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11 th Sunday of Ordinary Time
As soon as I read that Jesus is invited to dinner in a Pharisee house I know that there is going to be trouble. Sometimes the Pharisees set the thing up so that they could trap Jesus. I suspect other times they invited Him to dinner because He was a new celebrity and dinner gave them a chance to take a closer look at Him. Our focus goes to the woman who washes and anoints the feet of Jesus. This is a bit embarrassing. Everyone is dressed in their best dinner clothes. The place is full of manners and dinner talk and then this spectacle happens. From the Pharisee point of view it is all a bit too much. They wanted Jesus to make a spectacle but they didn’t expect this. By way of continuity Jesus has a word for the host. He sets out to explain the meaning of what just happened. The interaction between Jesus and the woman was something private between them. It was so important to the woman to do this, the fact that it took place in the middle of a dinner party made no difference. She didn’t even notice the staring eyes. The woman bathed Jesus’ feet and she anointed Him with oil. This was a gesture of gratitude and great respect. Jesus rewarded the woman by telling her that her sins were forgiven. This was like a private conversation between Jesus and the woman overheard by the Pharisees and their guests. They had no idea what just took place, but they definitely decided that Jesus blasphemed. The emphasis here is on the forgiveness of sins. People come to make their confession to God and they beg Him for forgiveness. Jesus is always ready to forgive us, actually seventy times seven times He forgives us. My sinful tale becomes history and it is forgotten, but because I am unable to forgive myself it is like I am committing the sin over again and again. I feel that I have to confess it over and over again. Gets a bit boring after a while. It was nice of Nathan to forgive King David in the first lesson but I am sure the guilt and shame held power over him for the rest of his life. Jesus heard your confession. He forgave you years ago, so stop carrying your bag of shame. Let it go. Go and have some ice cream. You will feel better.
With love, Fr. Pat