religious things is good, but devotion to Christ is more important. Here a woman who knows less about religion than her critics expresses her deep love and devotion to Christ, devotion He accepts with gratitude."

But Jesus said, "Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her." Indeed, Jesus' word is true, and so we do read of her in this gospel. My study bible points out that often we may not fully understand the implications of what we do for Christ. "This woman was expressing her love for Jesus; she may or may not have known that she was anointing the body of Jesus for burial." This reminds us of the first great commandment, to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength -- and even of the second, to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus also taught a new commandment, to love one another as He has loved us. This woman, in my opinion, is fulfilling all of these: Christ in His divinity as Lord, in His humanity as Jesus, the Teacher, and as the One who shows them His Way. She reciprocates that great love centered in all three of these commandments, and rooted in the Lord our God whose great love for us gave us Christ in the flesh. We have the "poor" with us in many forms, and we have need in many forms. Who is to say which act of love is "better" than another -- which one follows the right rules and which one doesn't, what real charity must always look like? There is room for all, and more. But it begins with the great commandments.

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him. Perhaps the rebuke from Jesus concerning this woman was too much for him. If we note, somehow it is all about money -- how her wealth should have been used, in distribution in the purse (in which Judas had some control). Let us think also about what it is to be rebuked by our Lord and also learn a lesson about love: everything He does is from love for us. All of His teachings, including His rebukes, are made from love for those who would be His disciples. This is a failing, all around, of Judas' understanding and perception of love.

Today's reading invites us in to ponder love -- and its twin, charity -- more deeply than we usually do. What does a "good work" look like? From what is it motivated? We start with the love of God, and take that where it leads us to go. Charity and love can't really be separated if we are to understand them in a spiritual sense. There are acts of charity that beckon us all around. But if we are to use discernment, they begin with the love of God -- not dry rules that would demand what a good work looks like and command us only to certain practices, no matter where our heart leads us or what need faces us at the moment. Does someone need a smile or an encouraging word? How about just a handshake, an act of respect or courtesy? A visit to the hospital, a personal touch -- how can we discount these things as valuable? What about the ever-present gift of prayer for others? When we focus purely on money and competition, on the material, we can get lost in our "good works" and turn them into grim criticism of someone whose act is truly loving. And let us remember that a rebuke from love, centered in the love of Christ and His loving discernment, is also an act of love! What does love look like? How is it defined? How can you practice charity that is truly from the heart? Let us remember this incident in the reading today, and also remember Judas' response. Let us remember His words, and keep them alive in our own practice and understanding of our faith: "Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her." Do we have the eyes and heart of love to perceive as He did? Or are we too focused elsewhere? What would life be like if we could truly see with the eyes of love, and understand the love in others' hearts? We remember the poor widow, another woman whom Jesus understood with His own vision, and invited us to see His way, in contrast to the focus on the money. Can we learn to share His perception of love? Could there be any lesson more important than this?