Our readings today are a summary of what the Jubilee Year of Mercy is all about. God’s mercy and forgiveness of us is without limit. However we must be honest with ourselves about our sins and own up to them as did King David. Then we like the woman in the Gospel with humility ought to be thankful for God’s mercy.
“Her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love,” Jesus told the Pharisee. St. Ambrose wrote: “It was not the ointment that the Lord loved, but the affection; it was the woman’s faith that pleased him, her humility. And you also, if you desire grace, increase your love; pour over the body of Jesus Christ your faith in the Resurrection, the perfume of the holy Church and the ointment of charity towards others.” Jesus explained the essential relationship between forgiveness and love, a relationship he exampled on the cross.
The Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner. Some wonder why he did so given what occurred, the disrespect Jesus was shown. Scholars tell us that it was the custom for the host to offer his guest the kiss of peace as a sign of respect and welcome. Because the roads were dusty and the shoes like sandals, it was also customary for water to be poured over the feet to cleanse and to comfort. In addition a drop of fragrance was placed on the head of the guest which would create a pleasant aroma. For Jesus the Pharisee did none of these. Then a woman known for having committed many sins entered though uninvited. Her goal was to be in the presence of the Lord. The host Pharisee clearly saw himself as better than she and was shocked that Jesus would have anything to do with her. It recalls the powerful moment in the Gospel of John when Jesus declare: “let the one who is without sin cast the first stone.” Judging others is such a stone. This looked down upon woman showed Jesus the respect that the Pharisee was expected to show. Jesus did not reduce her to her sins or label her. Rather he saw her as person, a child of God, who could repent and be given new life.
We know from personal experience that when we have sinned it wears us down and we ache for relief. This sinful woman had apparently been listening to Jesus and must have felt his love, recognizing that He could relieve her ache. So moved was she in his presence that tears welled up and fell upon his feet which she movingly dried with her hair. She showered upon him a precious perfume. “Your sins are forgiven,” Jesus assured her. “Your faith has saved you, go in peace.” Her faith was in Jesus the minister of mercy. Her life was changed because she came to him in her need, owned up to her faults and returned his love by humble and genuine gestures.
What hope there is in this story for us, for we are all sinners and we all desire to be relieved of the burden of our errant ways. St. Francis of Assisi, whom we so admire, said, “There is nowhere a more wretched or more miserable sinner than I.” Compared to the saint, where do I stand ?Jesus relieves our burdens when we humble ourselves in his presence. And then he offers to walk with us to avoid such sins in the future.
I read that there is a church in Austria at which the members of the Hapsburg royal family are buried. It is said that when the king died mourners would lead a funeral procession to the church and find the door closed and locked. A guard would knock on the door and the priest inside would ask, “Who is it that desires admission here.” His apostolic majesty, the emperor,” was the answer. “I do not know him,” responded the priest. The door was knocked on a second time. “Who is it that desires admission here,” was asked again. The guard answered, “The highest emperor.” “I do not know him,” was the response again. Finally a third knock with a similar question,” who is it.” “A poor sinner, your brother,” was the answer. The door was opened and the burial took place. All the titles, status, self-centeredness and stuff of this world will mean nothing when we face judgment and need God’s love and mercy for all eternity. But we must choose to open our hearts to him completely, not hold back or calculate the minimum we must do.
St. Augustine wrote: “You say that you have not committed many sins; but why is that the case? The reason is that God was guiding you. There is no sin that one man commits which another may not commit also unless God, man’s maker, guides him.”
The sinful woman knew her need for God’s forgiveness. The Pharisee did not. Jesus asked him, “Do you see this woman,” suggesting perhaps there is something he could learn from her. Sometimes we do not seek God’s mercy because we think we are okay and can get along on our own. Other times we may not seek the mercy of God because we think we are not deserving of it. The woman forgiven her sins tells us otherwise.
Betsy Ten Boom died in a Nazi concentration camp after harsh treatment including severe beatings. Throughout her ordeal she refused to hate the guards. Reportedly her dying words were: “We must tell the people what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still.” There is no situation thrust upon us by others or which we through poor choices have thrust upon ourselves that is so deep that God’s mercy is not deeper still. Jesus out of love for us spent himself sacrificially on the cross, which continues in an unbloody way at Holy Mass, that we might be forgiven and offered a new start. We only need to go to him with contrite hearts and love him back. Then like the woman in the Gospel we too can go in peace.