Philippians 3:7-9 (NRSV)
Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes [through the faith of Christ]*, the righteousness from God based on faith.
* Greek "dia pisteos christou". The above translation (given in a footnote in the NRSV) is, in my opinion, far preferable (and, as I understand, a better rendering of the Greek) than the 'standard' rendering: "through faith in Christ"
John 12:1-8 (NRSV)
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
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"St. Paul proclaimed [a] great new thing accomplished by God: the death and resurrection of Jesus. In comparison with this, Paul declared everything else, most especially his accomplishments, as rubbish (to use a polite term). All Paul wanted was “to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Phil. 3: 10–3)
"This may seem to be a different thing, even a radically different thing than the earlier “new” things God had done. What is particularly new is that instead of delivering victims and outcasts by mighty acts, God in Jesus Christ died on the cross, thus becoming a victim. In doing this, God subverted the power of oppressors from within their system. Rather than inflict violence on them such as drowning Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea or sending the Persians against Babylon, God in Jesus Christ died at the hands of his oppressors. It is out of this death that a new life was inaugurated by God when Jesus rose as the forgiving victim.
"There are times, not least in Romans 5, when Paul proclaims the death and resurrection of Jesus in cosmic terms, but here in Philippians, he proclaims it in personal terms. The great new thing God had accomplished is inside of him. God's solidarity with victims in Christ has completely overtaken everything else in Paul. Paul himself will prefer to be a victim rather than an oppressor or a mighty avenger who destroys armies. Christ Jesus has made Paul “his own.” (Phil. 3: 12)
"A woman pouring ointment all over Jesus to prepare him for his upcoming burial (Jn. 12: 7) may seem an eccentric act but hardly a significant one, hardly a great new thing done by God. But up to that time, how often had any person done such an act of outpouring generosity, giving everything she had in doing it? This looks like God in Jesus Christ completely making this woman, Mary, his own just as much as God in Jesus Christ made Paul his own. This is indeed a great new thing accomplished by God. Will we ourselves be part of this great new thing?"
- Andrew Marr, Abbot of St. Gregory's Abbey (Three Rivers, MI), from blog post "A God Who Does the Same Great New Thing" (https://andrewmarrosb.blog/2019/04/05/a-god-who-does-the-same-great-new-thing/)
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"The parable of the Prodigal Father [Luke 15, last week's Lectionary Gospel text] tells of the extravagant love of our heavenly father. Isaiah 43 [this week's Old Testament reading] proclaims God's extravagant gesture of bringing God's people through a desert overflowing with water. In Philippians, Paul insists that the cross and resurrection are so extravagant that all of his human qualifications are reduced to rubbish. Mary of Bethany shows the same extravagance, an extravagance that makes us uncomfortable to this day. This is the extravagance that embraces the cross and Jesus' resurrected life..."
- Andrew Marr, Abbot of St. Gregory's Abbey (Three Rivers, MI), from blog post "A Scandalous Woman as Extravagant as Jesus" (http://andrewmarrosb.wordpress.com/2013/03/14/a-scandalous-woman-as-extravagant-as-jesus/)
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"Why did she do it? What did she mean by it? It was a lavish gesture of unreserved devotion. She threw aside all caution and practicality in an extravagant, outrageous social act. It's like the prodigal's father who threw aside his dignity and ran to meet his returning son: kissing and hugging him and later begging his elder son to come to the party. The father pours out his extravagant love on both his sons like Mary pours perfume on Jesus' feet. Soon Jesus will pour himself out at our feet, the feet of the human species — God dying at the hand of human wrath, a complete reversal to the usual human projection that God is wrathful and demands blood.
"With the reversal of meaning we begin to understand the fifth chapter of the Book of Revelation where the writer, John of Patmos, hears myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” Then John of Patmos says, “I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, ‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’” All the creatures in the world are singing in praise and gratitude to Jesus, the Lamb of God sacrificed to human wrath. All the creatures know that God is so strong God will die to our rivalry with him rather than engage us in an over-against fashion.
"Mary, intuitively seeing more deeply than the disciples who still hope to find themselves on the inside of a new empire, gives expression to a powerful impulse arising within her. She sees the Lamb and understands the power of his vulnerability. She can't find words to say it and so pours a fortune in purest nard on his feet. Its fragrance fills the house like the voices of Revelation fill Heaven.
"Paul writes: “I consider everything a loss in comparison with the superior value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have lost everything for him, but what I lost I think of as sewer trash, so that I might gain Christ and be found in him. In Christ I have a righteousness that is not my own and that does not come from the Law but rather from the faithfulness of Christ.” Like Paul, Mary senses the faithfulness of Christ and pours herself out in gratitude. She spreads the scent of his love with her hair."
- Thomas L. Truby, from sermon delivered on April 7th, 2019 (http://girardianlectionary.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Truby-Lent5-2019-The-Scent-of-Love.pdf)
[Source of links to Andrew Marr blog posts and Thomas L. Truby sermon, and for further discussion and reflection on the lectionary texts for this Sunday: https://girardianlectionary.net/reflections/year-c/lent5c/]
[In the Roman Catholic lectionary, the Gospel text for Lent 5C is John 8:1-11 ("The Woman Caught in Adultery"). I highly recommend James Alison's discussion of this text in his video "Homily for the Fifth Sunday in Lent 2022 C" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqSsjP5V5gU)]