Glory be to Jesus Christ!
Have you ever heard of “The Social Gospel Movement” of the early 20th Century? Although it had some very good things to remind us of (the corporal works of mercy are really good after all!) it essentially tried to teach the message that Christ would not come back until poverty was eliminated here on earth. In fact, what ultimately happened was the blur between this world and the next. Heaven on earth through human effort. This, brothers and sisters was never the Gospel. Christ fed many people when He multiplied the loaves and the fishes- but He was more interested in giving them the life of Life- His body in the Eucharist.
In our reading we see this played out on a smaller scale: outrage at the “waste” of the ointment and the important reminder from the Lord that the “poor will be with us always” when we are here. This is NOT an excuse to be uncharitable- our Lord told us that this is how we will be judged after all, and of course there are various good uses of our temporal goods, BUT Christ did not come preaching a gospel of social wealth but one of repentance. We must become poor to ourselves because we need HIM.
At times, brothers and sisters we might be tempted to settle for something less than the Gospel, but only Jesus, not Ronald McDonald can save us.
Glory be to Jesus Christ!
