Anointing as Servant

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, Monday of Holy Week, challenge us to adopt our role as servants of the Lord in our daily encounters with the people on our journey.

Our Servant Journey

The Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah presents The Servant of the Lord.

* [42:1–4] Servant: three other passages have been popularly called “servant of the Lord” poems: 49:1–7; 50:4–11; 52:13–53:12. Whether the servant is an individual or a collectivity is not clear (e.g., contrast 49:3 with 49:5). More important is the description of the mission of the servant. In the early Church and throughout Christian tradition, these poems have been applied to Christ; cf. Mt 12:18–21.

* [42:3] Bruised reed…: images to express the gentle manner of the servant’s mission.

* [42:4] Coastlands: for Israel, the world to the west: the islands and coastal nations of the Mediterranean. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 42 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 27 asserts boundless hope that God will bring rescue.

* [Psalm 27] Tradition has handed down the two sections of the Psalm (Ps 27:1–6; 7–14) as one Psalm, though each part could be understood as complete in itself. Asserting boundless hope that God will bring rescue (Ps 27:1–3), the psalmist longs for the presence of God in the Temple, protection from all enemies (Ps 27:4–6). In part B there is a clear shift in tone (Ps 27:7–12); the climax of the poem comes with “I believe” (Ps 27:13), echoing “I trust” (Ps 27:3). (Psalms, PSALM 27 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of John presents the Anointing of Jesus at Bethany.

* [12:1–8] This is probably the same scene of anointing found in Mk 14:3–9 (see note there) and Mt 26:6–13. The anointing by a penitent woman in Lk 7:36–38 is different. Details from these various episodes have become interchanged.

* [12:3] The feet of Jesus: so Mk 14:3; but in Mt 26:6, Mary anoints Jesus’ head as a sign of regal, messianic anointing.

* [12:5] Days’ wages: literally, “denarii.” A denarius is a day’s wage in Mt 20:2; see note on Jn 6:7.

* [12:7] Jesus’ response reflects the rabbinical discussion of what was the greatest act of mercy, almsgiving or burying the dead. Those who favored proper burial of the dead thought it an essential condition for sharing in the resurrection. (John, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB, n.d.)

Suzanne Braddock comments that the money spent to purchase this very expensive perfume could have been given to the poor as some in the company protest. Jesus knows when to place a different act of charity ahead, explaining that the poor we will always have with us but He will not always be present in this manner. There is room in His mind for Mary’s almost outrageously generous outpouring of love and care.

John’s well-known account of Jesus’ anointing is unique among the several gospels recounting the story, pointing to the later account of Jesus’ washing of the apostles’ feet.  What struck me most when I compared the different accounts was the actual act of anointing - Mary, Martha’s sister, pours the expensive contents of an alabaster jar on Jesus’ head in two gospels, but in John’s gospel, she anoints only His feet, then wipes His feet with her hair. Nard is used even today as a hair treatment. Mary’s act of kindness also blessed her. Perhaps we can claim a blessing from our acts of kindness as well.

During this Holy Week, what can I do to both give and receive love and kindness? The fragrance of acts of kindness can fill the whole room. (Braddock, 2026)

Don Schwager quotes “God first loved us,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"Fulfill the commandments out of love. Could anyone refuse to love our God, so abounding in mercy, so just in all His ways? Could anyone deny love to Him Who first loved us despite all our injustice and all our pride? Could anyone refuse to love God Who so loved us as to send His only Son not only to live among human beings but also to be put to death for their sake and at their own hands?." (excerpt from Catechetical Instructions 39) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that Isaiah is offering the first Song of the Suffering Servant, who would be killed and buried among robbers. In the passage today, the Servant would bring justice to the nations by being very meek and be a light to the people including the Gentiles and pagans including for the nations and all peoples on the earth. In John’s Gospel Mary is anointing the feet of Jesus in the house with an “aromatic nard”. It is important that this phrase only appears in the Hebrew Testament in the Song of Songs. The fragrance that fills the house is an act of great love. Judas wants social work and Mary wants to love the person in front of her. Jesus realizes that by giving life to Lazarus the leaders will try to kill Him. Friar Jude reminds us that in the Nazi regime modern art was forbidden to curb imagination and the power to believe in the Life Jesus gives us.

The Word Among Us Meditation on John 12:1-11 comments that Mary knew that Jewish kings and priests were anointed, so she decided to treat Jesus like the king and priest that he was. And she didn’t use the everyday oil people would ordinarily use. She held nothing back. She chose this special oil, held in a jar made of alabaster.

Mary’s extravagant love calls us to follow in her footsteps. So consider: how can you be generous with God? How can you pour yourself out to honor him? You might spend some extra time praying with the Mass readings this week or lifting your heart in praise and worship as you sit before the Blessed Sacrament or a crucifix. You might say yes to a chance to serve this week, loving the Lord through the sacrifice of your time and energy. It’s never too late to draw close to Jesus and to respond to the lavish love and mercy he has shown you!

