61. A Grateful Woman

One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him. He entered the Pharisee’s house and sat at the table. A woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew he was reclining in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. Standing behind him and weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wipe them with her long hair; she kissed and anointed his feet with the ointment. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he thought to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known how sinful this woman is who touches him.”

Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

He said, “Teacher, say on.”

“A certain lender had two debtors. One owed him five hundred day’s wages, and the other fifty. When they couldn’t pay, he forgave them both. Which of them will love him most?”

Simon answered, “I suppose the one he forgave the most.”

He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but since the time I came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You didn’t anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Those who sat at the table with him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

Reflection

 

The only thing we know about this woman is that the Pharisee saw her as a prostitute or harlot, while Jesus saw her as something entirely different. The way Jesus saw her had a profound impact on her life. Was there a moment when you knew God loved you in spite of everything you’d done and everything that had been done to you? How did that moment change you? 

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for seeing me differently than anyone else sees me.