June 13, 2010
Luke 7:36-8:3
In the Gospel of Luke this Sunday, we hear a powerful story of hospitality, forgiveness, and the extravagance of God’s love. Jesus has been invited to the home of Simon the Pharisee. Jesus and the Pharisees often clash because of Jesus’ teaching and Jesus’ tendency to include those considered outcast in society. In this case Simon has extended an invitation for hospitality but does not follow the normal customs of welcoming someone into his home (such as having a servant wash the feet of the guest.) Then a woman enters, someone known to be a sinner in the community, and she not only washes Jesus’ feet but she kisses them and dries them with her hair. Simon and the other guests are shocked that Jesus would allow a “known sinner” to touch him.
Jesus then asks what some homilists consider to be the most important phrase of this gospel passage: “Simon, do you see this woman?” He then goes on to compare the hospitality the woman extended to the lack of hospitality Simon offered. And he makes the connection that because the woman has known forgiveness and mercy, she is able to extend great love.
Simon really didn’t see the person before him; he only saw a “certain kind of woman”–someone known to be a sinner. He is so caught up in the law and propriety that he does not even recognize who Jesus truly is. As Christian writer Kate Huey notes,
Simon, unfortunately wasn’t in tune with God’s presence in the
midst of his party…in the wisdom and tender love of Jesus, who
accepted her gratitude, and in his own need for God’s mercy and
understanding…Instead, his eyes were clouded by judgment and
he missed a golden opportunity for grace. So where do we stand
in this story? And with whom do we stand? What about our hospitality?
It’s an interesting passage for us to consider. Are there times when we see only the labels we assign against people who disagree with our views politically or religiously, those we consider our enemies? Can we widen our vision enough to see them as children of God? Many of us find it difficult to understand the hospitality God extends–senseless mercy and extravagant love for everyone.
Rooted in the spirituality of St. Marguerite d’Youville, foundress of the Sisters of Charity, we have received a call to love and serve in health care ministry. But before we can love and serve, we have to see our patients, residents, and colleagues and, as Frederick Buechner notes, not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Seeing them in this way makes it easy to recognize each other as children of God. Then we too can be extravagant in love and mercy.
Elizabeth Keene, Mission Effectiveness