“Jesus, grant me the grace this Holy Week to pour myself out in love for you.” (Meditation on John 12:1-11, n.d.)

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, describes the scapegoat ritual that took place on Yom Kippur, the Jewish holy day of atonement. The word “scapegoating” originated from an ingenious ritual described in Leviticus 16. According to Jewish law, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest laid hands on an “escaping” goat, placing all the sins of the Jewish people from the previous year onto the animal.

In worshiping Jesus as the scapegoat, Christians should have learned to stop scapegoating, but we didn’t. We are still utterly wrong whenever we create arbitrary victims to avoid our own complicity in evil. It seems to be the most effective diversionary tactic. History has shown us that authority itself is not a good guide. Yet for many people, authority figures soothe their anxiety and relieve their own responsibility to form a mature conscience. We love to follow someone else and let them take the responsibility. It is a universal story line in history and culture.

With the mistaken view of God as a Punisher-in-Chief that most Christians seem to hold, we think our own violence is necessary and even good. But there is no such thing as redemptive violence. Violence doesn’t save; it only destroys all parties in both the short and long term. Jesus replaced the myth of redemptive violence with the truth of redemptive suffering. He showed us on the cross how to hold the pain and let it transform us. (Rohr, n.d.)

As we journey in Holy Week, we invoke the Spirit to enlighten our understanding of the role of the Suffering Servant as the guide in our action as followers of Christ.

References

Braddock, S. (2026, March 30). Daily Reflection March 30, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved March 30, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-march-30-2026 

Isaiah, CHAPTER 42 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 30, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/42?1 

John, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 30, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/12?1 

Meditation on John 12:1-11. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved March 30, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/03/30/1529328/ 

Psalms, PSALM 27 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 30, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/27? 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). A Communal Ritual. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved March 30, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-communal-ritual/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Extravagant Love for Jesus. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 30, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Anointed to Show Love

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to celebrate the transformation to love that we witness when acceptance and forgiveness are part of our journey.

Anointing and Love

 

The Reading from the First Letter to Timothy presents Counsel to Timothy.

* [4:11–16] Timothy is urged to preach and teach with confidence, relying on the gifts and the mission that God has bestowed on him.

* [4:12] Youth: some commentators find this reference a sign of pseudepigraphy. Timothy had joined Paul as a missionary already in A.D. 49, some fifteen years before the earliest supposed date of composition.

* [4:13] Reading: the Greek word refers to private or public reading. Here, it probably designates the public reading of scripture in the Christian assembly.

* [4:14] Prophetic word: this may mean the utterance of a Christian prophet designating the candidate or a prayer of blessing accompanying the rite. Imposition of hands: this gesture was used in the Old Testament to signify the transmission of authority from Moses to Joshua (Nm 27:18–23; Dt 34:9). The early Christian community used it as a symbol of installation into an office: the Seven (Acts 6:6) and Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:3). Of the presbyterate: this would mean that each member of the college of presbyters imposed hands and appears to contradict 2 Tm 1:6, in which Paul says that he imposed hands on Timothy. This latter text, however, does not exclude participation by others in the rite. Some prefer to translate “for the presbyterate,” and thus understand it to designate the office into which Timothy was installed rather than the agents who installed him. (1 Timothy, CHAPTER 4, n.d.)

Psalm 111 tells how God is revealed in Israel’s history. 

* [Psalm 111] A Temple singer (Ps 111:1) tells how God is revealed in Israel’s history (Ps 111:2–10). The deeds reveal God’s very self, powerful, merciful, faithful. The poem is an acrostic, each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. (Psalms, PSALM 111, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus celebrates the Pardon of the Sinful Woman.

* [7:36–50] In this story of the pardoning of the sinful woman Luke presents two different reactions to the ministry of Jesus. A Pharisee, suspecting Jesus to be a prophet, invites Jesus to a festive banquet in his house, but the Pharisee’s self-righteousness leads to little forgiveness by God and consequently little love shown toward Jesus. The sinful woman, on the other hand, manifests a faith in God (Lk 7:50) that has led her to seek forgiveness for her sins, and because so much was forgiven, she now overwhelms Jesus with her display of love; cf. the similar contrast in attitudes in Lk 18:9–14. The whole episode is a powerful lesson on the relation between forgiveness and love.

* [7:36] Reclined at table: the normal posture of guests at a banquet. Other oriental banquet customs alluded to in this story include the reception by the host with a kiss (Lk 7:45), washing the feet of the guests (Lk 7:44), and the anointing of the guests’ heads (Lk 7:46).

* [7:41] Days’ wages: one denarius is the normal daily wage of a laborer.

* [7:47] Her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love: literally, “her many sins have been forgiven, seeing that she has loved much.” That the woman’s sins have been forgiven is attested by the great love she shows toward Jesus. Her love is the consequence of her forgiveness. This is also the meaning demanded by the parable in Lk 7:41–43. (Luke, CHAPTER 7, n.d.)

