My Thursday Daily Blessings
Be still, quiet your heart and mind, the Lord is here loving you,
talking to you.................
Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Taegŏn, priest and martyr and Saint Paul Chŏng Hasang, martyr, and their companions, martyrs
Thursday of the Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time (Roman Rite Calendar)
First Reading: 1 Cor 15:1-11
which you indeed received and in which you also stand.
Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James, then to all the Apostles.
Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me.
For I am the least of the Apostles, not fit to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective.
Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 118:1b-2, 16ab-17, 28
"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good."
Gospel: Lk 7:36-50
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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 flask 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 invited him saw this he said to himself,
"If this man were a prophet, 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 love 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 hair.
You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered.
You did not anoint my head with oil, but 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 others at 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."
**Reflection:
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What fuels extravagant love? Unbounding gratitude for sure! No one who met Jesus could do so with indifference. They were either attracted to him or repeled by him. Why did a rabbi invite Jesus to a nice dinner and then treat him discourteously by neglecting to give him the customary signs of respect and honor? Simon was very likely a collector of celebrities. He patronized Jesus because of his popularity with the crowds. Why did he criticize Jesus' compassionate treatment of a woman of ill repute – most likely a prostitute? The Pharisees shunned the company of public sinners and in so doing they neglected to give them the help they needed to find healing and wholeness.
Why did a woman with a bad reputation approach Jesus and anoint him at the risk of ridicule and abuse by others? The woman's action was motivated by one thing, and one thing only, namely, her love for Jesus and her gratitude for forgiveness. She did something, however, a Jewish woman would never do in public. She loosed her hair and anointed Jesus with her tears. It was customary for a woman on her wedding day to bound her hair. For a married woman to loosen her hair in public was a sign of grave immodesty. This woman was oblivious to all around her, except for Jesus. She also did something which only love can do. She took the most precious thing she had and spent it all on Jesus. Her love was not calculated but extravagant. In a spirit of humility and heart-felt repentance, she lavishly served the one who showed her the mercy and kindness of God. Jesus, in his customary fashion, never lost the opportunity to draw a lesson from such an incident.
Why did Jesus put the parable of the two debtors before his learned host, a rabbi and teacher of the people? This parable is similar to the parable of theunforgiving official (see Matthew 18:23-35) in which the man who was forgiven much showed himself merciless and unforgiving. Jesus makes clear that great love springs from a heart forgiven and cleansed. "Love covers a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8), "for love is of God" (1 John 4:7). The woman's lavish expression of love was proof that she had found favor with God. The stark contrast of attitudes between Simon and the woman of ill-repute, demonstrate how we can either accept or reject God's mercy. Simon, who regarded himself as an upright Pharisee, felt no need for love or mercy. His self-sufficiency kept him for acknowledging his need for God's grace. Are you grateful for God's mercy and grace?
**Prayer:
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**Don Schwager
Author and Writer
Sword of the Spirit
and The Word Among Us
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