Psalm 100 (NIV)

¹ Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.  ² Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.  ³ Know that the Lord is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  ⁵ For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

John 12:1-8 (NIV)

¹ Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.  ² Here, a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor.  Martha served while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.  ³ Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴ But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?  It was worth a year’s wages.”  ⁶ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

⁷ “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied.  “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.  ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

A Special Thank You to Adrienne von Speyr, (1902-1967).

A Swiss Doctor, Catholic mystic, and theologian.  Among her most important works are Handmaid of the Lord, Man before God, Confession, and her commentaries on the Gospel of Saint John.