Cindy Costanzo comments that the Examen came to mind as a wonderful way to reflect on God’s message in Luke 7: 36-50. 

The Examen is a wonderful reflective tool used by St. Ignatius and continues to be used by Jesuits and laypeople worldwide. In the daily Examen I pause, relax, and ask God to be with me as I enter God’s presence. The Examen asks me to call to mind 2-3 things I am grateful for in the past 24 hours; where did I see God in the day, in today’s events where did I accept God’s invitation to be loving, grateful and where did I turn away? Where did I stray from God?  I call to mind the morning, midday and evening and I reflect on all events and how I responded? What emerges from this reflection for me to focus on?  I pause and review the day, remembering what I regret and ask God for forgiveness and the grace to do better. (Costanzo, 2025)

Don Schwager quotes “Jesus the Physician brings miraculous healing to the woman's sins,” by Ephrem the Syrian (306-373 AD).

"Healing the sick is a physician's glory. Our Lord did this to increase the disgrace of the Pharisee, who discredited the glory of our Physician. He worked signs in the streets, worked even greater signs once he entered the Pharisee's house than those that he had worked outside. In the streets, he healed sick bodies, but inside, he healed sick souls. Outside, he had given life to the death of Lazarus. Inside, he gave life to the death of the sinful woman. He restored the living soul to a dead body that it had left, and he drove off the deadly sin from a sinful woman in whom it dwelt. That blind Pharisee, for whom wonders were not enough, discredited the common things he saw because of the wondrous things he failed to see." (excerpt from HOMILY ON OUR LORD 42.2) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 7:36-50 asserts that the woman’s sins were great; we should never minimize them. But the love and forgiveness that Jesus had for her were even greater. Gratefully, she received this generous gift and responded with her own generosity. She wasn’t trying to pay Jesus back, and she wasn’t trying to earn future kindness from him. She was just thankful for the fresh start, and the abundant joy she felt overflowed in acts of love.

This woman’s story is your story as well. Jesus is offering you the same gift of forgiveness that he gave her. It’s the very reason why he died and rose again. So don’t let your past define you. Don’t settle for feeling weighed down by your sins, not even your worst sins. Not even the sins that you have kept hidden away for years. Come to him, confess your sins, and let him set you free.

“Jesus, I am amazed at the depths of your mercy! What else can I do but worship you with my whole heart?” (Meditation on Luke 7:36-50, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments the passage from 1 Timothy is a personal message as if written by Paul. In ancient times, Wisdom was associated with great age. When Daniel reveals the truth concerning “Susanna” and Timothy is urged to give examples of love, truth, and faith we have younger persons. The committee of elders “the presbyterate” and in some communities the Bishops presided over an early form of ordination by laying on of hands to invoke the Spirit. In Luke a sinful woman comes and anoints Jesus and the Pharisee cautions He should not allow her to touch Him. He permits anointment because He knows her forgiven sins. The larger debt of her forgiveness is appropriate to her gratitude. In this miracle is an account of physical and spiritual healing. The characterization of this woman in Luke as Mary Magdalen is not true. Friar Jude notes that, in Luke, Jesus is reaching out to the anawim, the physically and spiritually poor.

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, notes The Tears of Things Reader’s Guide and introduces Buddhist teacher and environmental activist Joanna Macy (1929–2025) who identifies four stages of work that support our ongoing participation in the healing of the world.

The spiral of the Work That Reconnects maps out an empowerment process that journeys through four successive movements, or stations: coming from gratitude, honoring our pain for the world, seeing with new eyes, and going forth. This spiral … reminds us that we are larger, stronger, deeper, and more creative than we’ve grown accustomed to believing. When we come from gratitude, we become more present to the wonder of being alive in this amazing world, to the many gifts we receive, to the beauty and mystery it offers. Yet the very act of looking at what we love and value in our world brings with it an awareness of the vast violation underway, the despoliation and unraveling….  

From gratitude we naturally flow to honoring our pain for the world. Dedicating time and attention to honoring this pain opens up space to hear our sorrow, fear, outrage, and other felt responses to what is happening to our world…. Our pain for the world not only alerts us to danger but also reveals our profound caring. And this caring derives from our interconnectedness with all of life. We need not fear it. (Rohr, n.d.)

We ponder the power of gratitude that surfaces as we reflect on our blessings and the journey to full life that we experience as disciples of Christ.

References

Costanzo, C. (2025, September 18). Daily Reflection September 18, 2025 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved September 18, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-september-18-2025 

Luke, CHAPTER 7. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved September 18, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/7?36 

Meditation on Luke 7:36-50. (n.d.). Word Among Us Homepage. Retrieved September 18, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/09/18/1385012/ 

1 Timothy, CHAPTER 4. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved September 18, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1timothy/4?12 

Psalms, PSALM 111. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved September 18, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/111? 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC.org. Retrieved September 18, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-work-of-grief-and-love/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Which Will Love Him More? Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved September 18, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=sep18