Celebrating and Sharing

In this Sunday's reading, we hear a familiar story from the Gospel of John - Mary's anointing of Jesus' feet, and Judas' critical reaction to this act of extravagance. We sometimes read familiar passages of scripture and the behaviors in them through a lens of right or wrong, black and white, hero versus villain. But is that all we can take away from this story?

Mary celebrated the presence of Jesus in her life through bestowing him a great honor - one that no doubt came at great personal cost. She follows the example of many devout believers in doing so. Judas in turn lifted up the principle of sharing one's wealth with the poor; again, there is much precedent for charity throughout the history of our faith. What are we to do with the seeming tension presented in this passage?