Gospel of John, chapter 12:8

When Jesus visited the home of Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead, He was welcomed with a banquet. His disciples were there, as were the sisters of Lazarus, Martha and Mary. The hospitable Martha was doing what she always did well: serving the guests at table. Mary, however, made a magnanimous gesture: she anointed the feet of Jesus with a costly perfume and dried them with her hair. The gospel says “the house was filled with the ointment’s fragrance.” Everybody was in awe of Mary’s magnanimous gesture, but there was one person who viewed Mary’s loving gesture, negatively, and that was Judas. The gospel says that Judas protested since the costly perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor. He was not well intentioned, the gospel reminds us, for “he held the purse and used to help himself to what was deposited there.” (John 12:6).

Jesus replied to the criticism of Mary, saying: “the poor you always have with you, but me you will not always have.” It is, indeed, commendable to help the poor; to share your wealth with them, as Jesus commands us to do in Matthew, chapter twenty five. But, it is also important to be magnanimous; to display your gratitude in a generous way for the blessings the Lord has given you. Mary was not cheap; she was a magnanimous person with a heart full of love, and she believed that nothing was too good for the Lord.

Several years ago, a magnanimous parishioner donated a generous sum of money to erect outdoor Stations of the Cross with a flowing waterfall on the grounds of our church. Another magnanimous parishioner offered to design and construct the outdoor stations and waterfall, free of charge. He did. One day, after the project was completed, a group of admiring onlookers was gazing at the new outdoor stations. I heard one lady declare:
“This is too good for a poor parish.”
The rest of the onlookers smiled and shook their heads, disapprovingly. As I approached, I said to the nay-sayer:
“Are you not grateful for the generosity of others?”
She made no reply!

Judas was not grateful for the generosity of Mary who anointed the feet of the Lord with a costly perfume. He was selfish and his only thought was: “what’s in it for me?” We need to rise above self-interest; we need to be generous to the Lord for the blessings we’ve received; and we need to be magnanimous in our generosity when the occasion arises.

If you can do this, the Lord will bless you, richly.

Fr. Hugh Duffy

* * * Do not miss tomorrow’s blog on Poor in Spirit * * *

Fr