11th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C

In today's gospel, taken from Luke 7:36-8:3, a woman who was a sinner comes to Jesus as he is eating in the house of Simon the Pharisee. She stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment. Jesus, knowing Simon's judgmental thoughts, says to him I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love. A sinful woman, an anonymous Syrian writer says,

Christ in the House of Simon by Dieric Bouts (ca. 1420-1475)

has proclaimed to us that God’s love has gone forth in search of sinners. For when he called her, Christ was inviting our whole race to love; and in her person he was drawing all sinners to his forgiveness. He spoke to her alone, but he was drawing all creation to his grace. No one else persuaded him to help her come to forgiveness; only his love for the one he himself had formed persuaded him to do this, and his own grace besought him on behalf of the work of his hands.

....In order that you may have the same experience, reflect within yourself that your sin is great, but that it is blasphemy against God and damage to yourself to despair of his forgiveness because your sin seems to you to be too great. He has promised to forgive your sins, however many they are; would you tell him you cannot believe this and dispute with him, saying that your sin is too great; he cannot heal your sickness? Stop at this point, and cry out with the prophet, Lord, I have sinned against you. At once he will reply, “As for me, I overlooked your fault: you shall not die.” Glory to him from all of us, for all the ages. Amen.