Monday of Holy Week
π Today's Readings
- First Reading: Isaiah 42:1–7
- Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 27:1, 2, 3, 13–14
- Gospel: John 12:1–11
π️ "She Has Done a Beautiful Thing — When Love Is Extravagant"
π Reflection
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
We are inside Holy Week now. The air is different. The liturgy is quieter, more interior, more urgent. And today the Church gives us a scene of breathtaking tenderness — a woman, a jar of perfume, and a love too large to be contained.
Mary of Bethany — the sister of Lazarus, the woman who sat at the feet of Jesus while Martha busied herself with the preparations — takes a pound of costly perfumed oil, kneels before Jesus, and anoints His feet. Then she wipes them with her hair. The house fills with the fragrance. And the silence is broken not by gratitude, but by the cold voice of Judas: "Why was this oil not sold and the money given to the poor?"
The Gospel tells us plainly that Judas said this not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief. He had reduced discipleship to calculation, to utility, to what could be weighed and measured and controlled. Mary, by contrast, gave everything — wastefully, beautifully, completely. She gave not to be seen, not to be efficient, but because she loved.
Jesus defends her with extraordinary tenderness: "Leave her alone. She has kept this for the day of My burial." Mary may not have understood the full significance of what she was doing. But love guided by the Holy Spirit often knows things the mind has not yet grasped. She was anointing the One who was about to anoint the world with His own Blood.
Isaiah speaks today of the Servant of God — gentle, not crying out in the streets, not breaking the bruised reed, not quenching the smoldering wick. This is Jesus in Holy Week: not overwhelming the weak, not imposing Himself, but gently, steadily, walking toward the greatest act of love in history.
As we walk through these sacred days, let us ask for the grace of Mary — a love willing to pour itself out completely, without calculation, without reserve. True devotion to Christ is never merely tidy or correct. It is fragrant. It is excessive. It fills the whole house.
π‘ One Simple Message for Today True love for God is extravagant, not calculated. This Holy Week, give Jesus not what is convenient — but what is most precious.
π A Prayer for Today
Lord Jesus, Mary gave You her most costly possession and asked for nothing in return. Teach me this kind of love — generous, uncalculating, poured out freely. Show me what I am still withholding from You, and give me the courage to offer it this week, before Holy Week is over. Amen.
πΏ Lenten Practice for Today
Do one act of generous, uncalculated love today — for a family member, a neighbour, or a stranger. Ask nothing in return. Offer it silently to Jesus as your own small jar of precious perfume, broken open for love of Him.
May the Lord bless you and keep you close to His Sacred Heart this holy season. π️
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