Word to the Wise
Sunday, June 12, 2016 - 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time - C
[2 Sam 12:7-10, 13; Gal 2:16, 19-21; Luke 7:36-8:3 or 7:36-50]Then [Jesus] 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 aninted my feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." [Luke]
The power of this scene is really wonderful. The cultural setting is important because in Jesus' time, men and women did not eat together. (This is still true in the Middle East.) The woman who enters with the jar of ointment is crossing a cultural line. I suspect there was quite a silence. Two contrasts stand out. The first is between the Pharisee and the woman. He is supposed to be the most pious of Jews. She is characterized as a "sinner." This does not necessarily mean she is a prostitute. She could be someone who engaged in trade work that brought her into contact with "unclean" materials. Nevertheless, everyone she touched would become "unclean." The second contrast is that the Pharisee fails to offer the customary courtesies that one would offer an invited guest! It is this contrast that offers us a dramatic irony: the pious person sins against ordinary love, the "sinner" shows great love and is forgiven.
Much of what I hear in the sacrament of reconciliation is sin against ordinary love, but sometimes I will ask which of a number of sins bothers the penitent the most. A young person will often say, "Disrespecting my parents." I say, "Why?" The answer is usually, "Because they love me." The woman's conduct in today's gospel shows great love. Jesus says that that love is what brings her forgiveness. Her love is a manifestation of her faith. It is truly when we realize our failings in love that we come face to face with our need for forgiveness and our faith that Christ can forgive us if we show that love.
The early Church Fathers often identified this woman with Mary Magdalen, although there is no evidence in the text to support this. Pope Francis has elevated her feast day to a higher level. We Dominicans revere her as the first preacher. Our brother, Thomas Aquinas, called her the "apostle to the apostles." She was a woman who loved Jesus greatly and stood by him to the end. Like the woman in today's gospel, she reminds us how love of God and neighbor is the best form of forgiveness. AMEN
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