+JMJ
A Contemplation from The Gospel of Luke
It is Lent and the words repeat themselves to me often.
You are dust, and to dust you shall return.
What makes us dust? Our Sins….
A time I believe where it is incredibly important to reflect upon my sins. To feel the weight and gravity of them, especially compared to the Most Holy Sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.
On that note, the Pardon of the Sinful Woman from Luke’s Gospel, touched me a great deal this week.
A Pharisee invited Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. Now there was a sinful woman in the city who learned that He was at table in the house of the Pharisee. Bringing an alabaster flast of ointment, 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. When the Pharisee who had invted Him saw this he said to himself, “If this man were a prohet, He would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner” Jesus said to him in reply, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said. “Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed five hundred days’ wages and the other owed fifty. Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will ove him more?” Simon said in reply, “The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.” He said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her fair. ou did not five me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, bu she anointed my feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” He said to her, “YOur sins are forgiven.” The other at the table said to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” But He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Luke 7:36-50
As I was reading this all I could think about was how on earth she got into the Pharisee’s house? How on earth did she put herself among a group of men eating a meal?
If she was such a sinful woman, and a well known sinful woman at that, there is no way he would have just let her walk into his house. There is no way he would have allowed his reputation to be tainted in such a way.
But Jesus would have:
I imagine Jesus reclining at the table at the house of the Pharisee. Several other friends of the Pharisee are there also. They are all curious to meet this Jesus, to speak to Him, to ask Him questions.
Their conversations go on until well after dark.
The conversation is interrupted when there is a knock at the door. A quiet knock, hesitant almost.
“Who could that be? At this hour?” Simon, the Pharisee says annoyed. He motions for a servant to open the door.
The door opens and it is me, as the sinful woman, clutching the alabaster jar.
My mind goes blank. I cannot get the words out to explain why I am there. Honestly I don’t really know myself what I am doing knocking on the door of a Pharisee so late at night. Terror grips me and I lose my nerve. I turn to leave….
When I hear the voice of Jesus call from inside the house:
“Let her in, I have been waiting for her,” He says.
Jesus touched my heart so deeply in that moment. How could he be waiting for me? Poor, miserable me? Surely the people He is with right now are far more important than me?
I actually couldn’t continue this contemplation when I got to this point. I cried because I felt His love so deeply in that moment. Just the mere fact that He was waiting just for me, is overwhelming.
The next day I continued but this time I was just simply watching the scene play out:
I watched as the sinful woman weeped over His feet. She reached up and unbraided her hair. She uses it to gently scrub and dry His divine feet. Then, with the most gentle devotion, she kisses them. Weeps some more and keeps whispering, almost inaudibly, “Thank you.”
Her devotion stopped me here. It is with the most gentle, tender, loving devotion that she washes, dries, and anoints His feet.
I asked myself, have I been this devoted to Jesus? Not lately that is for sure. I feel like a laziness has seeped into my devotion towards Him.
The laziness is slow, I didn’t even realize it was happening. It started with getting busy. Then fatigue causes me to grow lax in my prayers and shorten my prayer time.
“How can I kiss your feet, Lord?” I ask Him.
I perceived the words, “Go to confession.”
I was able to do just that. I am very blessed to have a parish near by that offers Adoration and Confession on Thursday evenings.
As I sat with my Lord in Adoration, before going into confession, the contemplation on the sinful woman hit me again.
As I went through, mentally, the list of sins I needed to confess I wondered what sins were hers? Did she share any of mine? Were they worse than mine? Were mine worse?
My heart felt so heavy and sorrowful. I felt so unworthy to kiss the feet of Jesus. But I remembered how the Pharisee has pointed out her unworthiness to Jesus and He welcomed her anyway.
At the closing of my confession the Priest utters the same words my Lord did to the sinful woman:
“Go in peace.”
This being the greatest consolation I could have received I left feeling unburdened, lighter, and full of absolute joy!
Thrive in Jesus, my friends!
I encourage you to take some time to reflect on your own sins, pray about them, and then go to confession.
Thrive in Jesus, my friends!