1 John 2:7-17Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides for ever.
Mark 14:3-9At that time, while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
The commandment to love was not a new one, but was an old commandment that you had from the beginning. When Christ said "whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets" (Matt. 7:12), many of His hearers would probably have remembered the words of Rabbi Hillel a generation before Him: "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn". And yet, there was nonetheless something new about Christ's teachings because the incarnation changed everything. The love we are required to have for God and one another is no longer theoretical, but has been shown true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. As long as the word of God abides in you, then you have overcome the evil one, and the commandment to love is not an unattainable goal, but an ever present reality.
Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. If you don't love your brother you don't love God. "Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me" (Matt. 25:45). The disciples were outraged because they could not square the centrality of helping the poor in the Gospel message with the woman's apparent waste of the expensive ointment, although Judas was outraged "not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the money bag he used to help himself to what was put into it" (John 12:6). What today's Gospel reading teaches us is that the converse is also true: you cannot truly love your brother without first loving God. Only after loving God can you realise the true worth of the human person created in His image. Secondly, it reminds us that the things done in honour of God is not without profit for others. The woman, by doing a beautiful thing to Christ, did it to the whole world, preparing the Lord for His burial, for His descent into Hades whereby He destroyed its power and freed its captives, 'trampling down death by death, and to those in the tomb bestowing life'. Those who cite concern for the poor when they criticise the building of a beautiful church, for example, seem to forget that the doors of the church are open for rich and poor alike.
When He says that you always have the poor with you, we must remember that the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides for ever. To care for the poor and needy is an absolute obligation for Christians, it is the thing on which we will be judged, but a person's poverty ends at their death, just as the wealth of the rich man, which is why love of the world is so dangerous. Spiritual poverty and spiritual wealth, however, continue into eternity. The message of today's Gospel passage, then, does not in any way undermine the need for charity, but is a question of priorities.
Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. If you don't love your brother you don't love God. "Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me" (Matt. 25:45). The disciples were outraged because they could not square the centrality of helping the poor in the Gospel message with the woman's apparent waste of the expensive ointment, although Judas was outraged "not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the money bag he used to help himself to what was put into it" (John 12:6). What today's Gospel reading teaches us is that the converse is also true: you cannot truly love your brother without first loving God. Only after loving God can you realise the true worth of the human person created in His image. Secondly, it reminds us that the things done in honour of God is not without profit for others. The woman, by doing a beautiful thing to Christ, did it to the whole world, preparing the Lord for His burial, for His descent into Hades whereby He destroyed its power and freed its captives, 'trampling down death by death, and to those in the tomb bestowing life'. Those who cite concern for the poor when they criticise the building of a beautiful church, for example, seem to forget that the doors of the church are open for rich and poor alike.
When He says that you always have the poor with you, we must remember that the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides for ever. To care for the poor and needy is an absolute obligation for Christians, it is the thing on which we will be judged, but a person's poverty ends at their death, just as the wealth of the rich man, which is why love of the world is so dangerous. Spiritual poverty and spiritual wealth, however, continue into eternity. The message of today's Gospel passage, then, does not in any way undermine the need for charity, but is a question of priorities.
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