Monday, March 20th
Jesus said, "Leave her alone, she had to keep the scent for the day of My burial. You have the poor always with you, you will not always have Me
John 12

Let everything be done according to the circumstance and occasion. It is right that the Father's children give often and generously to the poor and to those in need : such giving should be a priority claim on everyone's substance. But there is a call to each child of the Father to sensitivity of occasion and action in the circumstance of that occasion. When Mary anointed My feet six days before the Passover in My incarnate life she was honouring the guest who had been invited to a meal. That meal was both an occasion for rejoicing and for sadness : Lazarus was restored to life and I was soon to embrace death. And Mary's , generous act of anointing was a pouring out of her joy and a sharing in the anticipation of My pain and suffering.

So was Mary able to identify with My saving love, complete the process which had been begun in her when first she responded to the light of Life, and she herself became a means of the enlightenment of others down the years by her generous self-giving act of devotion. Each beloved child of the Father is called to generous self-giving in honouring that which may be only dimly understood. Through faithfulness in this will come fulfilment , enlightenment and joy.