May the peace of Christ reign in our hearts,
Today’s gospel is very moving...
Let’s look at all three people involved.
The woman was a tired soul, a wounded soul, a sinful soul who had finally had enough.
She realized that she needed to live a better life and she understood that the only way she could get a fresh start was by publicly atoning for her public sins.
And so in a very dramatic way she came to the house of the Pharisee to ask forgiveness of Jesus and begin a new.
No one told her what to do or how to say I’m sorry she chose the way.
You know people sometimes convince themselves that sin is glamorous, or fun, or pleasurable, and it may be for a moment,
but once sin takes hold of you heart, once sin wraps itself around your soul, it is often painful and humiliating and degrading and most of all lonely.
Whenever I’ve talked to a person who has danced with sin for a while I am always so saddened by how lonely they are.
You see when we sin we usually chose ourselves at the expense of others and many times our sinfulness hurts our relationships.
It’s next to impossible to sustain relationships with a person who is dupped or taken by sin.
When you look at Jesus in the Gospel you notice that even though he didn’t tell the woman what to do he didn’t stop her either.
When you read the Gospels and come to know Jesus a little it is very doubtful that he would have asked the woman to wash his feet. Sometimes he forgave people before they even asked for forgiveness.
He knew that she wanted and desperately needed forgiveness.
He knew she had lived a sinful life and had made horrible choices
He knew that she needed to say I’m sorry in a very public way and so he let her anoint his feet.
He didn’t push her away or rebuke her even though he knew it might cause a scandal.
And when she had finished her gesture, her apology, he forgave her publicly.
This Gospel shows us that Jesus is the mirror of God’s mercy and forgiveness.
Finally the pharisee who considered himself a righteous man before God . yet he immediately jumped to conclusions...
He was sure that Jesus was a false a prophet because he allowed the sinful woman to anoint his feet.
He was sure that the woman was a public sinner not worthy of mercy and forgiveness.
He was wrong in all his judgements.
He was wrong about Jesus because by allowing the woman to say she was sorry and by forgiving the woman Jesus showed us that God was merciful and that God loved sinners.
He showed us all that forgiveness is possible no matter what the sin or transgression.
He was wrong about the woman because while she may have been a sinner at one time God’s grace and God’s mercy had inspired her to change her life and she took concrete steps to do it and ask forgiveness in a very public way.
With God’s forgiveness with God’s mercy she was a new creation. What was in the past was in the past.
And finally He was wrong about himself.
He was not righteous before God or man
He judged others. He put them in a box and refused to let them out.
He knew nothing of God’s mercy and God’s love which all of us are called to imitate.
There is a lot in this gospel for all of us to ponder
How often do we fool ourselves into thinking that we are better and more righteous than others and look down on them.
How often do we say I’m sorry, or make amends for our poor choice and angry words, and selfish actions ?
Many of us fly off the handle and then cool off and act if nothing happened.
How often are we rich in mercy and compassion.
I think we all know in our hearts that to be forgiven you have to ask for it.
The woman in the story was a great sinner who became a great saint.. because she asked for forgiveness How about us. Which of these three people are we.
Prayer for Fathers’ day
God our Father, We give you thanks and praise for fathers young and old.
We pray for young fathers, newly embracing their vocation; May they find courage and perseverance to balance work, family and faith in joy and sacrifice.
We pray for our own Fathers who gave us life
We pray for fathers around the world whose children are lost or suffering;
May they know that the God of compassion walks with them in their sorrow.
We pray for men who are not fathers but still mentor and guide us with fatherly love and advice.
Bless them Lord
Amen
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