The Rev. Alissa Newton 

 text: John 12:1-8

"We use symbols and sacraments, when words aren’t enough. Mary doesn’t have the words to tell Jesus that she sees him, and loves him, and wants him to live and knows that he won’t. So she does this. She pours out the most expensive thing to cover him with her love, her seeing, her knowing. Her gift fills the room and, I hope, his heart."