Reading:
John
Chapter 12: 1-11
1Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. 3Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. 4Then Judas the Iscariot, one (of) his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, 5″Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?” 6He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions. 7So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. 8You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” 9(The) large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, 11because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.
Saint:
St. Berthold
Feastday: March 29
1195 AD
Considered by some historians to be the founder of the Carmelite Order. He was born in Limoges, France, and proved a brilliant student at the University of Paris. Ordained a priest, Berthold joined his brother, Aymeric, the Latin patriarch of Antioch, in Turkey, on the Crusades. On Mount Carmel he found a group of hermits, joined them, and established a rule. Aymeric appointed Berthold the first Carmelite superior general. Berthold tried to reform the Christian soldiers in the region, having had a vision of Christ, and headed the Carmelites for forty-five years.
