Remembering her

Matthew 26:6-13
The Anointing at Bethany
Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, “Why this waste? For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

They shamed her

They called her out

A woman who gave her all

They pronounced judgment

like we do today

with those whose stories

we do not know

or care to learn

They ignored her passion

her costly sacrifice

preferring instead

to quibble about incidentals

about the old ways

of propping up society.

They preferred to bring the focus

to their discomfort
and their petty political point scoring

rather than the woman’s

beautiful act of compassion

And Jesus called them back

as we are recalled today

to notice what matters

The love

The kindness

The primal urge

to give and to serve

And we tune out the gum bumpers

and zoom in on

the woman

Mary of Bethany

of whom Jesus said:

wherever this good news is proclaimed 

in the whole world, 

what she has done will be told 

in remembrance of her.”