In Mark 14 and Matthew 26 we read of Jesus being anointed by a woman while visiting the home of a man called Simon the Leper. The story ends with Jesus’ words, “Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her” (Matthew 26:13, TNIV).
We should take Jesus’ comment seriously and thus look for ways to remember and honor this woman. Below is one such way–a prayer to be read in response to this gospel story.
“Great God, Lord of lepers, Prince of peasants, you who are Lord of both wealth and poverty, you who make possible every beautiful act: We thank you for this storied woman, for her boldness and her humility, for her loving act and her lavish gift. We thank you for her life, though to us it remains in shadows; we thank you all the more for the events her scandalous story foreshadowed. May we, like she, glimpse your glory. May we, like she, play our part in the gospel story. Amen.”
