S&F-Holy Monday: Judas asks a Question

In today's Gospel from John we are placed in the home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had recently raised from the dead.  We see one of his sisters, Mary, anoint Jesus with oil and drying his feet with her hair.  Judas Iscariot was confused by this and questioned why those oils were not being sold and the money given to the poor?  Jesus then foretells again of his coming death, when the oils will be needed for his body.

In some ways I can understand the question that Judas asks.  At this point he would look on Jesus as someone who is rooted on humility and care for the poor and downtrodden.  The Jesus he thought he knew would have wanted to increase his effect on the poor rather than glorify himself.

What Judas missed is the second part of what Jesus said, where he eluded to his coming sacrifice, where they would always have the poor but would no longer have him.

So what do we learn from this passage?  I think while we can put ourselves in Judas's shoes and wonder what we can do to help the poor, we should look towards Jesus's whole mission.  We can do what we can to help the poor in our daily lives, but we can also remember that Jesus said the least on earth will be the most in Heaven.  In some ways the best we can do for the suffering on earth is to glorify God everyday and give thanks for Jesus's sacrifice to restore our relationship with Him.

I know that I don't have a lot of people who read this blog.  And I'm sure that even less read my posts on my faith.  But if I can just get one person to think about the importance of their relationship with God for their eternal life it makes it all worth it.  Realize I am praying for all of you, especially this week when we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord.