Daily Reflections ...

One of the great challenges of the human life is to keep our focus on what we are personally responsible for rather than telling others what they should do with their sphere of responsibility. This is exactly what we find in today’s gospel.

Mary has expensive perfume – pure nard. It belongs to her, and she is responsible for it. She chooses to pour out this beautiful perfume on Jesus’ feet, anointing his feet and wiping his feet with her hair. This is a profoundly intimate moment. Jesus allows Mary to be close to him, to anoint him and to touch him.

Though the perfume is not his, and not in his sphere of responsibility, Judas chooses to make judgements about what Mary should have done. He assumes that he knows best and is therefore positioned to tell Mary what she should do. The text itself reveals Judas’ motives – he was a thief and in charge of the common fund. He wasn’t even managing his own sphere properly.

In the Catholic world, we can often see the same dynamic. People behaving like Judas – making judgements about what others are doing whilst not having their own sphere in order. This concept helps us to understand the profoundness of the Pope’s famous quote, ‘who am I to judge.’ In our gospel Jesus says something similar – ‘leave her alone.’

Holy Spirit, empower us to focus on what we are responsible for, and grant us the grace not to make judgements about what others do with what they are responsible for.

by Peter Pellicaan