Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time: 6-12-16

Peace be with You,

Last week in the episode of the raising of the widow’s son, we were reminded that, not only does Jesus desire to accompany us in our difficult moments, but he wishes to transform them for the good.  This week, the transformational power Jesus has on our lives is again on display as he meets a woman at dinner.

If we take an honest look at this Sunday’s gospel reading from Luke, a  first reading of it may leave us a little confused, or even embarrassed for the women whose actions are recorded therein.  She comes into the scene in sort of a desperate fashion, as Jesus brings to our attention, going far beyond the norms of hospitality for the time, which were already very formal.  But might we ask why we have this sort of reaction.  Why do we blush at such extraordinary attention given to our Lord?

There are perhaps two ways to answer this question.  First, we my take the position of the Pharisee and say, ‘How embarrassing for that women, she has no place here after what she has done.  No amount of tears and expensive ointment are going to wash her sins away!’  Sadly, all too often we fall into this trap of self-righteousness, looking at others whose failings have become public, and say, ‘WOW! Glad I am not that bad!’  But notice friends the words of Jesus to this type of response, “the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.”  Notice what is said here: if we assume we have little to be forgiven for, we place our selves in a position where we really have little need of a Savior.  Why bother with Jesus if we are self-justified?

The second reason we may have such a reaction to the actions of the woman is that what she expresses outwardly, we feel interiorly.  Notice friends, the woman is labelled by the Pharisee as being a great sinner (which evidently she recognizes as her actions testify), but we are never told what she has done.  I would propose that Luke has intentionally not included this detail in order that we may see ourselves in her position.  The relating of this story reminds us that we all are in need of recognizing our need for Jesus, our need to be forgiven.  And, in recognizing that we have much to be forgiven for, not only will we love much, but we will be much loved.

Your servant in Christ,

Tony

Tony Crescio

Tony Crescio is the founder of FRESHImage Ministries. He holds an MTS from the University of Notre Dame and is currently a PhD candidate in Christian Theology at Saint Louis University. His research focuses on the intersection between moral and sacramental theology. His dissertation is entitled, Presencing the Divine: Augustine, the Eucharist and the Ethics of Exemplarity.

Tony’s academic publications can be found here.