Be crazy for Jesus

But you don't care if they think you're crazy. You know you're doing the right thing -- just like the woman in this week's Gospel (Mark 14:1-15). Some people thought she was crazy, but Jesus didn't!

Jesus was at dinner when a woman came in with a bottle of expensive perfume. To show she loved Him, she poured it on His head. The other people were angry. "Why did she waste it?" one said. "It could have been sold, and all that money given to the poor!" But Jesus said, "Leave her alone; she's being nice to me. You'll always have the poor, and you can help them whenever you want. But you won't always have me."

People wondered about the "crazy" woman Jesus met, too. Who would dump a whole bottle of perfume on somebody's head? If she really wanted to impress Jesus, they said, she should have sold it and given the money to the poor. After all, Jesus came to help the poor, didn't He?

People think you're crazy for helping someone because they can't see how much the person needs help, or they think the help should come from somewhere else. They think SOMEONE should be nice to the kid nobody likes, but not YOU!

But Jesus liked crazy people. His idea about changing the world was crazy; but when people listened, it worked! Jesus knew everybody (even Him) needs someone to be "crazy" for them once in a while, by helping in a way they don't expect.

To Jesus, being crazy means being loving!

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, help me be "crazy" by trying new ways to help people! Amen.