There was a strong memory in the early church of the anointing of the feet of Jesus. The details differ in each gospel written forty or more years later. According to St. John the one doing the anointing was Mary, the friend of Jesus who was sister to Martha and Lazarus. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus. In St. Luke’s gospel the woman is not named but is called “a sinner.” Tradition has associated her with another famous Mary from the gospels, Mary Madgalene. In all of the stories at least one lesson we should draw is that there is a value in doing things for Jesus out of love for him.
APRIL62020
By Church Staff