Jesus said to the disciples, “Why do you make trouble for the woman? She has done a good thing for me. The poor you will always have with you; but you will not always have me. In pouring this perfumed oil upon my body, she did it to prepare me for the burial. Amen, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be spoken of, in memory of her.” Mt. 26:10-13< B>
The words of Jesus, “The poor you will always have with you," have sometimes been misunderstood. Jesus was not saying that poverty is inevitable so there’s not much you can do about it.
Jesus was quoting from the Book of Deuteronomy where Moses is giving a speech to the Israelites as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. Moses tells them that there will be abundance in the new land and thus there’s no reason for poverty.
Then, Moses recognizes, not in a complimentary way, that despite this abundance, “the poor you will always have with you.” In other words, even though there is enough for everybody, it will probably not be distributed fairly.
Far from simply accepting poverty as “a fact of life,” Jesus is quoting a passage that says that this should not be so.
In effect, he says: “Why do you worry over this woman’s act of generosity, when you have accepted a system which leaves so many people in need?”
It’s a good question to think about during Lent.
Spend some quiet time with the Lord.
