Grace Calls Us to Be — Not to Do

Mary’s encounters with Jesus offer one of the clearest portraits of spiritual growth in the entire Gospel story. Through her we see what happens when grace is not just received — but recognized, embraced, and expressed.

Awareness

Sitting at Jesus' feet: In the first encounter, Jesus visits the home of Mary and Martha. Martha is busy preparing, serving, organizing — doing what seems right and responsible. Mary, meanwhile, sits at His feet and listens. Her disposition is one of openness — an inner stillness that allows divine awareness to awaken.

She’s not doing; she’s simply being.

“Mary has chosen what is better,” Jesus says, "and it will not be taken from her.”

Here, grace begins as awareness — the recognition that God is here, within and among us. It’s not earned, not achieved, not proven. It’s perceived.

Mary represents the soul that has awakened to the presence of God right in her living room.

Acknowledgment

The tomb and the tears: The next time we see Mary, the scene is completely different. Her brother Lazarus has died. When Jesus arrives, she falls again at His feet, but this time in grief:

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

She appears to repeat the same words her sister Martha had uttered on seeing Jesus. In this moment, Mary’s awareness deepens into acknowledgment — an honest confrontation with loss, doubt, and pain.

Grace is no longer a comforting idea; it’s now a question she dares to bring before Love itself (Jesus). And there, in her sorrow, she witnesses resurrection. Jesus calls Lazarus from the tomb, and Mary learns that grace doesn’t end at the grave. It is stronger than death.

Acknowledgment means facing reality; the hurt, the confusion and still believing in the possibility of life.

Action

The fragrance of devotion: Now we come to the third encounter — the anointing with sweet smelling perfume, after Lazarus has been raised.

Once again, Martha serves.

Once again, Mary is at Jesus’ feet.

But this time, she acts. She takes a jar of costly perfume — her most precious possession and pours it out on Jesus’ feet, wiping them with her hair. The fragrance fills the room, an invisible testament of love and gratitude.

Judas calls it waste.

Jesus calls it worship.

Here Mary shows us Action — not busy effort, but a love-infused response to divine revelation. Her action flows naturally from her awareness and acknowledgment. Having seen who He is — the Resurrection and the Life, she no longer holds anything back.

Grace has moved her from hearing to trusting, from trusting to giving. Her perfume becomes the scent of pure devotion, an act that transcends logic and calculation.

The Circle of Grace

Mary’s story mirrors our own spiritual journey.

• Awareness opens our eyes to the divine presence.
• Acknowledgment opens our hearts to divine compassion, even in suffering.
• Action opens our hands to pour out what we have, trusting that nothing done in love is wasted.

From listening to weeping to anointing — Mary’s journey is grace unfolding in motion.