22 March 2027 · Latin Rite
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“Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” John 12:3
Holy Week has begun. Yesterday we walked with palms; this week the Church walks with Jesus, day by day, towards the Upper Room, the cross and the empty tomb. On the first three days the readings are quiet and searching. The first readings give us the Songs of the Servant of the Lord from the Book of Isaiah, four poems about a mysterious servant who is gentle, faithful, rejected and finally glorified through suffering. The Gospels take us into the last days of Jesus in Bethany and Jerusalem. Today the first Song begins: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him.” This servant does not shout or push his way through the streets. “A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench.” He is given “as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon.” At the Jordan the Father had said of Jesus, “with you I am well pleased”; St Matthew quotes this very song to describe him (Matthew 12:18–21). The Psalm is the prayer of the Servant as the darkness gathers: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”
The Gospel is set “six days before the Passover” in Bethany, at the home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. A dinner is given for him. Martha serves, as she always does; Lazarus sits at table, living proof of the power of Jesus; and Mary does something that fills the whole house. She takes “a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard,” anoints the feet of Jesus and wipes them with her hair. A pound of nard was a fortune, about a year's wages for a labourer. Judas protests in the name of the poor, but St John tells us plainly that he did not care about the poor: he kept the common purse and stole from it. Jesus defends Mary: “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.” Mary understands what the others have not yet grasped: the one she loves is going to die, and love cannot measure its gifts. Her anointing points to the burial of Jesus on Friday, and beyond it to the morning when other women will come with spices and find the tomb empty.
The scene ends with a shadow. Many people come to see Jesus and Lazarus, and many believe; so “the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well.” St John speaks of a small circle of leaders who feared for their authority and for the nation under Rome (John 11:47–50). The Church teaches clearly that the Passion cannot be blamed on the Jewish people as a whole, then or now (Nostra Aetate 4; Catechism 597–598); every sinner, and so each of us, had a part in the sufferings of Christ. On this Monday the question for us is simple: are we Martha, serving; Lazarus, simply being with him; Mary, pouring out what is precious; or Judas, calculating? Holy Week invites us to break our alabaster jar for him: our time, our pride, our tears, our love. And Jesus, the gentle Servant, will not break the bruised reed of our weakness.
Theme: “The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
The gentle Servant, the extravagant love of Mary, the calculating heart and the light that overcomes darkness.
“a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.” Isaiah 42:3
““Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
Apply: Bring your weakest point to Jesus in confession this week and let him breathe on the flickering wick.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” Psalm 23:5
“Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” John 12:3
Apply: Give Jesus one costly gift this week: your full presence at the Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil services.
“I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” Isaiah 42:6–7
“and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:2
Apply: Set aside what you save during Holy Week and give it quietly to the poor.
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”” John 8:12
Apply: Pray Psalm 27 each night of Holy Week before you sleep.
The Servant is gentle with our weakness and gives himself completely.
Mary shows us how to love him: without counting, before the cross and beyond it.
Take-home resolution: Break one alabaster jar for Jesus this week, and give him the whole Triduum.
Dear friends, Holy Week has begun, and the Church gives us the first Song of the Servant: here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him (Isaiah 42:1). This is Jesus. He does not shout in the street. A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench (Isaiah 42:3). If your faith is only a flicker today, he will not blow it out. He will breathe on it.
Six days before the Passover, Jesus comes to Bethany. Martha serves, Lazarus sits at table, and Mary takes a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anoints the feet of Jesus and wipes them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume (John 12:3). That perfume was worth a year's wages. Mary does not calculate. She loves.
Judas does calculate. Why was this not sold and given to the poor? But he did not care about the poor; he was a thief. Jesus answers: leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial (John 12:7). Mary has understood that Jesus is going to die. True love for the poor is born from love for Jesus, not opposed to it.
This week, let us not be spectators. Let us be Mary. Break the jar: give Jesus your time at the services of the Triduum, your sins in confession, your tears, your love. And when the darkness of the Passion comes, pray with the Psalm: the LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? (Psalm 27:1). Amen.
Children, Mary loved Jesus so much that she poured her most precious perfume on his feet, and the whole house smelt lovely. This week, let us give Jesus something precious too: our prayers, our kindness and our hearts!
