In today’s Gospel Jesus is
invited to Simon the Pharisee’s house for dinner when an ‘unwanted’ guest
arrives. This woman has a bad reputation in the town; we are told nothing of
her past except that she was a sinner and that she is carrying something that
she wants to be free from. There are many things to say about the text but
perhaps today we can focus on her celebration. The woman is able to receive
God’s grace in contrast to the Pharisee who is unable to grasp what has
happened. Those present find it difficult to comprehend a God who accepts
sinners and they are also finding it difficult to accept someone who celebrates
forgiveness so joyfully and extravagantly as this woman does.
Often when we receive
forgiveness from others we are unable to forgive ourselves, unable to free
ourselves from our own mistakes. We can take a good example from the woman in
today’s Gospel who celebrates abundantly when she is freed from whatever it was
that she was carrying.
The last lines of the Gospel
remind us of the prominent role of ‘many’
women who covered the expenses of Jesus and the twelve and journeyed with
them.
“God's mercy can make even the driest land become a garden,
can restore life to dry bones... Let us be renewed by God's mercy, let us be
loved by Jesus, let us enable the power of his love to transform our lives too;
and let us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can water
the earth.” (Pope Francis)
No comments:
Post a Comment