The whole house was fragrant with Mary of Bethany’s expensive perfume poured over Jesus’ feet; how could anything “smell bad!”  Well, it does to Judas.  He becomes so resentful that neither Jesus, nor anyone who loves the Lord, can do anything right to please him.

Sometimes we use our sense of smell as a way to feel what is happening.  “This just doesn’t SMELL right!” This depends not only on what’s going on, but upon our spiritual “nose.”  Two persons can experience something and find that it “smells” in two different ways.  If someone is in a bad mood, everything tends to smell bad.  On the other hand, the Holy Spirit can give you the scent of God’s love, even in the most dreadful of happenings.

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you appreciate this passage.  You will find that the spiritual fragrance of picturing yourself there will have your whole day smelling with the scent of God’s love.

John 12:1-8

Here is a sample of a seven-syllable breath-prayer
from today’s reading:
Love’s fragrance filling the space v. 3
For more information about this creative way to pray,
see Bible Breaths.

This is the Fifth Week in Lent
Spring in the north.  Year C
Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from
The Revised Common Lectionary

Seasons of Grace – A Calendar for 2019

Solar and Sacred Seasons
Some adjustments to make the church year simpler.

These Firestarters are from a new edition of The Bible Through the Seasons being developed for families with children. For the Firestarters in the original edition, I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand Firestarters with you on your phone or tablet.  More information…