Scripture Reading
Mark 14:3-6
And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, "Why was the ointment wasted like this?" ... But Jesus said, "Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me."
Reflection
The woman who anoints Jesus does not count the cost. She breaks the vessel completely — there is no saving some for later. Those around the table call it waste; Jesus calls it beautiful. Extravagant love always looks like waste to the calculating mind. Holy Week asks whether we are willing to break open what is most precious and pour it out for Christ without reservation.
Prayer for Today
Father, you know our hearts and share our sorrows. We are hurt by our parting from those whom we loved: when we are angry at the loss we have sustained, when we long for words of comfort, yet find them hard to hear, turn our grief to truer living, our affliction to firmer hope in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Amen.