DILEXI TE (I HAVE LOVED YOU)

In his first public Exhortation, Delixit te--- I Have Loved You, Pope Leo has announced the foundation of his papacy, a renewal of our commitment to our relationship with Jesus Christ.  I wish to quote directly from this document and add some thoughts below. Beginning in chapter one, “A Few Essential Words,” Pope Leo sets the premise for his Exhortation as follows: 

“Jesus’ disciples criticized the woman who poured costly perfumed oil on his head.  They said: Why this waste?  For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor.’  However, the Lord said to them in response: ‘You always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me’ (Mt 26:8-9,11).  That woman saw in Jesus the lowly and suffering Messiah on whom she could pour out all her love.  What comfort that anointing must have brought to the very head that within a few days would be pierced by thorns?  It was a small gesture, of course, but those who suffer know how great even a small gesture of affection can be, and how much relief it can bring.  Jesus understood this and told the disciples that the memory of her gesture would endure: ‘Wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her” (Mt 26:13).  The simplicity of that woman’s gesture speaks volumes.  No sign of affection, even the smallest, will ever be forgotten, especially if it is shown to those who are suffering, lonely or in need, as was the Lord at that time.