NOTES for Joh 12:1-19

Answering Judas's remark, the Lord says that, unlike the poor, He will not always be with the disciples. He went away, but He remained - this is the mystery of our faith. And He remained in those very poor whom Judas supposedly wanted to comfort ("What you did to them, you did to Me" Matt 25).

And there truly are many poor people around, and it is not only a matter of income or poverty - everyone lacks the living minimum of love. Are we not poor too?

And it is precisely thanks to this mystical presence of Jesus among us - on our streets, in the subway, in our homes - that we can follow Mary of Bethany, who showed mercy to her Lord by anointing Him with costly spices. To show love to those poor in love - this is our anointing too, for which Christ is always near.