Lord Jesus, gentle Servant of the Father, you did not break the bruised reed or quench the dimly burning wick. As Mary poured out her perfume at your feet, let us pour out our love for you this Holy Week. Free us from the calculating heart, be our light and our salvation, and bring us with you through the cross to the joy of Easter. Amen.
Holy Week’s first weekday sets two figures side by side, and both are quiet. In Isaiah a chosen servant will not break even a bruised reed. In John a woman says nothing at all, pours out a pound of perfume on the feet of Jesus, and is defended by him. On the first three weekdays of this week and again on Good Friday the Church reads the four Servant Songs of Isaiah, so that we walk toward the cross with the Servant before our eyes. Psalm 27 gives the answer of trust: “The Lord is my light and my salvation”.
Setting.
Isaiah 40–55 speaks to the people of Judah in exile in Babylon in the sixth century before Christ. Many scholars speak of a prophet in the school of Isaiah, often called Second Isaiah, who announces that God will bring them home. Within these chapters are four poems about a mysterious Servant of the Lord (42:1–4; 49:1–6; 50:4–9; 52:13–53:12), named the Servant Songs by scholars since the late nineteenth century. Today’s reading is the first, with the verses that follow it.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights;” (42:1)
The voice from heaven at the Baptism of Jesus echoes these words (Matthew 3:17), and CCC 536 sees there the beginning of his mission as the suffering Servant.
“a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;” (42:3)
A reed and a lamp’s wick are the weakest things in a house. Most conquerors break what is already cracked. This one protects it. Anyone who feels nearly finished can take heart from this verse.
“to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,” (42:7)
For the exiles this meant release from Babylon. In the Gospels the blind see, and the Passion is the price of a wider release, from sin and death.
How the Church reads it.
Matthew 12:18–21 quotes the song directly and applies it to the gentle ministry of Jesus. The Catechism teaches that the Messiah’s characteristics are revealed above all in the Servant Songs, which proclaim the meaning of his Passion (CCC 713). The first song does not yet speak of suffering. It shows the manner of the one who will suffer: he wins without shouting, and he does not grow faint (v. 4) until his work is done.
Setting.
John dates the scene “six days before the Passover”, so the countdown to the cross has begun. Bethany lies close to Jerusalem (11:18), and Lazarus, just raised from the dead, sits at the table. That raising has led the authorities to resolve on the death of Jesus (11:47–53). So life and death share this supper.
Matthew 26:6–13 and Mark 14:3–9 tell of an anointing at Bethany in which an unnamed woman pours the ointment on his head. Luke 7:36–50 tells of a sinful woman in Galilee. John alone names Mary, the sister of Martha.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” (12:3)
A Roman pound was about 325 grams, a great quantity. It was more usual to anoint a guest’s head, so to anoint the feet is an act of deep lowliness. In the next chapter Jesus himself will wash and wipe feet. St Augustine says that as the house was filled with the scent, so the world is filled with the good report of what she did (in substance).
““Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?”” (12:5)
A denarius was a labourer’s day wage (Matthew 20:2), so this is the wage of most of a year. The question sounds right, which is why John adds what lay behind it (12:6).
““Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.” (12:7)
The Greek is hard to render exactly, and translations differ. The sense is clear: she has done something fitting for what is about to happen.
How the Church reads it.
The Church has seen in Mary of Bethany the love that does not count the cost. Her name stands in the Roman calendar: since 2021, Mary and Lazarus are honoured with Martha on 29 July, and the calendar keeps her distinct from Mary Magdalene, with whom she was long identified in the West. The chief priests’ plan (v. 10) is John’s dark irony: they would kill a man who had been raised from the dead. Verse 9’s “crowd of the Jews” is an ordinary crowd in Judea, many of whom came to believe (v. 11). The plot belongs to some of the authorities, not to a people (CCC 597).
Was Jesus saying the poor do not matter?
No. “You always have the poor with you” echoes Deuteronomy 15:11, which goes on to command open-handed giving. The Catechism says that Jesus does not soften the older demands here but invites us to recognise his own presence in the poor, who are his brethren (CCC 2449). Mary’s moment was unique: he was about to die.