GOSPEL - Lk 7:36-50
A certain Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. Now there was a sinful woman in the city who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee. Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.“Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed five hundred days’ wages and the other owed fifty. Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?” Simon said in reply, “The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.” He said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The others at table said to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” But he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.“Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed five hundred days’ wages and the other owed fifty. Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?” Simon said in reply, “The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.” He said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The others at table said to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” But he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Come Holy Spirit, give me Your light to see my sins, and give me Your help to be sorry for them. Show me why I sinned. Help me never sin again.
Wednesday is dedicated to St. Joseph
STUDY - excerpt from Receiving the Lord
How does she express her faith to Jesus? Her faith was acted out in charity. Saint Paul says that we are saved by grace, through faith, acted out in good works (cf. Ephesians 2:8-10).It was by grace that Jesus came to dine with sinners; it was through the woman’s faith that moved her to respond to grace in her actions. Her bodily actions speak the message of her soul, as she shows charity to Jesus.
What are the woman’s actions? “Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment” (Luke 7:37-38).
Why did she wet the feet of Jesus, kiss them, dry them with her hair, and anoint them? She saw Jesus as He truly is, the Son of God. She could not help but seek forgiveness for the sins she committed while in the presence of perfection.
She thus offered to God that which she had abused, says St. Gregory. Her eyes had languished for earthly things, she now punishes them with penitential tears; her hair had been used to delight her eyes, and she uses it to wipe away the tears; her lips had spoken idle words, and with them she kisses the Savior’s feet; the ointment had been used in sinful ways, and now it serves to anoint Christ in advance of His burial (Mt. 26:12). Here we have a true model of real penance. Everything which has served us to sin should be offered to God by mortification, and we should especially use the means, which have occasioned so many sins for the poor, who are represented by the feet of the Lord. [1]
Fr. Leonard Goffine; The Church’s Year
