There’s a great deal that could be said about today’s Gospel, but one thing that calls our attention immediately is the great difference between Mary and Judas.
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Mary gives Jesus a very generous gift; we know that the oil is valued at 300 days’ wages. If we think about it, we know that she must have saved up for a long time to buy it, since obviously she had to eat and buy some things in order to obtain it; even if she went without eating every other day, it would’ve taken her at least two years to save up that amount. We can think of all of the sacrifices, all of the work and all of the love that went into that gift. What’s the result? John the Evangelist tells us “The house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.” Her good deed spread throughout the entire building; her actions benefited, not only Jesus, but everyone else in the house as well, who were able to partake of her good deed.

There’s a lot that could be said about today’s Gospel, but we can consider just two points: first, what Christ says about heaven and hell, and, secondly, the importance of the little things we do as religious.

​Regarding the first, we’re reminded that Christ “wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth” (1 Tm 2:4). Jesus tells those who have acted well to “inherit the kingdom prepared for [them] from the foundation of the world” (Mt 25:34). This is man’s ultimate goal, his happiness, and it has been prepared for him from all eternity. 

Fr. Nathaniel Dreyer, IVE
Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Today’s first reading and Gospel remind us of the great dignity of our vocations as religious called to give up all things in order to serve Christ. In the first reading from Sirach, we heard that “to the penitent God provides a way back.” Every vocation is a “way back to God,” the path by which we return to Him once we forsake the attachments and attractions of the world. Precisely in this we see “how great [is] the mercy of the Lord, his forgiveness of those who return to him!”

Fr. Nathaniel Dreyer, IVE
Originally preached on the Feast of the Presentation

​A seminarian recently mentioned how difficult it was for Blessed Miguel Pro to accept his sister’s entrance into religious life; he had a quote from the blessed that read, “Heaven must be beautiful, because it costs so much.” Unless we have a sibling or a close relative who is a religious, we don’t really realize how difficult it is to have a family member enter religious life.