Homily for Monday of Holy Week

During the final week of His life, most people who saw Jesus were hostile to Him. However, six days before the feast of Passover, a family that He loved invited Jesus to their table, where He experienced great kindness. One member of that family, Mary, went to great expense to render Him a thoughtful service. She anointed His feet with expensive perfume and dried them with her hair. Later in the same Gospel, Jesus will wash the feet of His followers.

Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anticipated Jesus's servant-gesture and offered Him generous, loving service, exactly as Jesus would do for His disciples and us. Jesus interpreted her generous act as preparing Him for His death and burial.

At the beginning of the last week of His life, Jesus welcomed this act of kindness from Mary of Bethany. What she did for Him, we are called to do for each other. During our own life journeys, we may encounter people who make things difficult for us. Yet, we will also come across people like Mary who support us on our journey. Hopefully, we can do for others what Mary did for Jesus - a kind and generous gesture in an often-hostile world.